CSH Rhetoric Class-Y2-At-Home Literature Study Suggestions
Quarter 4
Week 19
 Literary Devices and Figurative Language Flashcards: Create a study
card for satire. Create a separate one for estate satire. The Canterbury Tales
is one example of estate satire, find at least two others and list them. Also
create cards for frame story and elegy.
 Additional Literature: The elegiac mood is very common in Old English
literature. As you have just finished reading Beowulf prior to this week, read
The Wanderer. It is unique in the sense that it is a Christian poem that
employs the pagan imagery of the early Anglo-Saxons. The wanderer has lost
his lord, his companions, and his mead hall. How are these themes similar to
Beowulf. From reading these two works, describe the world of the AngloSaxon.
 Word Study: Define the Great Vowel Shift. Why is it important to our study
of Middle English and our understanding of Modern English? Why do you
think it happened? How does this shift affect spelling?
 The Five Canons and Classic Oratorical Structure “Exordium”: For the
final essay for this quarter, you will write a persuasive essay on how The
Canterbury Tales is both a glimpse into Medieval society and a motivator
towards social change. As we learned in the last quarter, “Exordium,”
prepares the audience for the argument to come and attempts to put them
into a favorable frame of mind and to feel as if they are connected to the
argument that is about to be explained. Begin writing your introduction.
Consider these questions: How is satire relevant today? Do we also find
ourselves needing to couch our displeasure with society in the cloak of
humor? Why? I am putting this essay in because I saw that in the tutor
outline, you wanted a persuasive essay for each quarter. This is serving as a
placeholder and certainly doesn’t have to be the topic. I can change this to fit
whatever the need is. Also, I could have them write their research paper on
the development of a word at this point. However, that wouldn’t fit in with
the persuasive writing.
 Grammar: Review the use of commas and semicolons. What is the oxford
comma? What is your opinion of the oxford comma? Practice writing some
complex sentences that use both of these elements to join independent
clauses. Then diagram these sentences.
Week 20
 Literary Devices and Figurative Language Flashcards: Create cards
rhyming couplet, eye rhyme, and caesura. Find some examples in The
Canterbury Tales. Why is eye rhyme important for a translator?

Additional Literature: Read a translation of The Dream of the Rood. This is
possibly one the finest religious poems in Old English. This poem is
translated in many places and can be readily found in an internet search.
What part does personification play in this poem? How does this figurative
device help to increase the spiritual impact of the poem? Additionally, search for
a original text version to see Old English and how the poem originally had the
caesura.
 Word Study: Research how spelling became standardized. How was this
important for the English language?
 The Five Canons and Classic Oratorical Structure “Narratio”: Complete
your introduction and lay out the nature of the case. Again, I’m keeping this a
little vague until I know a little bit more about what the plan is for the
Rhetoric portion. You will see that this section is light for the remainder of
the document.
 Grammar: In Quarter 1 we looked at gerunds. Two other verbals are
participles and infinitives. In your grammar notebook, define these phrases
and their parts of speech. Write complex sentences using these parts of
speech and diagram those sentences correctly.
Week 21
 Literary Devices and Figurative Language Flashcards: Create a card for
alliteration. Are there examples in The Canterbury Tales? Return to The
Illiad and Beowulf. Can you find examples there? Create a card for
hyperbole. How does this device relate to satire?
 Additional Literature: Dante’s Divine Comedy is an epic that all students of
classical literature should at very least be familiar with. For the next two
weeks, read at least the complete Paradiso. The Inferno is often assigned in
college while Purgatio and Paradiso are overlooked even though they
provide a great insight into Dante and Catholic faith. If you would like to
further challenge yourself, read the entire epic. How does Dante relate to
Chaucer? How do Chaucer and Dante demonstrate the pitfalls of the Seven
Deadly sins? How does Dante’s paradise relate to our modern interpretation
of Heaven?
 Word Study: Research the Latin grammarian Priscian. What was his
contribution to the study of Latin? If one agrees that the only constant thing
about language is that it is always changing, how would a work like Priscian’s
have effectively killed the Latin language? In other words, how does a
language die? How does it remain living?
 The Five Canons and Classic Oratorical Structure “Partitio”: Create a
strong thesis statement for your essay.
 Grammar: In your grammar notebook, define transitive and intransitive
verbs. Each of those verbs should have two sub-headings. What are they?
Continue practicing diagramming using sentences with all for types of
transitive or intransitive verbs. (Keep in mind that the passive voice,
mentioned at this point, should be avoided in formal writing).
Week 22
 Literary Devices and Figurative Language Flashcards: Create study cards
for ballad, lyric poetry, and assonance. Remember to provide examples.
 Additional Literature: Complete your reading of The Divine Comedy. How
is Paradiso an allegory? What does Beatrice represent? What can we learn
about early Medieval religious thought from whom Dante includes in the
Paradiso?
 Word Study: Is English an inflected language? What does this mean?
Identify languages that are more inflected than English.
 The Five Canons and Classic Oratorical Structure “Confirmatio”: Draft
the body of your persuasive essay.
 Grammar: Define a sentence fragment. Identify two ways that one can
correct a sentence fragment. How can understanding diagramming help
identify sentence fragments in our own writing?
Week 23
 Literary Devices and Figurative Language Flashcards: Create cards for
quatrain, sestet, and octave.
 Additional Literature: Research and read a mystery play or cycle play.
Discuss the following with your fellow students and/or family: Why were
these plays a popular way to bring the ideas of religion to the lower classes?
While they made use of rough humor, the messages of these plays were
always very didactic. How do you think these plays influenced the
development of Elizabethan theater?
 Word Study: What is the Oxford English Dictionary? Pick a word and look it
up in this dictionary. What elements does this dictionary tell us about
individual words?
 The Five Canons and Classic Oratorical Structure “Refutatio”: Complete
your persuasive essay by including your counterarguments.
 Grammar: Define a run-on sentence. Identify methods that are useful in
correcting this grammatical error.
Week 24
 Literary Devices and Figurative Language Flashcards: Create a card for
irony. What are three types of irony? Provide examples.
 Additional Literature: Read St. Francis’s “Canitcle of the Sun” and the
“Letter to all the Faithful”. How does St. Francis address some of the issues
brought to light in Chaucer?
 Word Study: What is the Indo-European language and why is it important
for the study of linguistics? Record in your notebook the family tree for
Modern English.
 The Five Canons and Classic Oratorical Structure “Peroratio”: Complete
your essay. Proofread your final draft.

Grammar: Using all that we have learned this year, write 10 complex
sentences, two of which should be either fragments or run-ons. Switch
papers with a family member or a classmate. Diagram and correct these
sentences.