Tag Archives: readings/research

Word Origins: Bathos

Posted on September 4, 2026 | Leave a comment

“bathos: [M17th] This is a Greek word and was first recorded in English in the literal Greek sense ‘depth.’ The literary sense was introduced by Alexander Pope in the early 18th century. He published the Bathos in Miscellanies (third volume) in 1728, which was a lively satire giving descriptions of bad authors. Bathysphere [1930] for a spherical chamber that can be lowered into the depths of the sea, comes from the same source.”

Excerpted from: Creswell, Julia. Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

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Alfred Adler

Posted on August 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Alfred Adler: (1870-1937) Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist. A disciple of Sigmund Freud, Adler later rejected Freud’s emphasis on the libido and developed a system of ‘individual psychology.’ Adler maintained that, because of their dependence, all children begin with a sense of inferiority, which they can successfully overcome by developing a sense of their competence and their secure place in the social order. He coined the term ‘inferiority complex’ to describe the neurotic reaction by which one either succumbs to or overcompensates for feelings of inadequacy. His major work on the subject is The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology (1923). Cooperation Between the Sexes (1978) is a collection of his writings on women, love, marriage, and sexuality.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Cultural Literacy: Bibliography

Posted on August 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

OK, I am confident that this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the bibliography in form and function (which is a half-page long with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions and is straightforward enough to present to any student) has already been published elsewhere on this blog, most likely as a do-now in unit on writing research papers.

So here it is as an easy-to-search-and-find standalone post.

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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Albion

Posted on August 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Albion: An ancient and poetical name for Great Britain. It is thought to have been so called from the white (Lat, albus) cliffs that face Gaul, but possibly from the Celtic ailp, “rock; cliff; mountain.” It was Napoleon who called England Albion Perfide (Perfidious Albion).”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Heptameter

Posted on August 9, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Heptameter: In prosody, a line of verse containing seven metrical feet in any meter. It is usually identified together with the name of the meter: for example, iambic heptameter.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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The Doubter’s Companion: Bretton Woods

Posted on July 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Bretton Woods: A system for international financial management and stability which was put in place by the Allies, minus the Soviets, in 1944 and destroyed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon without consideration being given to a replacement.

Nixon hoped in this way to solve some short-term American economic problems by recreating the sort of financial disorder in which the largest power would be the best placed to benefit. It could be said that this was the single most evil act undertaken by a leader in the postwar period. Other leaders should be discouraged, however. The opportunity to do worse is perpetual.”

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

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Term of Art: Socratic Seminar

Posted on July 24, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Socratic seminar: A class discussion in which the teacher advances a lesson on a specific topic or text by interacting with students, continually asking challenging questions about an assigned reading and responding to the students’ answers by posing more questions. This method, proposed by Mortimer Adler in the Paideia, is intended to encourage students to think rather than just look for the ‘right’ answer. Socratic seminars are based on primary-source works of literature, philosophy, and history instead of textbooks. See also developmental lesson; Paideia Program.”

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

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Concepts in Economics: Command Economy

Posted on July 24, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Command economy: An economy operated by central planning.”

Excerpted from: Black, John, Nigar Hashimzade, and Gareth Miles. Oxford Dictionary of Economics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

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Four Sets of Questions to Support Students in Preparing Research Papers

Posted on July 24, 2026 | Leave a comment

Last, but possibly not least (I hope), from the past couple of years as a co-teacher in Jason Zanitsch’s senior English Language Arts class, here are four documents to support Jason’s Multi-Genre Research Project Unit. In this series of lessons, students are called upon to choose a topic to research–they are provided a list of potential topics, but strongly encouraged to pursue something they prefer–and present it to the class in a genre they choose: a video, a paper, a skit, a panel discussion, and so forth.

Along the way in this course, I’ve developed supports to assist students in this assignment–the post on solipsism, a dozen or so posts below this one is something I developed for this work. For today’s post, here are lists of questions to arouse students’ thinking on Assata Shakur, the Scottsboro Boys Case, the West Memphis Three Case, and the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

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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Action Painting

Posted on July 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Action Painting: Term coined by the American critic Harold Rosenberg to describe the dynamic, impulsive Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

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