Monthly Archives: October 2026

Cultural Literacy: Tariff

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the tariff as a means of raising revenue for governments. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of one sentence and one comprehension question. Under the circumstances, I think it might be useful to press this document into service as the initial step in answering the question “Who really pays tariffs on a good, in the final analysis?”

I should have posted this a year or eighteen months ago.

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.

Editorial

“Editorial (noun): A newspaper of magazine column that voices the opinions of the editors or publisher, usually about an issue of current importance or interest; fervid or long-winded harangue. Adjective: editorial; adverb: editorially

‘He knew he could probably write smarter editorials if he read The Brothers Karamazov and some of the other great works of all time, but there was the trouble: if he sat around reading the great works of all time, how would he ever get his editorials written?’ Richard Yates, A Good School”

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

A Writing Tools Quick List from Roy Peter Clark

OK, here is a learning support in the form of a a Writing Tools Quick List from legendary journalist and journalism teacher, Roy Peter Clark. This material, which is adapted from Mr. Clark’s book Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer (New York: Little Brown, 2008), is a simple two-page outline. This is a book that is heavily covered–and generally astutely–in a variety of blogs across the Internet. So if this post is inadequate, simply search the book’s title in your favorite search engine.

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.

The Doubter’s Companion: Citizen

“Citizen: The individual is essentially a citizen.

This is reality inherited from Athens. We have little choice but to accept it since democracy cannot function in any other way. It is possible to hop along in a one-legged manner with citizens voting from time to time but refusing to participate and being denied most of their obligations. The result is a superficial, even dishonest, system and a population constantly dissatisfied with itself.

If the individual is not first a citizen, then the obligations and privileges which go with that status are effectively lost and the person ceases, to all intents and purposes, to be an individual.”

Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.

 

The Weekly Text, 9 October 2026: Five Homophone Worksheets on the Noun and Verb Hoard and the Noun Horde

This week’s Text is five homophone worksheets on the noun and verb hoard, and on the noun horde. These are full-page worksheets with five modified cloze exercises, below comprehensive definitions of the words under study. Although these are formatted as full-page documents, they are really only a half-page in length; I thought teachers might want some white space for composing practice sentences for independent practice or what have you.

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.

Acrylic Resin Paint

“Acrylic Resin Paint: An oil-compatible synthetic medium which is thinned with linseed oil and turpentine.”

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

Common Errors in English Usage: Near, Nearly

Adapted from text in Paul Brians’ book Common Errors in English Usage (which he allows unfettered, no-cost access to at his Washington State University web page), here is a worksheet on the use of adverbs near and nearly. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of one sentence and ten modified cloze exercises.

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.

Term of Art: Retrieval

“retrieval: The searching and finding process that leads to recognition and recall, bringing information out of long-term memory.”

Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.

Cultural Literacy: Topic Sentence

Here is Cultural Literacy worksheet on the topic sentence as a unit of composition in a paragraph. This is a half-page document with a reading of two sentences and two comprehension questions. A basic, symmetrical, and surprisingly thorough exposition of the form and function of a topic sentence.

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.

Aestheticism

“Aestheticism: Generally, a term applied to a way of perceiving things that was common among the writers and artists of the 19th century who adhered to the doctrine of art for art’s sake. The movement, or cult, was largely influenced by German romantics, particularly Goethe. Because of the quest for beauty and the insistence that art should serve no moral or didactic purpose, it was related with the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Parnassians. Major exponents of aestheticism in America were Edgar Allan Poe and Ralph Waldo Emerson.”

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