Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

Cultural Literacy: Orpheus and Eurydice

Have you ever seen the movie Black Orpheus? It’s something I would love to use in the classroom, but I fear it may be a tad too complicated (fast-moving subtitles, for one thing, might cause some challenges) and subtle for the students I serve. It’s a masterpiece by any standard and available from the excellent Criterion Collection with an array of edifying extras.

So, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Orpheus and Eurydice that would, I think, serve as a useful adjunct to a viewing of the truly great film.

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.

Parsing Sentences Worksheets: Adjectives

Over time, I have begun to wonder if parsing sentences, somewhere along the line. I think not, at least in my classroom, which is why I wrote, and now pass along to you, these four worksheets for parsing adjectives in basic declarative sentences.

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.

The Weekly Text, July 27, 2018: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on the Treaty of Versailles

Apropos of that founding, this week’s Text is a reading on the Treaty of Versailles along with the comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. This is, I would think, a staple of global studies classes.

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.

Dialogue (n)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun dialogue, which is certainly a word high schoolers should know–and 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.

Cultural Literacy: The Jacobins

Here is a Cultural literacy worksheet on the Jacobins, which might come in handy with any social studies work related to the French Revolution and its legacy.

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.

A Learning Support on Writers’ Manuals

If you teach writing and want to supply your students with the tools for creating good prose, you might find this short bibliography of writers’ manuals a helpful handout.

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.

Dictate (vi/vt)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb dictate. You’ll notice it’s part of a pattern over the last several posts. In any case, it’s used both intransitively and transitively.

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: Diction

Choice of words with respect to clarity, variety, taste, etc.; aptness of vocabulary and phrasing; correctness of pronunciation; enunciation. Adjective: dictional; adverb: dictionally.

‘It is destructive enough to the novel’s texture to hear this “historical” Arthur speak in the diction of a mod labor candidate or an American president standing for re-election.'”

Alan Cheuse, The New York Times

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

Word Root Exercise: Dic and Dict

I’m sitting around revising word root worksheet, mainly adding cognate lists to them, so it seems as good a time as any to post this worksheet on the Latin roots dic and dict. They mean speech, to speak, and to proclaim (declare officially). This is a very productive root that is at the base of large number of words used in English (see above).

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.

Cultural Literacy: Middle English

You might find this Cultural Literacy worksheet on Middle English useful, particularly if you’re teaching The Canterbury Tales or Beowulf.

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.