Pontes Books – Page 9

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Nine – Vocabulary

Have you ever used a phrase like “the vast majority” or have heard something like “In a vast desert like the Sahara…” Sometimes we start using these common phrases, without necessarily thinking about what the individual words mean. Let’s break it down! Today our vocab word for The Prince and the Pauper Chapter 9 is…

VAST

Mark Twain’s wonderful descriptive skills often create a picture in the reader’s mind of a number of different scenes from Tudor England. When describing facades, crowds, banquet halls, and other items related to royal life at the time, there is often no better way to describe them but “vast”. Keep reading or watch the video below to dive into this word.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Eight – Fun Fact

Have you ever had a dream that appeared to tell the future? How about one that foreshadowed someone’s death? In Chapter 8, Henry VIII has a “troublous dream” that he interprets as on omen for his own passing. So is that possible? Do our dreams possess the capability to anticipate future events? The Fun Fact that we explore for The Prince and the Pauper Chapter 8 is…

Can dreams predict death?

What a powerful and terrifying idea! Keep reading or watch the video below for more information.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Eight – Historical Tidbit

Believe it or not, Henry VIII started out as a healthy, handsome, and strong young king. It wasn’t until later in life where he became the king most remember him for today — ornery, overweight, ill, and many-wived. So where did it all go wrong? Today our Historical Tidbit for Chapter 8 of The Prince and the Pauper is…

HENRY VIII’S SICKNESS

If you’ve ever done any exploration into the medical practices of the past, you probably agree that it’s shocking anyone even lived past childhood. Yet somehow, amongst plagues, infections, and terrifyingly unhygienic practices, people still survived! Unfortunately for Henry VIII, that luck eventually ran out. Watch the video to find out more about his failing health.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Eight – Vocabulary

In Chapter 8, we find out how the king approved royal documents in a time where literacy rates were low, and signatures would be mostly meaningless. So what would be used instead? Today our vocab word is…

SEAL

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Seven – Fun Fact

Chapter 7 contains one of my favorite scenes in The Prince and the Pauper. Mark Twain exaggerates Tom’s first experience with his many royal servants for a comedic effect. It all culminates in a moment where Tom begins to twitch and his eyes begin to water. He finally reveals that his nose itches, and he is unsure if there is a servant to perform that task for him. So naturally that led me to wonder…

Why does our nose itch?

Poor Tom sat their miserably before finally scratching his itch. So what caused it? Watch the video for more information.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Seven – Historical Tidbit

Do you ever feel like you wish someone would pick up your cup and just hand it to you? Or wish that someone would dress you in the morning? How about someone to help you go to the bathroom? Too far? If you answered yes to all of these questions then you might do well in a royal palace. Personally, this sounds like a nightmare to me, but I wanted to find out more about the people who did these roles. The Historical Tidbit for Chapter 7 of The Prince and the Pauper is focused on…ROYAL SERVANTS

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Seven – Vocabulary

The vocabulary word for Chapter 7 in The Prince and the Pauper is a versatile one. It is a verb that can be applied to behavior, physics, music, leadership, and all with slightly different meanings. Today we dive into the word…

CONDUCTED

The word ‘conducted’ comes up in The Prince and the Pauper fourteen times! For this reason, and for the somewhat unique way in which Twain uses it in the story, it became an ideal choice for a vocab word focus. Read the post or watch the video to get more information about the word.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Six – Fun Fact

How many languages do you speak? Are you at least bilingual like over half of the world’s population? Or are you like the rest of us still working on mastering our first and only language? Today we focus on the wonders that are…

POLYGLOTS

It’s always been a goal of mine to master at least one other language. I always envy those that can easily flip back and forth between multiple languages, especially children. So I chose this as our topic to explore for Chapter 6! Read or watch the video to explore what I found.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Six – Historical Tidbit

In Chapter 6 of The Prince and the Pauper, we meet two of Edward’s childhood friends. However, we actually meet them through a conversation they have with Tom, who has to pretend to know who they are. This leads to a series of miscommunications and awkward situations that lead to a chuckle or two. Today we are focusing on…

Lady Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey

Were these ladies actually childhood friends with Edward? Read or watch the video for more information.

The Prince and the Pauper – Chapter Six – Vocabulary

One of the hardest things about reading Classic stories is cracking the “code” of the old-fashioned language. That “code” usually involves two different types of vocabulary hurdles — words with unknown definitions and words with unknown grammatical patterns. In our previous blog post we discussed one of the typical grammatical patterns seen in Classics, second person pronouns (thou, thee, thy, etc.). Another common pattern revolves around 2nd and 3rd person verb endings that have since changed. Today our vocabulary words for Ch. 6 are…

HATH, HAST, DOTH, CANST, SHALT, WILT, THOU’LT

Hopefully you can see by looking at these words what they have in common, especially when looking at the word endings. Keep reading or watch the video below to connect the dots completely!