Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Twain's Satire in "Advice to Youth" Speech

Students have  regular exposure to forms of mockery, ridicule, derision, scorn, or caricature on social media, on TV, on film, or Youtube, yet many still do not understand satire. Despite living in an atmosphere saturated 24/7 with “humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule that exposes and criticizes people’s stupidity or vices,” when students read satire, they say they just don’t “get it.” Perhaps […]

Posted inCommon Core, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy

Faulkner’s "I Decline to Accept the End of Man" Speech

American authors are studied in the secondary ELA classroom for their writing style and contributions to  literature. 20th Century writer William Faulkner (1897 –1962) is one such author whose short stories (A Rose for Emily, The Bear, Barn Burning) are often anthologized in textbooks. His novels ( As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!)are also featured in classrooms […]