Word Trek

8th DRP - Lesson 5

by Dustin Box

​Day 1

​ Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Bavaria, on September 27, 1840, and came to the United States with his mother at the age of six. Nast loved to draw as a child and began his career at the age of 15. For four dollars a week he worked as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Thomas Nast also depicted important events and sketched war scenes for newspapers in London, Paris, and New York. Some of his best work was completed during the Civil War when his cartoons made a political statement in favor of the North. These influential illustrations appeared in the very popular magazine Harper's Weekly. Among his other accomplishments were his cartoons that brought about the defeat of Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential campaign and his drawings of the

​Day 1 (cont.)

​Tammany Tiger that helped break up the notorious political organization of William "Boss" Tweed in New York City in 1876. Thomas Nast is also credited with the pictorial origination of the symbols of Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey, and the Republican elephant.

​ Although politics was Nast's main focus, he also created the present-day idea of Santa Claus in a series of drawings completed between 1863 and 1868 for Harper's Weekly. These illustrations represented Santa as a jolly, stout man with a white beard as he appeared in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicolas" by Clement C. Moore.

​ Who would have ever known that a young boy from Bavaria named Thomas Nast would wield such great influence on his adopted country and rock the boat of the American political scene?

Multiple Choice

1: Who is this subject of this selection?

• Santa Claus

• Horace Greeley

• Thomas Nast

• Tammany Tiger

Open Ended

2: Write a title for this selection in the space below.

Multiple Choice

3: The author's purpose in writing this selection is to...

• describe

• entertain

• persuade

Multiple Choice

4: My purpose in reading this selection is to...

• learn something

• be persuaded to do something

• be entertained

Multiple Choice

5: The genre of this selection is...

• biography

• fiction

• autobiography

​Day 2

​ Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Bavaria, on September 27, 1840, and came to the United States with his mother at the age of six. Nast loved to draw as a child and began his career at the age of 15. For four dollars a week he worked as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Thomas Nast also depicted important events and sketched war scenes for newspapers in London, Paris, and New York. Some of his best work was completed during the Civil War when his cartoons made a political statement in favor of the North. These influential illustrations appeared in the very popular magazine Harper's Weekly. Among his other accomplishments were his cartoons that brought about the defeat of Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential campaign and his drawings of the

​Day 2 (cont.)

​Tammany Tiger that helped break up the notorious political organization of William "Boss" Tweed in New York City in 1876. Thomas Nast is also credited with the pictorial origination of the symbols of Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey, and the Republican elephant.

​ Although politics was Nast's main focus, he also created the present-day idea of Santa Claus in a series of drawings completed between 1863 and 1868 for Harper's Weekly. These illustrations represented Santa as a jolly, stout man with a white beard as he appeared in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicolas" by Clement C. Moore.

​ Who would have ever known that a young boy from Bavaria named Thomas Nast would wield such great influence on his adopted country and rock the boat of the American political scene?

Multiple Choice

6: Which word is NOT a synonym for graphics?

• illustrations

• drawings

• cartoons

• career

Multiple Choice

7: Complete the analogy with a word from the selection.

omit : skip :: support : _____

• favor

• illustrate

• jolly

• newspapers

Multiple Choice

8: A synonym for disreputable in the selection is ...

• notorious

• important

• political

Multiple Choice

9: An antonym for unimportant in the selection is ...

• influential

• political

• campaign

• presidential

​Day 3

​ Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Bavaria, on September 27, 1840, and came to the United States with his mother at the age of six. Nast loved to draw as a child and began his career at the age of 15. For four dollars a week he worked as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Thomas Nast also depicted important events and sketched war scenes for newspapers in London, Paris, and New York. Some of his best work was completed during the Civil War when his cartoons made a political statement in favor of the North. These influential illustrations appeared in the very popular magazine Harper's Weekly. Among his other accomplishments were his cartoons that brought about the defeat of Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential campaign and his drawings of the

​Day 3 (cont.)

​Tammany Tiger that helped break up the notorious political organization of William "Boss" Tweed in New York City in 1876. Thomas Nast is also credited with the pictorial origination of the symbols of Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey, and the Republican elephant.

​ Although politics was Nast's main focus, he also created the present-day idea of Santa Claus in a series of drawings completed between 1863 and 1868 for Harper's Weekly. These illustrations represented Santa as a jolly, stout man with a white beard as he appeared in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicolas" by Clement C. Moore.

​ Who would have ever known that a young boy from Bavaria named Thomas Nast would wield such great influence on his adopted country and rock the boat of the American political scene?

Multiple Choice

10: Thomas Nast exerted on influence on American politics in the 1800s.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

11: What does the idiom "rock the boat," mean in this selection?

• to create a disturbance

• to go with the flow

• to go fishing

Multiple Choice

12: This selection is an example of which type of writing?

• descriptive

• narrative

• persuasive

Multiple Choice

13: I can infer from the selection that Thomas Nast probably...

• made some enemies with his political cartoons

• was loved by everyone in America

​Day 4

​ Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Bavaria, on September 27, 1840, and came to the United States with his mother at the age of six. Nast loved to draw as a child and began his career at the age of 15. For four dollars a week he worked as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Thomas Nast also depicted important events and sketched war scenes for newspapers in London, Paris, and New York. Some of his best work was completed during the Civil War when his cartoons made a political statement in favor of the North. These influential illustrations appeared in the very popular magazine Harper's Weekly. Among his other accomplishments were his cartoons that brought about the defeat of Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential campaign and his drawings of the

​Day 4 (cont.)

​Tammany Tiger that helped break up the notorious political organization of William "Boss" Tweed in New York City in 1876. Thomas Nast is also credited with the pictorial origination of the symbols of Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey, and the Republican elephant.

​ Although politics was Nast's main focus, he also created the present-day idea of Santa Claus in a series of drawings completed between 1863 and 1868 for Harper's Weekly. These illustrations represented Santa as a jolly, stout man with a white beard as he appeared in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicolas" by Clement C. Moore.

​ Who would have ever known that a young boy from Bavaria named Thomas Nast would wield such great influence on his adopted country and rock the boat of the American political scene?

Open Ended

Look at the political cartoon in the image. What is the message that this cartoon is trying to convey? Type your response below. 

​Day 5

​ Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Bavaria, on September 27, 1840, and came to the United States with his mother at the age of six. Nast loved to draw as a child and began his career at the age of 15. For four dollars a week he worked as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Thomas Nast also depicted important events and sketched war scenes for newspapers in London, Paris, and New York. Some of his best work was completed during the Civil War when his cartoons made a political statement in favor of the North. These influential illustrations appeared in the very popular magazine Harper's Weekly. Among his other accomplishments were his cartoons that brought about the defeat of Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential campaign and his drawings of the

​Day 5 (cont.)

​Tammany Tiger that helped break up the notorious political organization of William "Boss" Tweed in New York City in 1876. Thomas Nast is also credited with the pictorial origination of the symbols of Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey, and the Republican elephant.

​ Although politics was Nast's main focus, he also created the present-day idea of Santa Claus in a series of drawings completed between 1863 and 1868 for Harper's Weekly. These illustrations represented Santa as a jolly, stout man with a white beard as he appeared in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicolas" by Clement C. Moore.

​ Who would have ever known that a young boy from Bavaria named Thomas Nast would wield such great influence on his adopted country and rock the boat of the American political scene?

Open Ended

Identify 5-6 key words in the selection. Write a 3-4 sentence summary of the selection using your key words. It is not necessary to use all of your key words. Be sure to use correct spelling and punctuation.