Monthly Archives: June 2022

The Thin Man

Posted on June 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

“The Thin Man: A comedy-mystery film (1934), starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as the ever-bantering and happily tippling husband-and-wife team Nick and Nora Charles, who, with the aid of their wire-haired terrier Asta, investigate the disappearance of the tall, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis), who is the ‘Thin Man’ of the title. The screenwriters Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich based their sparkling script on the novel The Thin Man (1932) by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), who is said to have based the wisecracking and mutual teasing of Nick and Nora on his own relationship with the playwright Lillian Hellman (1905-84). There were several more Thin Man films, generally less successful than the first.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

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Cultural Literacy: Comparative, Superlative

Posted on June 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here’s a pair of Cultural Literacy worksheets that must go out together: the the first on the comparative form of adjectives is a half-pager with a reading of two sentences, the second of them a long compound separated by several semicolons, and three comprehension questions . The second covers the superlative form of adjectives; this is a full-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences, the second a compound, with three comprehension questions and a fourth independent practice exercises

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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Rhetorical Figure

Posted on June 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Rhetorical Figure: An artful arrangement of words to achieve a particular emphasis and effect, as in apostrophe, chiasmus, and zeugma. A rhetorical figure does not alter the meanings of words as a metaphor may do. The repetitions in these lines from Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “St Winefred’s Well” are rhetorical in their emphasis and echoing:

‘T. What is it, Gwen, my girl? Why do you hove and haund me?

W. You came by Caerwys, sir?

V.                                 I came by Caerwys

W.                                                   There

Some messenger there might have met/met you from my uncle.

T. Your uncle met the messenger-/met me; and this is the message:

Lord Bueno comes to night./

W.                                                To night, sir!'”

Excerpted from: Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. New York: Penguin, 1992.

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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Celebrate

Posted on June 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

Alrighty then (as Ace Ventura is wont to say), classes have ended in New York City high schools, and we’re into a round of mindless though high-stakes testing to enrich corporate educational publishers. So, as we reach the end of the school year, now seems as good a time as any to post this document on the verb celebrate as it is used with gerunds following it.

Incidentally, celebrate has both intransitive and transitive use.

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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Tropic of Cancer

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Tropic of Cancer: A semi-autobiographical novel (1934) in experimental form by the US writer Henry Miller (1891-1980). Unashamedly exhibitionistic, the book reflects Miller’s bohemian life and sexual activities during the 1920s and 1930s. Tropic of Capricorn (1939) is a companion volume, recalling his childhood and earlier life in the United States. Both books were banned in the United States until the 1960s. Of Tropic of Cancer, the poet and critic Ezra Pound (1885-1972) commented: ‘At last an unprintable book which is readable.’ The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are two parallel lines either side of the Equator between which the sun can be directly overhead at noon. Miller commented that

‘Cancer is separated from Capricorn only by an imaginary line… You live like a rock in the midst of the ocean; you are fixed while everything about you is in turbulent motion.’

A film version (1970) was directed by Joseph Strick.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Can’t Help

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

OK, last and probably least this morning, here is a on the verb phrase can’t help as it is used with gerunds. I’ve commented previously on my general dissatisfaction with these, but I’ll keep posting them until someone complains (which is unlikely).

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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Review

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Review: A short notice of discussion or critical article in a paper, journal or periodical; (b) a journal or periodical containing articles on literature, art and philosophy. The Edinburgh Review is a famous example; so is the Quarterly Review. Publications like Horizon, Scrutiny, The London Magazine, Essays in Criticism, and Encounter might well be placed in this category.”

Excerpted from: Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. New York: Penguin, 1992.

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Certify (vt), Certificate (n)

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here’s a pair of context clues worksheets that should go out together: the first on the verb certify and the second on the noun certificate.

Certify is used only transitively. It carries a variety of meanings, but for the context in which this worksheet embeds the verb, , it means “to attest authoritatively,” “confirm,” and “to attest as being true or as represented or as meeting a standard.” A certificate is what one receives when the definition of certify has been met in practice.

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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Dizzy Gillespie

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

Dizzy Gillespie: (originally John Birks) (1917-1993) U.S. jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleaders, one of the primary innovators of bebop. Born in Cheraw, South Carolina, Gillespie was influenced by Roy Eldridge and played with the big bands of Cab Calloway, Earl Hines, and Billy Eckstine before leading small groups in the mid-1940s. He pioneered bebop with saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Thelonious Monk. Bringing this approach to his big band in the late 1940s, Gillespie popularized the use of Afro-Cuban rhythms in jazz. Alternating between large and small ensembles for the rest of his career, his virtuosity and comic wit (in addition to his puffed cheeks and trademark 45° upturned trumpet bell) made him one of the most charismatic and influential musicians in jazz.

Excerpted/Adapted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 10 June 2022: Summer of Soul Lesson 2

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

The second Friday of June 2022 brings from Mark’s Text Terminal the second lesson plan of the Summer of Soul unit I wrote this spring to capitalize on the interest in this superlative documentary–especially when it won a much-deserved Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and accrued similar honors at just about every film festival held in North America in 2021. This lesson accompanies a viewing of the film: I composed these ten questions to guide viewing of the film in order to meet the unit’s learning objectives, which is an investigation into why the 50 hours of footage shot at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival never took a “seat at the table” when film production budgets were handed out.

That’s it. No do-now; students just jump right in to a viewing of the film. The third lesson will appear next Friday.

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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