Tag Archives: readings/research

Sulfa Drugs and World War II

Posted on August 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on sulfa drugs and World War II along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

While this material probably qualifies as minutia in the grand sweep of the history of World War II, it is in fact an important moment in the war. This reading is an exposition of cause and effect: by mass chemoprophylaxis (the act of administering medication in the hopes of preventing disease spread) with sulfa drugs, the US Navy saved an estimated 1 million man days and between $50 million and $100 million in 1944 dollars. Ultimately, penicillin replaced sulfadiazine, or sulfa drugs. It is just this kind of cause-and-effect scenario, in my observation in New York State, that tends to inform questions on high-stakes social studies tests.

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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Cultural Literacy: Franchise

Posted on August 12, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the business concept of a franchise. This is a half-page worksheet with a relatively dense three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. Surprisingly, in so brief a reading, all the relevant bases are covered in the relationship between a franchisor and a franchisee. So this is a thorough general introduction (I worked in a business- and finance-themed high school in Lower Manhattan for ten years, so I’m sure I wrote this for use in one or more classes), but there is plenty of room to expand this document, which is easily done since it is formatted in Microsoft Word.

I don’t want to belabor the point, but this worksheet as nothing to do with the the word franchise in the meaning for which it has recently been ubiquitous in the news (because of state legislatures across the United States seeking to restrict it), to wit, “a constitutional or statutory right or privilege; especially the right to vote.” In fact, if you click through on the link above in this paragraph, it will take you to Merriam-Webster’s extensive definition of this  polysemous word. Did you know it also has use as a verb, i.e. “to grant a franchise to”?

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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Kim Philby

Posted on August 11, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on Kim Philby along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I have always found Philby a fascinating figure.

But so are the rest of the so-called Cambridge Five. Without them, one wonders, would John LeCarre (real name David Cornwell) have become a novelist? Betrayal of one’s country and fellows was a preoccupation of LeCarre’s. These guys–Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, John Cairncross, and Donald Maclean–most certainly betrayed Great Britain.

This is another reading from the Intellectual Devotional series whose typescripts and ancillary worksheet I developed during the COVID19 pandemic. As of this writing, I haven’t used these documents in the classroom. Nonetheless, I have tagged them as high-interest materials because I am confident that for the right student(s), they will be.

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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Of Mice and Men

Posted on August 11, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Of Mice and Men: A novella (1937) by John Steinbeck (1902-68). It centers on two casual labourers, Lennie, a simple, sentimental giant who loves small animals but does not know his own strength, and his friend George. In a tragic ending, George’s efforts are not enough to keep Lennie out of the trouble that he has unwittingly brought upon himself. The title is from ‘To a Mouse’ by Robert Burns (1759-96):

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Gang aft agley,

And lea’e us nought but grief and pain,

For promised joy.

A film version (1939) was directed by Lewis Milestone.”

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

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Dwight D. Eisenhower

Posted on August 10, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on Dwight D. Eisenhower along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. 

This is a good general introductory biography of Ike; it includes information about his military service and his political career, including his firm support for enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education decision. What it doesn’t mention, and which it may serve as a convenient jumping-off point for, is his famous farewell address, in which he coined the term “Military-Industrial Complex.”

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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Alfred Adler on Neurosis

Posted on August 10, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Every neurotic is partly in the right.”

Alfred Adler

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

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3 Playwrights of Athens’ Golden Age

Posted on August 10, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Aeschylus * Sophocles * Euripides

The apogee of Classical Athens’ two-century-long golden age of literature was the generation who thought and wrote between 461 and 431 BC. Theatre-going Greeks of this time witnessed the high-minded and complex tragedies of Aeschylus, the graceful, measured characterization of Sophocles and the more emotional and passionately charged creations of Euripides.

It is fitting that they are remembered as a trio, for each year three tragic playwrights produced a trilogy of tragedies (and a farcical comedy) that was performed over three consecutive days to honor Dionysus. These festivals were held around the time of the spring equinox. No more than three actors were permitted on the stage at any one time, their faces and that of the chorus covered in masks. At the end of the festival, one of the playwrights was voted the winner and given the prize of a goat, for the word ‘tragedy’ derives from ‘goat song.’”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

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Garnish (vt)

Posted on August 10, 2021 | Leave a comment

It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, so here is a context clues worksheet on the verb garnish. It’s used only transitively, so don’t forget your direct object: you must garnish something.

The context in this worksheet seeks to elicit from students the culinary definition of garnish, to wit, “to add decorative or savory touches to (food or drink).” To that end, it might be complementary to this trove of documents I posted a couple of years ago for building a lexicon in the culinary arts.

In any event, garnish has a complicated etymology that includes the idea of garnishing wages (though, interestingly, a definition for that act–depriving someone of earnings to settle outstanding debts–is not part of the set of definitions for garnish as a verb), and “decorating,” “furnishing,” and “embellishing.” Another definition is “to equip with accessories.”  Whatever–that’s enough garnish on this blog 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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Glasnost

Posted on August 9, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on Glasnost along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. As I was a Russian and Soviet Studies student at both the undergraduate and graduate level, I can tell you that this one-page reading, from the Intellectual Devotional series, does justice to the topic.

Incidentally, the Russian word root glas means “voice.” So, while one popular definition of glasnost is “openness,” it also means, as this definition from Merriam-Webster’s connotes, the freedom to use one’s voice to discuss previously circumscribed or forbidden topics.

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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Cultural Literacy: Edwardian Period

Posted on August 9, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Edwardian Period in England, so named for King Edward VII, the eldest son of Queen Victoria.

This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two clauses, the second of which is a longish compound sentence. There are three comprehension questions. This worksheet may have greater or lesser utility, depending on how much you need or want students to know about this period in British history. This document if, of course, formatted in Microsoft Word, so you may manipulate it to your and your students’ needs.

Who knows, you might have someone in your class interested in the Teddy Boys, and this reading provides an entree into their fashion sense.

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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