Monthly Archives: November 2021

The Devil’s Dictionary: Novel

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Novel, n. A short story padded. A species of composition bearing the same relation to literature that the panorama bears to art. As it is too long to be read at a sitting the impressions made by it successive parts are successively effaced, as in the panorama. Unity, totality of effect, is impossible; for besides the few pages last read all that is carried in mind is the mere plot of what has gone before. To the romance the novel is what photography is to painting.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000. 

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Common Errors in English Usage: Hero (n), Protagonist (n)

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Once again, with material adapted from Paul Brians’ book Common Errors in English Usage, here is a worksheet on understanding the difference between a hero and a protagonist in a work of drama, fictional prose, or poetry. This is a full-page worksheet with a paragraph of reading from Professor Brians’ book followed by ten modified cloze exercises to help students distinguish these two words and the important concepts in English language arts that they represent.

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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Line Engraving

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Line engraving: An intaglio engraving process in which the design is drawn by incising lines directly into a metal plate with a burin; the burr is removed, leaving a clean groove to receive the ink, which is transferred to paper under the pressure of the press.”

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

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Word Root Exercise: Ig, Il, In, Im, Ir

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Latin roots ig, il, in, im, ir; they mean not and without. These are though of in English language arts classes as prefixes, which they are for the purposes of this worksheet. You’ll find these root at the beginning of many high-frequency words in English adjectives in English such as ignorant and illegal. And while words like illegible, immutable, incongruous, and irrefutable (all present in this document) are less frequently used in common discourse, they are quite useful in academic 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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Term of Art: Theme School

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

“theme schools: Schools that emphasize a particular set of activities or ideas that they think will appeal to students. For example, some schools are dedicated to technology, whereas others focus on the performing arts or on specific vocations. As the movement for small schools accelerated in the 1990s and the early 21sst century, there was a large increase in the number of theme high schools, some with esoteric or highly specialized themes (e.g., the sports professions or world architecture).”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

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Cultural Literacy: D-Day

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on D-Day. This is a half-pager, with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. The sparest of introductions, I imagine this document has only specific uses in a classroom. Review? It’s a Microsoft Word document, so you can copy and paste out of it as you like.

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: Had Better for Would Better

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Had better for Would better. This is not a defensible as an idiom, as those who always used it before their attention was directed to it take the trouble to point out. It comes of such contractions as he’d for he would, I’d for I would. These clipped words are erroneously restored as ‘he had,’ ‘I had.’ So we have such monstrosities as ‘He had better beware,’ ‘I had better go.’”

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

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Two-Bit (adj)

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective two-bit. I wonder if anyone knows these days that two bits means twenty-five cents. Two-bit, therefore, means “cheap or trivial of its kind,” “petty, and “small-time”; this document is keyed to those definitions as well.

Unless you plan to teach a reading unit on Damon Runyon, or cast a production of Guys and Dolls, I can’t imagine why any student needs to learn this vanishing adjective. I can, however, imagine, that this was the Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster at a moment in life when I had some time on my hands.

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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E.M. Cioran on the History of Ideas

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

“The history of ideas is the history of the grudges of solitary men.”

E.M. Cioran

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

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Ku Klux Klan

Posted on November 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on the Ku Klux Klan along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I have almost posted these documents a number of times over the years, but always hesitated and returned them to the warehouse. I think, or at least hope, that the entirety of this blog exposes my attitude toward the KKK–I think they are a dangerous group of racists and hatemongers who bear watching–hence this reading.

Once again, the editors of the Intellectual Devotional series have not equivocated and in one page detailed the crimes of the Klan and its threat to the civil rights of people it hates. I think students really deserve the plain facts of this hate group’s existence and its aims. This short reading serves as a good general introduction to the KKK.

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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