DAILY SPARK
Your city council is considering a ban
on smoking in your town’s
restaurants. The members of the
council have asked for input from the
public. Write a letter weighing in on
the subject.
#76
TO SMOKE OR NOT TO SMOKE
WRITING
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LL Vocab
2.6.17
1: FIRE; especially : a large
disastrous fire <The conflagration
destroyed the warehouses.>
2: CONFLICT, WAR <The
conflagration between the two
countries lasted for ten years.>
CONFLAGRATION
(N.)
transitive verb
: to make lucid especially by
explanation or analysis <elucidate
a text>
intransitive verb
: to give a clarifying explanation
ELUCIDATE
(V.)
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Words in Use
2.6.17
from “When It’s Too Late to Stop
Fascism, According to Stefan Zweig”
The destruction of a symbolic edifice—a
blaze that caused no loss of life—became the
pretext for the government to begin
terrorizing its own civilian population. That
fateful conflagration took place less than
thirty days after Hitler became Chancellor.
from “Scaled-up Malaria Control
Efforts Breed Insecticide Resistance
in Mosquitoes”
In the current study, researchers used a
combination of sequencing techniques and
genetic analyses to elucidate a
continent-wide population structure of a
major African malaria vector, the mosquito
Anopheles funestus.
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LL Vocab
2.6.17
Use both conflagration and
elucidate in original
sentences with plenty of
context to indicate clear
understanding of the words.
Thoughtful Use
DAILY SPARK
WRITING
Many stories, particularly thrillers,
depend on CAUSE AND EFFECT.
Write a ten- or twelve-sentence story
in which each event directly causes
the next event. Start your story with
this sentence:
The bike messenger swerved to avoid
a barking dog, causing the pickup
truck behind him to screech to a halt.
#77
CAUSE AND EFFECT
WRITING
Write a two-paragraph story that
ends with an understatement.
DAILY SPARK
Understatement is the downplaying
of a situation. For instance, if you
looked out the window, noticed that
a flood had engulfed the town, and
said, “It looks a little damp out
there,” you’d be understating the
situation.
#78
THAT’S AN UNDERSTATEMENT
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LL Vocab
2.8.17
1 : a judgment involving condemnation
<unorthodox practices awaiting the censure
of the city council>
2 archaic : OPINION, JUDGMENT
3 : the act of blaming or condemning sternly
<The country faces international censure for
its alleged involvement in the
assassination.>
4 : an official reprimand <The lawyer's
misconduct resulted in a letter of censure
from the judge.>
CENSURE
(N.)
: pretentious inflated speech or
writing <political bombast>
BOMBAST
(N.)
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Words in Action
2.8.17
from “Booker: Warren Vote
‘Tantamount to Censure’”
Senators rebuked Warren in a 49-43
party-line vote, rejecting her push to
overturn a ruling by Senate Republicans
that she had violated the rules during a
Senate floor speech. The move will block her
from speaking from the Senate floor
through Wednesday evening.
from “Critic’s Notebook: In Inaugural
Address, Donald Trump Delivers
Bombast, Divisiveness and
Nationalism”
Bombastic and wholly populist, [Trump’s
inaugural address] presented an alternate,
bizarro world vision of a country falling
apart, even as the man who led it for the last
eight years was sitting, stone-faced, a mere
few feet away.
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LL Vocab
2.8.17
Use both censure and
bombast in original
sentences with plenty of
context to indicate clear
understanding of the words.
Thoughtful Use
WRITING
Write a mock-heroic account of your usual
morning routine by describing it in melodramatic,
grandiose language.
DAILY SPARK
MOCK-HEROIC works are comical because they
describe something mundane in grand, inflated
language. One of the most famous mock-heroic
works is The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope.
In it, Pope describes the theft of a locket of hair
using the style of an EPIC POEM (usually
reserved for subjects like the fall of man or the
clash of heroes).
#79
UPON AWAKENING, I HURL THE
COVERS TO THE FLOOR
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LL Poetry: Reading Poetry
2.9.17
“Love” by Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
➔ Read the poem “Love” by Rupert Brooke
and then consider the following:
◆What kind of rime is used in this poem?
◆What other sound devices can you identify?
◆What form is the poem written in?
◆What is the poet’s tone toward his topic?
◆What is the theme (message) of the poem?