Tag Archives: diction/grammar/style/usage

Truth

Posted on June 20, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on truth along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. This is an Intellectual Devotional reading on truth as a problem in philosophy; like most of the readings I’ve developed into avenues of inquiry, this is a good general introduction to the problem of truth. But make no mistake: truth is a complex and often tendentious topic in philosophical discussions. Student interested in the topic will soon need something more substantial than this set of documents.

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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Common Errors in English Usage: Importantly (adv), Important (adj)

Posted on June 20, 2022 | Leave a comment

With text from Paul Brians’ book Common Errors in English Usage, here is a worksheet differentiating the use of importantly and important. The first word is an adverb, the second an adjective; the reading does a nice job of guiding students through the differences in these two words and how to use them.

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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Theme

Posted on June 20, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Theme: Properly speaking, the theme of a work is not its subject but rather its central idea which may be stated directly or indirectly. For example, the theme of Othello is jealousy. See LEITMOTIF; MOTIF.”

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

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Argue (vi/vt)

Posted on June 20, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb argue. For the purposes of this document, argue is used transitively to mean, variously, “to give evidence of,” “to consider the pros and cons of,” “to prove or try to prove by giving reasons,” and “to persuade by giving reasons.”

This document doesn’t deal fully with this word, or its implications for student’s academic work. If you need or want more material on argumentation, you can enter the word in the search box on your right, or simply click on argumentation in the word cloud just below the search box.

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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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Delay

Posted on June 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

OK, last, and most likely least, this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb delay used with a gerund. Please don’t delay downloading your copy of this document.

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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Thesis

Posted on June 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Thesis: Three meanings may be distinguished: a. a long essay or treatise presented for a degree; b. a proposition to be proved; c. the unstressed syllable of a metrical foot (e.g. thesis itself is a trochaic word on which the second syllable is unstressed).”

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

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Word Root Exercise: Spect, Spec, Spic

Posted on June 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Latin word roots spect, spec, and spic. This productive root in English means “to look” and “to see.” You’ll find it in such high-frequency words as aspect, prospect, respect, and inspect–all of which you’ll find on this worksheet; you’ll also find specious, a less-used adjective but a useful one nonetheless. It means “having deceptive attraction or allure” and   “having a false look of truth or genuineness.”

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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The Weekly Text, 17 June 2022: Summer of Soul Lesson 3

Posted on June 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

If you’ve been following along for the past couple of Fridays, then here is the third lesson plan of the Summer of Soul unit I wrote last spring to take advantage of high interest in that superb documentary and the events it records and assesses. To carry out this lesson, the third of four, I begin with this short reading with three comprehension questions on the Baby Boomer generation as a do-now exercise. The primary work of this lesson involves this truncated reading on Woodstock and its accompanying discussion guide and note-taking worksheet.

If you would prefer longer-form materials on Woodstock, you’ll find those here. Otherwise, that’s it for another week.

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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Common English Verbs Followed by Gerunds: Consider

Posted on June 16, 2022 | Leave a comment

Last but not least this morning, here is a worksheet on the verb consider as it is used with gerunds. I hope you will consider looking at it.

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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Write It Right: Commit Suicide

Posted on June 16, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Commit Suicide. Instead if ‘He committed suicide,’ say, He killed himself, or, He took his life. For married we do not say ‘committed matrimony.’ Unfortunately most of us do say ‘got married,’ which is almost as bad. For lack of a suitable verb we just sometimes say committed this or that, as in the instance of bigamy, for the verb to bigam is a blessing that is still in store for us.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. Write it Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2010.

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