Historicism critiques cultural history and cultural materialism as a methodology for literary analysis. Questions the finality of interpretation, how original values change, and whether dramatic history implies actual history. Using Shakespearean plays, analyzes the power and politics of a play in relation to its audience; posits that cultural…

Discusses teaching English literature in relation to E. D. Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy". Isolates Hirsch's literary references and discusses how they can be used to teach undergraduates. Maintains that schools of education and English departments can contribute to cultural literacy because they educate prospective teachers. (KM)

This inquiry into the role of literature in English as a second language is based upon an examination of six basic issues or principles: (1) the position of English as a foreign language within a country; (2) the aims of English instruction within a country; (3) the way in which the native literature is taught in a country; (4) the availability of…