Purpose: This study aims to explore the authentic questioning practices of English Language Arts teachers. Although language arts (LA) education emphasizes the value of authentic questions in discussions about literature, teachers still tend to ask known-answer questions that guide students toward one literary interpretation. However, outside…

This essay uses the metaphor of "savvy travelling" to discuss the limitations and problems associated with three current "best practice" approaches to the reading of literature in upper grade levels, particularly in the United States: close reading, response-based reading, and disciplinary literacy. A "savvy" approach…

This article investigates mental representations of literary characters and their relations with other aspects of response to literature and age, gender, and expertise. A Saga chapter and the beginning of a contemporary novel were presented to 16 participants from each of three age groups (13 years, 17 years, adults) equally divided by gender and…

Assuming that readers' emotional responses can enhance readers' metacognitive experiences and inform literary analysis, this study of 11th-grade poetry readers features instruction that models both cognitive and affective reading processes. The author: (1) Presents a case for more explicit attention to emotion in language arts classrooms; (2)…

Many students struggle to analyze literature and fall into writing plot summaries. They fail to engage with the text because analyzing literature is a foreign concept for so many of them. In this article, the author discusses how she came up with a method to help students adapt to college writing and thinking. Building from a technique that…

Students knowledge of literary theories helps them to understand that there are many ways to know texts, to read and interpret them. Divergent and critical thinking about literature developed by high school students through analyzing a fairy tale, a short story and a novel are presented.