Category Archives: Reference

These are materials for teachers and parents, and you’ll find, in this category, teachers copies and answer keys for worksheets, quotes related to domain-specific knowledge in English Language Arts and social studies, and quotes on issues of professional concern. See the Taxonomies page for more about this category.

A Thought for the New Year from Christa McAuliffe

Posted on December 22, 2017 | Leave a comment

“I touch the future. I teach.”

Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Achievement

Posted on December 21, 2017 | Leave a comment

“Achievement, n. The death of endeavor and the birth of disgust.”

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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Oscar Wilde on Learning from Mistakes

Posted on December 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

“Experience is that name everyone gives to their mistakes.”

Oscar Wilde

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

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Horace Mann’s Memo from the Nineteenth Century

Posted on December 19, 2017 | Leave a comment

“A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.”

Horace Mann (1756-1859)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.

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Rotten Rejections: The Ginger Man

Posted on December 18, 2017 | Leave a comment

“…publication of The Ginger Man would not be a practical proposition in this country. So much of the text would have to be excised that it would almost destroy the story, and even a certain amount of rewriting would not overcome the problem…. I do not think you will find another publisher who would be willing to undertake the publication under present circumstances.”

Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Absolute

Posted on December 15, 2017 | Leave a comment

“Absolute, adj. [1.] Independent, irresponsible. An absolute monarchy is one in which the sovereign does as he pleases so long as he pleases the assassins. Not many absolute monarchies are left, most of them having been replaced by limited monarchies, where the sovereign’s power for evil (and for good) is greatly curtailed, and by republics, which are governed by chance. [2.] In Philosophy existing without reference to anything, and for a purely selfish purpose. Absolute certainty is one of the possible degrees of probability. Absolute monarchy is a form of government in which the chief power is vested in a gentleman who is near his end.”

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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Xenophon’s 10,000 Mercenaries

Posted on December 14, 2017 | Leave a comment

“Xenophon’s Anabasis tells the story of 10,000 elite Greek mercenaries who are left isolated on the losing side of a Persian civil war and fight their way across the mountain tribes of Anatolia to reach the safety of the Black Sea coast. The history of this march in 401 BC was the original story of swashbuckling adventure against the odds and was said to have inspired Philip of Macedon to take on the Persians. T.E. Lawrence had the book in his camel bag during the Arab revolt of 1916. And more recently, transplanted to the gangs of New York, it became the Warriors video game.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

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Rotten Reviews: Tom Wolfe

Posted on December 13, 2017 | Leave a comment

I: The Kandy-Kolored, Tangerine-Flake, Streamlined Baby

“One wants to say to Mr. Wolfe; you’re so clever, you can write so well, tell us something interesting.”

Saturday Review

II: The Painted Word

“There is plenty of hot air in this particular balloon, but I don’t see it going anywhere.”

John Russell, New York Times Book Review

Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.

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Realia: A Cool Word I Hadn’t Heretofore Known

Posted on December 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

“re·a·lia \rē-ˈa-lē-ə, -ˈā-\ n pl [LL, neut. pl. of realis real] (1937)  : objects or activities used to relate classroom teaching to the real life esp. of peoples studied.”

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (Kindle Locations 297566-297568). Merriam-Webster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

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Memorandum to “Tax Cutters” from Mary McCarthy

Posted on December 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

“Congress—these, for the most part, illiterate hacks whose fancy vests are spotted with gravy, and whose speeches , hypocritical, unctuous, and slovenly, are spotted also with the gravy of political patronage.”

Mary McCarthy

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

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