Tag Archives: professional development

Cultural Literacy: Comparative, Superlative

Posted on June 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

Here’s a pair of Cultural Literacy worksheets that must go out together: the the first on the comparative form of adjectives is a half-pager with a reading of two sentences, the second of them a long compound separated by several semicolons, and three comprehension questions . The second covers the superlative form of adjectives; this is a full-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences, the second a compound, with three comprehension questions and a fourth independent practice exercises

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.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Rhetorical Figure

Posted on June 15, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Rhetorical Figure: An artful arrangement of words to achieve a particular emphasis and effect, as in apostrophe, chiasmus, and zeugma. A rhetorical figure does not alter the meanings of words as a metaphor may do. The repetitions in these lines from Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “St Winefred’s Well” are rhetorical in their emphasis and echoing:

‘T. What is it, Gwen, my girl? Why do you hove and haund me?

W. You came by Caerwys, sir?

V.                                 I came by Caerwys

W.                                                   There

Some messenger there might have met/met you from my uncle.

T. Your uncle met the messenger-/met me; and this is the message:

Lord Bueno comes to night./

W.                                                To night, sir!'”

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , , ,

Tropic of Cancer

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Tropic of Cancer: A semi-autobiographical novel (1934) in experimental form by the US writer Henry Miller (1891-1980). Unashamedly exhibitionistic, the book reflects Miller’s bohemian life and sexual activities during the 1920s and 1930s. Tropic of Capricorn (1939) is a companion volume, recalling his childhood and earlier life in the United States. Both books were banned in the United States until the 1960s. Of Tropic of Cancer, the poet and critic Ezra Pound (1885-1972) commented: ‘At last an unprintable book which is readable.’ The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are two parallel lines either side of the Equator between which the sun can be directly overhead at noon. Miller commented that

‘Cancer is separated from Capricorn only by an imaginary line… You live like a rock in the midst of the ocean; you are fixed while everything about you is in turbulent motion.’

A film version (1970) was directed by Joseph Strick.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Review

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Review: A short notice of discussion or critical article in a paper, journal or periodical; (b) a journal or periodical containing articles on literature, art and philosophy. The Edinburgh Review is a famous example; so is the Quarterly Review. Publications like Horizon, Scrutiny, The London Magazine, Essays in Criticism, and Encounter might well be placed in this category.”

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , , ,

Dizzy Gillespie

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Leave a comment

Dizzy Gillespie: (originally John Birks) (1917-1993) U.S. jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleaders, one of the primary innovators of bebop. Born in Cheraw, South Carolina, Gillespie was influenced by Roy Eldridge and played with the big bands of Cab Calloway, Earl Hines, and Billy Eckstine before leading small groups in the mid-1940s. He pioneered bebop with saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Thelonious Monk. Bringing this approach to his big band in the late 1940s, Gillespie popularized the use of Afro-Cuban rhythms in jazz. Alternating between large and small ensembles for the rest of his career, his virtuosity and comic wit (in addition to his puffed cheeks and trademark 45° upturned trumpet bell) made him one of the most charismatic and influential musicians in jazz.

Excerpted/Adapted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , , , ,

Spectrum

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

“spectrum: Arrangement according to wavelength (or frequency) of electromagnetic radiation. The visible, ‘rainbow’ spectrum is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible as light to the human eye. Some sources emit only certain wavelengths and produce and emission spectrum of bright lines with dark spaces between. Such line spectra are characteristic of the elements that emit the radiation. A band spectrum consists of groups of wavelengths so close together that the lines appear to form a continuous band. Atoms and molecules absorb certain wavelengths and so remove them from a complete spectrum; the resulting absorption spectrum contains dark lines or bands at these wavelengths.”

Excerpted/Adapted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged ,

The Doubter’s Companion: Zealot

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Zealot: Someone who has the answer to a problem. Originally a religious fanatic given to violence, the zealot is a likely today to be a corporatist expert. They are, as Samuel Johnson defined them, ‘passionately ardent in any cause. They are the bearers of truth.’”

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Paragraph

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

“Paragraph: (Greek “side writing): Originally a short, horizontal stroke drawn below the beginning of a line in which there was a break in the sense. Now, for all practical purposes, a passage, or section, of subdivision in a piece of writing, Usually a paragraph deals with one particular point of aspect of the subject presented. It may vary greatly in length.”

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

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , ,

Dexter Gordon

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

Dexter (Keith) Gordon: (1923-1990) U.S. tenor saxophonist, one of the most influential saxophonists in modern jazz. Born in Los Angeles, Gordon played in the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Billy Eckstine in the early 1940s, later working in small groups with Charlie Parker, Tadd Dameron, and fellow tenorist Wardell Gray. He was incarcerated on narcotics charges in the early 1950s, and moved to Denmark in 1962. A starring role in the film Round Midnight (1986) revived his career.

Excerpted/Adapted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , , , , ,

Term of Art: Time on Task

Posted on June 6, 2022 | Leave a comment

“time on task: The number of minutes during an hour and the number of hours during a day that students spend actively engaged in learning in the classroom, as opposed to the amount of time changing classes, chatting, or engaging in other nonlearning situations.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,