“Parents should conduct their arguments in quiet, respectful tones, but in a foreign language. You’d be surprised what an inducement that is to the education of children.”
Excerpted from: Sherrin, Ned, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations. New York: Oxford University Press. 1996.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the National Organization for Women. This is a somewhat crowded half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences and three comprehension questions. This might be better, if for no other reason than clean design, as a one-page worksheet: I notice I wrote the questions in such a way that they would fit into a half page. The reading supports more than three questions–and that’s without asking critical questions about the material.
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.
“Alice Childress: (1916-1994) U.S. playwright, novelist, and actress. She grew up in Harlem and studied drama with the American Negro Theater, where she wrote, directed, and starred in her first play, Florence (produced 1949). Her other plays, some featuring music, include Trouble in Mind (produced 1955), String (1969), The African Garden (1971), and Gullah (1984). She was also a successful writer of children’s books, including A Hero Ain’t Nothing But a Sandwich (1973).”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Minerva; she is, as you probably know, the Roman goddess of wisdom, therefore the Roman version of Athena.
This is a half-page worksheet with a one-sentence reading and one comprehension question.
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.
“Audre (Geraldine) Lorde: (1934-1992) U.S. poet and essayist. Born in New York City to West Indian parents, she worked as a librarian until 1968, when he began to write full-time. She is best known for her passionate writing on lesbian feminism and racial issues, including Cables to Rage (1970), New York Head Shop and Museum (1974), and The Black Unicorn (1978), often called her finest work. Her battle with cancer inspired The Cancer Journals (1980) and A Burst of Light (1988, National Book Award).”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
We’ve now turned the corner into Women’s History Month 2026. Mark’s Text Terminal opens its observance of this month with this reading on Zora Neale Hurston along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
Whether or not one teaches Hurston’s novels, it seems to me that students, by the time they graduate high school, ought to know about this important figure in United States cultural and intellectual history.
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.
Posted in New York City, Social Sciences
Tagged black history, united states history, women's history
“Alice (Malsenior) Walker: (b.1944) U.S. writer. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Walker moved to Mississippi after attending Spelman and Sarah Lawrence colleges and became involved with the civil-rights movement. Her works are noted for their insightful treatment of African-American culture. Her third and most popular novel, The Color Purple (1982; Pulitzer Prize; film, 1985), depicts a black woman’s struggle for racial and sexual equality. Her later novels include The Temple of My Familiar (1989) and Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992). She has also written essays, some collected in In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens (1983); several books of poetry; short stories; and children’s books.
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
[Addendum: The Color Purple was filmed a second time, in 2023; this second film adaptation was based on the Broadway musical of The Color Purple.]
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Pocahontas. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three sentences and three comprehension question. Just the basics on this important, but misunderstood, figure in American history.
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.
The Weekly Text for 5 September 2025, for some reason, is this reading on coeducation and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. I have only the faintest idea of why I developed this material; I vaguely recall a class that didn’t believe me when I told them that men and women were–and are (e.g. Smith, Mount Holyoke, both part of the Five College Consortium, which includes my alma mater, Hampshire College)–educated separately in many colleges and universities in the United States.
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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