Monthly Archives: August 2021

Cultural Literacy: Ethics

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on ethics. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences.

I wrote two questions for comprehension. It’s worth mentioning, I think, that the first question, “What is ethics?”, looks a bit awkward because of the disjunct between singular verb (is) and plural predicate noun (ethics). Needless to say, I am treating ethics as a singular noun because it is a single field of inquiry and study.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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James Laughlin

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

“James Laughlin: (1914-1997) American publisher, editor, and poet. The son of a wealthy Pittsburgh steelmaker, Laughlin was best known as the founder and guiding force behind New Directions Press. After an extended stay in Italy, where he studied with Ezra Pound, he founded New Directions Press at the age of twenty-two. He published then-unknown writers, commissioned the translation of a vast array of foreign books, and reprinted older books that Laughlin felt deserved attention. His excellent judgement is attested to by a survey of the New Directions catalogue, which included early books by Tennessee Williams, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Borges, and Nabokov. Laughlin is also a respected poet. In Another Country: Poems 1935-1975 (1978) showcases his spare style and precise, vibrant imagery, reflecting the precedent of the modernist writers he once published.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Fundamentalism

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on religious fundamentalism along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

This reading from The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture focuses tightly on the origins of Christian fundamentalism in reaction to scientific developments in the nineteenth century and the growth and development of this theological trend across time. If I have noticed anything across the span of my life, it is the growth of fundamentalism across the globe and its religions. Moreover, there has been a tendency toward moral absolutism and certainty, and misplaced faith in things like financial markets, that has not, in my opinion, benefitted human civilization. What I mean to say, I suppose, is that these documents might be a good place to start a discussion with students about conformity and rebellion, orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and intellectual freedom and bondage.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Affective Fallacy

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Affective Fallacy The fallacy of judging the worth of a literary work by its emotional effect on the reader.”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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Common Errors in English Usage: Farther (adv), Further (adv)

Posted on August 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on differentiating the use of the adverbs farther and further. This is another document adapted from text found in Paul Brians’ book Common Errors in English Usage, which you may access for free at the Washington State University website.

What is the difference? Thanks for asking! Basically, usage sticklers insist on the use of farther for distances and further for extent of time or degree. Of course, in everyday discourse, these words are used interchangeably. In prose, however, the distinction might be well observed. In any case, one of the purposes of this series of worksheets (I have a hundred of them to post) is to help understand the concept of English usage, per the Common Core Standard in Language>Grade 11-12>1>b, “Resolve issues of complex or contested usage, consulting references (e.g., Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Garner’s Modern American Usage) as needed.”

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Folio

Posted on August 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Folio: A book or manuscript having pages of the largest common size, which is more than 30 cm (12 inches) in height. Also, a sheet of paper folded once to form two leaves.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

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A Learning Support on Writing the Imperative Sentence

Posted on August 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a learning support on writing the imperative sentence. This type of clause, as you know, issues an imperative, i.e. “the grammatical mood that expresses the will to influence the behavior of another.”

I wrote this document myself, synthesizing a variety of sources. I tried to keep this short, while integrating all the essential elements of this kind of construction–e.g. saying “please” when using an imperative sentence in speech or prose.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Write It Right: Cannot for Can

Posted on August 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Cannot for Can. ‘I cannot but go.’ Say, I can but go.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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Perpetrate (vt)

Posted on August 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb perpetrate. It means “to bring about or carry out (as a crime or deception),” “commit,” and “to produce, perform, or execute (something likened to a crime).”

You use this verb only transitively, so don’t forget your direct object: what did your perpetrator perpetrate? A crime? A pun? A fashion faux pas? Your call, but just be sure for the sake of good grammar and elegance of style that you make that call.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Ambrose Bierce on Philosophers

Posted on August 3, 2021 | Leave a comment

“All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.”

Ambrose Bierce

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

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