English 12A: Unit 3, Part Three

Primary Sources: Diary and Policy Statement

(pp. 568-587)

Diary: from The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Policy Statement: Charles II’s Declaration to London, 1666

London Past and Present by Neil Gaiman

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Vocabulary Builder

Using the Cross-Curricular Vocabulary (p. 569)

A.DIRECTIONS: Using your knowledge of the words in italics, indicate whether these statements are true or false by writing T or F on the line before each statement. Use the lines after the statements to explain your answers.

___ 1. Wood is a combustible material.______

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___ 2. A jury should avoid deliberation before reaching a verdict. ______

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___ 3. A magistrate often entertains audiences by pulling rabbits out of hats.______

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___ 4. A company’s bookkeeper is someone who keeps the accounts.______

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Using the Word List

abated apprehensions eminent lamentable malicious notorious

B. DIRECTIONS: Write the letter of the definition on the line before the word it defines. Use eachdefinition only once.

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Grade 12, Unit 3

___ 1. abated

___ 2. apprehensions

___ 3. eminent

___ 4. lamentable

___ 5. malicious

___ 6. notorious

a. distressing

b. deliberately harmful

c. worries

d. diminished

e. famous in an unfavorable way

f. noteworthy or high-ranking

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Grade 12, Unit 3

Using Etymology (p. 580)

C. DIRECTIONS: On the lines, explain how the meaning of magistrate reflects its Latin origin.

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Diary: from The Diary of Samuel Pepys (pp. 571-577)

Critical Reading

1.According to the entry for September 3, 1665, what happened to the saddler’s family during the plague? ______

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2. What does Pepys’s reaction to this situation show you about his personality? ______

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3. What does Pepys recommend to the King and Duke of York during the fire? ______

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4. Was the recommendation a good one? Why or why not? ______

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5. What are some modern disasters that compare with the Great Plague and Great Fire of London? ______

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6. Do you think Pepys and others in authority handled disaster as well as their modern counterparts would have? Why or why not? ______

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7. List three details about seventeenth-century London that Pepys includes in his diary.

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8. How has living in London during the plague and the fire affected what Pepys has to say and the effectiveness with which he says it? ______

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Policy Statement: Charles II’s Declaration to London, 1666 (pp. 578-579)

Critical Reading

1. What does Charles say the recent fire has shown about building construction? ______

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2. What situation does he want to prevent by getting rid of very narrow streets and keeping lanes and alleys to a minimum? ______

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3. Why do you think he orders that no house be erected too close to the river? ______

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4. Why does Charles want all London businesses requiring continuous fires to be housed in the same place? ______

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5. Do you think the idea above is practical? Why or why not? ______

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6. What main concern of Charles II’s London has led him to issue this policy statement?

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7. What does this policy statement reveal about London buildings before the fire? ______

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These two primary sources react to two major crises of Charles II’s reign. Reading them canprovide valuable historical insights.

DIRECTIONS: Use the chart below to record and organize the information you learn by applying

Who? What? When? Where? Why? andHow? questions to the two selections. If a question is notanswered in either selection, leave the space blank.

Question / The Great Plague / The Great Fire
When did the crisis take place?
Where did the crisis take place?
Who tried to help
remedy the situation?
What did people do to try to escape the crisis, remedy the situation, and/or prevent it from
happening again?
How did people behave during
the crisis?
Why did the crisis
occur?

London Past and Present by Neil Gaiman (pp. 582-587)

Critical Reading Questions

1. What does the leather woman say when she learns that Richard and Anaesthesia have never before crossed Night’s Bridge? ______

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2. Do you think that the leather woman has crossed the bridge before? Why or why not?

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3. Briefly summarize what Richard feels and sees in the darkness on Night’s Bridge.

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4. What do “night” and “darkness” come to mean to Richard while he is on the bridge?

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5. Describe the place the leather woman and Richard reach after they cross Night’s Bridge. ______

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6. Are they in the same room they started from? Explain. ______

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7. Do you think that nighttime in Pepys’s London would have been a little bit like the night on Gaiman’s bridge? Why or why not? ______

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8. Why are writes like Gaiman and Pepys so interested in depicting a city like London?

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Grade 12, Unit 3