Tuesday Trivia

Match the well-known work from Column A with it's author's lesser known work in Column B.

Column A
Jane Eyre
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Our Town
Death of a Salesman
Little Women
1984
The Glass Menagerie
Peter Pan
Invisible Man

Column B
Jonah’s Gourd Vine
Lulu’s Library
A Clergyman’s Daughter
The Creation of the World and other Business
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
The Matchmaker
Shirley
Juneteenth
Little Pussy Willow
The Admirable Crichton




Last Week's Answers


Which famous literary character was based on an Augustinian monk named Alonso Quizado?

Don Quixote



How many punctuation marks exist in English?


Fourteen: Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.




While most fans pronounce his last name rhyming with the word “juice,” how did Dr. Seuss pronounce his own name?

Seuss pronounced his name so that it rhymed with "rejoice."




Which author, made famous by his rags to riches tales, died completely broke despite his books’ wild success?


Horatio Alger, the man whose name symbolized success, did not profit at all from his books.




Who is the only person ever to decline a Pulitzer Prize for fiction?

Sinclair Lewis for his book Arrowsmith.

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups comes from CrankyLanguageLady.com. To find out more about the Cranky Language Lady, view sample pages from her new book, peruse her blog, or visit the website.

Grammar Quiz #14 — Picnic and Passive Voice

Sentences that use active voice are generally clearer and more concise than sentences that use passive voice. With active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb, rather than receiving it.


Rewrite the paragraph below so that all the sentences are in active voice.


The family members planning to attend the Fogarty family reunion were notified at the last minute by Aunt Amelia that they should not come. The fruit salad had been nibbled on by squirrels, and the potato chips had been soaked by a sprinkler accidentally turned on by Uncle Orville. Worse, the picnic table had been set on fire by little Orville, Jr., when a spark caught on the paper tablecloth. The flames had been noticed by the neighbors, and the fire department had been called. Aunt Amelia’s mood had not been improved when a lecture was given to her and Uncle Orville about the importance of teaching children not to play with matches.


View a possible revision here.

What are Teacher Reviewers Saying About Rhetorical Devices Power Presentation?

Recently, we received feedback on the Rhetorical Devices Powerpoint presentation from teachers on the Prestwick House National Curriculum Advisory Board. Read quotations from teachers below, check out FAQs, or find out more at PrestwickHouse.com!

"I loved the ability to click on a term on the Table of Contents page and see/view only the slides associated with that term. Also, alphabetical is logical and helpful when looking for those terms to teach or review."


"The terminology associated with rhetoric continues to give my students difficulty. This presentation serves multiple purposes: introduction, explanation/clarification, and review. For example, my AP Language students, even after a semester, still struggle to understand the differences between synecdoche and metonymy. The explanations and examples in this powerpoint I know will help them better understand the terms and their usages."


"A clear, concise selection of rhetorical terms that are foundational to the study of rhetoric that is well thought out, attractively presented, and extremely easy to use as an introductory set of lessons, a method of clarification and illustration, and a great review device as well."


"As AP Language teachers we often feel overwhelmed with the amount of material, terms, and concepts that we need to teach our students. I know the AP Language teachers in my department would find this product invaluable, not only in those first weeks of introducing the rhetoric terminology, but also as students learn to identify it, and skillfully incorporate many of the techniques into their own writing."


- Janice Mullan




"It is difficult to come up with clear, consistent definitions for rhetorical devices, provide examples, and truly illuminate. This does that job admirably. This is a time saver."


"Organization, number of examples provided, and the sense of humor present in the initial slide for each of the examples. It allows a teacher to ask a class, 'Looking at this sentence, what do YOU think the [insert name of rhetorical device here] does and how is it used?'"

- Leticia Geldart




"Yes!! I have not seen all of these terms in such a simple presentation before. What a gift for the AP Language teacher."


"The simplicity of the presentation is a strength. It introduces a huge amount of material in a clean and easily understood format."


"This product would be perfect for AP Language and Composition teachers and college composition teachers.It could be used on grades 9-12 when studying informational and non-fiction texts, such as essays, but some general level students might not understand the material without extra practice."

- Sara Zeek




"Knowledge of literary terms is necessary for competency in English Language Arts courses, and standardized state assessments include and require knowledge of terminology. The slides provide an enjoyable and effective alternative to lectures and handouts."


"The use of examples adds dimension to the definitions. Students will remember a definition when they can relate it to something they have read or heard about. While some of the terms are not taught in classrooms, it is easy to access the ones that will fit a particular curriculum."

- Cynthia Byers




"First off, I would definitely use this product in my AP Language & Composition classes, and I would also definitely recommend this product to fellow AP Language & Composition teachers, or any other Honors level class that deals specifically with Rhetorical Strategies/Devices."

"The usage of the Rhetorical Devices is well done, using them in a manner that is beneficial to the serious study of this subject, especially AP Language & Composition."

- Luis Garza

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which famous literary character was based on an Augustinian monk named Alonso Quizado?
2. How many punctuation marks exist in English?
3. While most fans pronounce his last name rhyming with the word “juice,” how did Dr. Seuss pronounce his own name?
4. Which author, made famous by his rags to riches tales, died completely broke despite his books’ wild success?
5. Who is the only person ever to decline a Pulitzer Prize for fiction?

