Shameless Plug - One Shot Quick Activities

Never fear, dear fellow English teacher - your Daily Dose of EOC is just a scroll away.

 As we head into the fourth quarter, you find yourself in need of a one-day lesson.  You can get a couple of them from the XET Teacher-Pay-Teachers Store:

Writing Formal Emails - walks your kids through how to format and write an email for when they need to sound professional.  Good for leaving with a substitute since the students can walk themselves through the presentation.

Title Punctuation and Capitalization - by high school, they should already know this, but most do not.

Practicing Inference Using Proverbs - Three one-day activities - students can work together or on their own to figure out the meaning behind these sayings.

Context Clues Practice - American Flag Edition - can they figure out the meaning of these words used in the Pledge of Allegiance and the "Star Spangled Banner"?  

Of course, here at Extreme English Teacher, we are not out to take all of your hard-earned paycheck, you can search the tag LESSON IDEAS and QUICK LESSONS get some freebies over at https://extremeenglishteacher.blogspot.com/!

Look Closely

Look at the following logo:

This is an example of:

a. archetype
b. hyperbole
c. allusion
d. alliteration








Scroll down for the answer.








_________________________
c. is correct.  The winged foot in the middle is a reference to Hermes, Greek god of messengers.  He is really, really fast and so it Goodyear.

~

For Sweden!

Read the following quote:

“Hatred is a leech: The thing that sticks to a person's skin; that feeds off them and drains the sap out of one's spirit. It changes a person, and does not leave until it has sucked the last drop of peace from them.”

― Chigozie Obioma, The Fishermen

What literary device is used in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Irony 

C) Hyperbole

D) Personification

Scroll down for the answer.

________________________________________

There a few literary terms that will fit this answer, but of the one listed above that matches best, it would be: A

Thanks to Dorian for the question!  Don't understand the For Sweden title?  Neither do I!  Somebody ask Dorian for me!

I'm Waiting...

Read this very short story by Eileen Gunn

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?

What is the purpose of the question at the end of the story?

a. to imply that we cannot trust computers to take care of our needs

b. to infer that the batteries were not brought

c. to point out the situational irony in a computer knowing about batteries

d. to play on the archetypal symbolism of batteries

Scroll down for the answer.

________________________

O.K., not a hard one.  You guys all got the correct answer was b.  The question implies that the computer is not answering due to the fact that the batteries are dead and no new ones were brought.

I'll try to come up with a harder one tomorrow.

I Thought It Was a Punctuation Mark

Read the following words spoken by Macbeth in the play aptly named Macbeth.  He is on his way to the king's room to kill him when he sees a dagger floating in the air in front of him:

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand?
Come, let me clutch thee!
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

What is the purpose of the apostrophe in the above lines?

a. to show which weapon Macbeth will use to commit a murder

b. to show Macbeth's unstable state of mind

c. to provide imagery for the audience to envision the background

d. to show that Macbeth is not a killer

Scroll down for the answer.

________________________________

Two things are helpful in getting this question correct.  One is having read the story previously and the other is to know what an apostrophe is.  An apostrophe is speaking to an object that has no capacity to respond (similar but the not the same as personification).  Knowing this will lead you to think that if he is talking to a dagger that floats before him and cannot be touched, he must be freaking out.  That will bring you to either b. or d.  If you've read the story, you know that Macbeth is indeed a killer.  He starts the play by chopping a man in half.  The correct answer is b.  

You Get My Meaning

Read the following:

The Bundle of Sticks



An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a bundle of sticks, and said to his eldest son: "Break it." The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but none of them was successful. "Untie the bundle," said the father, "and each of you take a stick." When they had done so, he called out to them: "Now, break," and each stick was easily broken. "You see my meaning," said their father.


What is his meaning?
a. together you are stronger
b. you will all die like me one day no matter how strong you are
c. life stinks
d. it is a shame to break good things








Scroll down for the answer.










____________________
a. is the correct answer

The Martian

In the following passage from Andy Weir's novel The Martian, we have excerpts from the protagonist's daily journal that he is using to record his efforts to survive.  The protagonist has been stranded on Mars and presumed dead.  He is trying to keep the equipment he has running and generate enough food and water to keep him alive until someone can rescue him.  Read the following selection:

LOG ENTRY: SOL 36
     I've now grown accustomed to hearing the alarms blare at all times.  The fire alarm has finally stopped, now that there's no more fire.  The low oxygen alarm should stop soon.  The high humidity alarm will take a little longer.  The water reclaimer has its work cut out for today.
     For a moment, there was yet another alarm.  The water reclaimer's main tank was full.  Booyah! That's the kind of problem I want to have!
     Remember the space suit I vandalized yesterday?I hung it on its rack and carried buckets of water to it from the reclaimer. It can hold an atmosphere of air.  It should be able to handle a few buckets of water.
     Man I'm tired.  Been up all night, and it's time to sleep.  But I'll drift off to dreamland in the best mood I've been in since Sol 6.
   Things are finally going my way.  In fact, they're going great!  I have a chance to live after all!

LOG ENTRY: SOL 37
     I am screwed, and I'm going to die!
     


What literary term is the author using to increase the intensity and suspense?

a. imagery
b. dramatic irony
c. foreshadowing
d. juxtaposition

Scroll down for the answer.








__________________________________________
a. is incorrect.  While there is some imagery involved, it is not being used to create suspense or intensity.
b. is incorrect.  We do not know what the protagonist doesn't know.
c. is incorrect.  While there may be some foreshadowing going on, we do not have enough of the text to see if it develops into anything.  
d. is correct.  Juxtaposition is when change in two different scenes has meaning.  Here, we are all set up to think that things are finally working for him.  Then the next entry shows differently. 


O.K., I admit.  I changed a word in order to make it appropriate for all the young impressionable children out there.  I hang my head in censorship shame.