This lesson plan highlights one episode in the "Divine Comedy" to provide students with an introduction to Dante's poem. After a brief introduction to the opening of the "Divine Comedy," which portrays Dante as a pilgrim guided by the poet Virgil on a journey through the Christian afterlife toward God, students read Canto 5 of…

This lesson plan complements study of plot and characterization in "Romeo and Juliet" by focusing on Shakespeare's use of lyric forms and conventions to spotlight moments in the drama and thereby heightens the impact of the action on the stage. Students look first at the sonnet in which Romeo and Juliet meet, analyzing the imagery to…

Teachers' dismissal of Robert Cormier's books as "too depressing" suggests a lack of sound critical understanding of his work and a lack of faith in individual young people. The body of adolescent or young adult literature has come a long way in recent years. The writing has shown a much fuller range of literary quality and the content…

Vietnam War literature offers students a unique mix of themes which in many ways speak directly to them as, perhaps, no other literature is able to. This literature can help them better understand literature, history, the world they live in, and themselves, as well as the Vietnam War. A sequence of classroom activities (beginning with an…

Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that: a close study of the characters of a literary classic will yield important clues to an understanding of the work as a whole; an effective analysis of stylistic devices depends upon selection and interpretation…

The articles in this journal issue explore the use of literature in instruction and, particularly, the characterization of women in literature. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "George Orwell and the Politics of Misogyny" (Robert Keith Miller); (2) "Women and Huckleberry Finn: A Literary Criticism" (Linda Roehrig…

Part of a three-program set, this computer software program is designed to support the teaching of literary criticism in the English classroom through a focus on characterization. It aids teachers in the search for literary meaning by providing questions from different reading positions. The program is easy to operate and requires little prior…

Part of a three-program set, this computer software provides a comprehensive range of generic questions on plot in literature. The program is comprised of: 150 questions sorted into 14 categories; supporting ideological commentary classifying question types; and a user-friendly program enabling worksheet production. It is underpinned by a Critical…

Part of a three-program set, this computer software program is designed to aid teachers in the search for literary meaning by providing questions from different reading positions. The program provides 150 questions in 3 forms--a generic version of each question (without reference to any particular work), an example question (showing how the…

Based on Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that active readers interpret a novel (its characters, plot, setting, and theme) in different ways; and the great literature can be and has been adapted in many ways over time. The main activity of the lesson involves students…

Based on William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that, on a literal level, the novel deals with what happens to a group of boys stranded on an island; and that on a symbolic level, it investigates what happens to civilized people when the structures of civilization…

The guide contains detailed suggestions for teaching 10 books about Indians to older students who read easily and are ready to be introduced to serious literature. The books are When the Legends Die; Laughing Boy; Dancehall of the Dead; The Man Who Killed The Deer; Rolling Thunder; House Made of Dawn; Yes Is Better Than No; The Man To Send Rain…