Last Week's Answers

• Tristan and Isolde (Any set of even-older-than-King-Arthur tales)
• Lancelot and Guinevere (Any set of King Arthur tales)
• Philip Pirrip and Estella Havisham (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations)
• James Gatz and Daisy Fay (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby)
• Troilus and Criseyde (Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida)
• Jude Fawley and Susanna Bridehead (Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure)
• Robert Lebrun and Edna Pontellier (Kate Chopin, The Awakening)
• Maurice Hall and Alec Scudder (E. M. Forster, Maurice)
• Maurice Bendrix and Sarah Miles (Graham Green, The End of the Affair)
• George and Ellen Weatherall (Katherine Ann Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall)
• Tea Cake and Janie Crawford (Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God)
• Narcissus and Echo
• Pedro Muzquiz and Josefita De La Garza (Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate)
• Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl (Aztec Myth)

Jump, Shoot, Collect Gold, Have Existential Epiphany

by Jason Scott


Do you love The Great Gatsby and old timey (I’m talking clunky early 80’s style) video games? If so, check out this oddity.



It is a video game based on The Great Gatsby in which you, as Nick Carraway, search for gold that Gatsby has stashed around New York City. Be careful, though, because innumerable flappers and waiters with trays of drinks will try to prevent you from reaching the boat dock and the ultimate payoff: the realization that the green light across the bay represents a future that is a mirage which year-by-year recedes before us.


A note of caution: Share this site with students at your own risk. They may make the faulty assumption that the video game keeps to the plot of the book, or more likely, the even faultier assumption that F. Scott Fitzgerald started out in life as a video game programmer.

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups comes from CrankyLanguageLady.com. To find out more about the Cranky Language Lady, view sample pages from her new book, peruse her blog, or visit the website.

Grammar Quiz #13 — Apostrophes and Motherhood

Correct the following:

Charla didn't know what to do, her twin's birthday fell on the same day as her weekly night out with her girlfriends'. She hesitated but decided the twin's would understand that she needed time for herself. After all they were soon going to be four year's old.

View a possible answer.

Tuesday Trivia

Match each literary character below with his star-crossed lover:

Lancelot, Tristan, Pedro Muzquiz, Popocatépetl, Troilus, James Gatz, Maurice Bendrix, George, Tea Cake, Jude Fawley, Narcissus, Philip Pirrip, Robert Lebrun, Maurice Hall

• Isolde (Any set of even-older-than-King-Arthur tales)


• Guinevere (Any set of King Arthur tales)


• Estella Havisham (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations)


• Daisy Fay (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby)


• Criseyde (Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida)


• Susanna Bridehead (Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure)


• Edna Pontellier (Kate Chopin, The Awakening)


• Alec Scudder (E. M. Forster, Maurice)


• Sarah Miles (Graham Green, The End of the Affair)


• Ellen Weatherall (Katherine Ann Porter, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall")


• Janie Crawford (Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God)


• Echo


• Josefita De La Garza (Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate)


• Iztaccíhuatl (Aztec Myth)

Last Week's Answers



What are the four things that Ernest Hemingway once wrote that a man must do to demonstrate his manhood?


Plant a tree, fight a bull, write a book, and have a son.




Where did mystery writer Agatha Christie acquire her extensive knowledge of poisons?


Christie worked in a hospital dispensary during World War I




What famous writer made the first written reference to tennis in English literature?



In 1380, Geoffery Chaucer wrote of "playen racket to and fro " in Troilus and Criseyde.



Where does the book Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald get its name?



The title comes from Keats' poem “Ode to a Nightingale.”



Which British poet had an “M” for “murderer” branded on his left thumb?



Ben Jonson was branded as part of his punishment for killing an actor in a duel in 1598.

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups comes from CrankyLanguageLady.com. To find out more about the Cranky Language Lady, view sample pages from her new book, peruse her blog, or visit the website.

Grammar Quiz #12 — Quotations and Love

Correct the following:

“Love is a many-splendored thing.” said Gordon on Valentine’s Day. “It is.” agreed Della. “My love is like a red, red rose that’s newly sprung in June.” said Gordon. “Okay.” said Della. “I love you to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.” said Gordon. “You must not love me enough to come up with something original to say.” said Della. “Love is patient and kind…it is not arrogant or rude.” said Gordon, frowning at her. Della sighed. Then she whacked him with her box of chocolates, and left.

View a possible answer.

Tuesday Trivia

1. What are the four things that Ernest Hemingway once wrote that a man must do to demonstrate his manhood?
2. Where did mystery writer Agatha Christie acquire her extensive knowledge of poisons?
3. What famous writer made the first written reference to tennis in English literature?
4. Where does the book Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald get its name?
5. Which British poet had an “M” for “murderer” branded on his left thumb?

Last Week's Answer


Which American writer worked as an entertainer aboard a Swedish ocean liner cruising the Caribbean before being drafted to serve in World War II?

J. D. Salinger.


To whom did Helen Keller dedicate her autobiography, The Story of My Life?

She dedicated her book to inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who helped direct her education and considered himself, first and foremost, a teacher of the deaf.


What name did Oscar Wilde use during the last three years of his life in France?

Sebastian Melmoth


Who was the first writer to incorporate himself?

Edgar Rice Burroughs incorporated Tarzan in 1923.


Which American poet was a West Point cadet and was forced to leave after failing arithmetic and grammar after approximately two weeks?

Carl Sandburg

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups

The Cranky Language Lady: Wednesday Grammar Quiz for Grownups comes from CrankyLanguageLady.com. To find out more about the Cranky Language Lady, view sample pages from her new book, peruse her blog, or visit the website.

Grammar Quiz #11 — Commas and Vampires

Correct the following:

Well Diana tried to read Twilight but when she found herself counting how many times some form of the word “smolder” occured on each page she gave up. "The Twilight saga's translation rights have been sold in nearly 50 countries, and 116 million copies have been sold worldwide." It may have a lot of fans, but she is not one of them. Maybe she's just not a Vampire kinda person.

View a possible answer.