In 1954, it was the bloody nadir for French forces in Vietnam, something this Cultural Literacy worksheet on Dienbienphu makes sure to mention. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two simple sentences, followed by three comprehension questions.
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.
“Rabindranath Tagore: Bengali poet, writer, composer, and painter. The son of Debendranath Tagore, he published several books of poetry, including Manasi, in his twenties. His later religious poetry was introduced to the West in Gitanjali (1912). Through international travel and lecturing, he introduced aspects of Indian culture to the West and vice versa. He spoke ardently in favor of Indian independence; as a protest against the Massacre of Amritsar, he repudiated the knighthood he had received in 1915. He founded an experimental school in Bengal where he sought to blend Eastern and Western philosophies; it became Vishva-Bharati University (1921). He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Here is a reading on Iwo Jima along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet in observance of Week III of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023. This is of course, a topic in United States history as well. The battle fought on the island of Iwo Jima produced one of the most iconic war photographs, that of the United States flag being raised there, of the Second World War–and perhaps ever. That photograph inspired the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.
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.
“Joruri: Originally a genre of popular song in Japan, accompanied first by the biwa (Japanese lute) and later by the samisen (Japanese banjo), it was adapted as the musical narrative for the Japanese puppet theater (Bunraku). The person who chants the joruri is known as the giddayu, Joruri is not a dramatic form, but rather is the chanted narration of tales often dramatic in nature.”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged asian-pacific history, drama/theater, music, professional development
Moving right along, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Korean War. This full-page document contains a reading of nine sentences–and the seventh of them is a compound separated by a semicolon, which may require editing for emergent and struggling readers–followed by eight comprehension questions. In other words, unlike a lot of the half-page, do-now length Cultural Literacy worksheets you’ll find on this blog, this document could be the mainstay of a lesson introducing a unit on the Korean War.
In any event, like most of what you’ll find on Mark’s Text Terminal, this is a Microsoft Word document that you can alter to suit the needs of your students.
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.
“Cooling, so cooling,
With a wall against my feet,
Midday sleep—behold.”
Poem (translation by Bernard Lionel Einbond)
Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
For some reason, as a middle-and high-school student, I struggled with the concept of Asia Minor–and continued to do so well into my twenties. This Cultural Literacy worksheet on Asia Minor, with its one-sentence reading and two comprehension questions is a simple solution to my problem. Might it be for your students as well?
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.
“Mohenjo Daro: Ancient city on the bank of the Indus River, in present-day southern Pakistan. At about 3 miles (5 kilometers) in circuit, it was the largest city of the Indus civilization in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC, and it probably served as the capital of and extensive state. It was fortified and its citadel contained, according to archaeological finds, an elaborate bath, a granary, and two halls of assembly.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Posted in Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
On week II of Asian American Pacific Islander Month 2023, here is reading on the Gulf War along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Nota bene, please, that these documents deal with the first Gulf War, which effectively began when Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. The war itself, or at least the 39-country military coalition’s (which, as the Wikipedia page accurately points out, was “spearheaded by the United States”) involvement, began in 17 January 1991 and was over by 28 February in that year.
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.
“Fables of Bidpai: An Arabic version of a collection of Indian fables common to Buddhism and Brahminism, also known as Kalilah and Dimnah. They were collected in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and translated into Persian about AD 55. Bidpai means court scholar, and the allegorical animal stories are told as a wise man’s advice to a young Indian price.”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
Mark's Text Terminal 
You must be logged in to post a comment.