Describes how an English teacher slowed down her class and took out certain activities, in order to put in reflection. Relates how she now requires (and teaches) students to reflect on what the things they read actually mean to them, their beliefs and their lives. Shows students relating to the classics in vivid ways. (SR)

Presents a high school student's description in class of her deep connection to Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," and how it offers a glimpse of the vast interior lives of women. (SR)

Academic study generally highlights the work of consciousness, which operates in terms of a few variables, simple causal relations, and coherent stories. A course on "Big Books of American Literature" brought to the foreground the activities of the more generally neglected unconscious: an extraordinarily rich repertoire of behavior that operates…

The annotated book list in this article was inspired by the scramble to concoct a college-prep curriculum for all students. The author begins with recommendations for rereading certain classics for inspiration and perhaps also for descriptions of follies and commentaries on them. Other reading suggestions are also included.

An urban community college routinely assigns Swift, Plato, Joyce, and other classic authors of the Western tradition to its immigrant and minority students. Bruce Gans, who founded and directs the program, tells of the value of Great Books to those who have the most to gain from rising above race, culture, and class.

Although young adult literature is often recommended as a reading bridge to the classics, Stallworth insists that the genre deserves a prominent place in the middle school canon in its own right. She describes several examples from middle school classrooms of how young adult novels can enhance tweens' "life literacy" by both helping them develop…

Describes method of presenting theme booktalks to high school students to appeal to their various reading levels and interests. Excerpts from various forms of adult classics and young adult literature illustrate a technique to link the works by themes pertinent to teenage readers. (CD)

Recounts how an experience in a high school English class convinced a teacher that he wanted to teach literature and taught him the proper attitude toward the teaching of the classics. (JL)

Various contributors recommend "The Odyssey,""Julius Caesar,""A Dog's Tale,""Ivanhoe,""Star Wars,""The Red Badge of Courage,""Demian,""Antigone,""Children of Crisis," and "Frankenstein" for use in literature classes and justify their recommendations. (JL)

Considers how high school students can see reading "The Canterbury Tales" as daunting. Shares a series of units of study "combining the literary and the vulgar" that fully engage the students with the text. Suggests that with a masterpiece like "The Canterbury Tales," students are better served when educators take it…

A teacher in an inner-city London school describes how she involves low income, minority group students in learning classics such as Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Emphasizes cooperative learning and active student involvement using their urban background. (FMW)

Explores the question of teaching virtue, which has been discussed for at least 2,500 years. The anonymous "Dissoi Logoi" of ancient Greece contained a series of arguments on both sides of the question, and the author concluded that virtue could be taught. Lessons are drawn for contemporary educators. (SLD)

The "Confessions" of St. Augustine is important as a record of the process and results of the struggle between cultures of Athens and Jerusalem as a confrontation between classical and biblical learning. As such, it models an approach to the multicultural tensions of today. An example is given in cultural conflicts between Islam and Christianity.…

Suggests that Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in American Literature, yet his writing can be too "lofty" for many modern students to grasp. Offers some examples of ways to bring Emerson down to earth, grounding his spiritualist musings in material illustrations and making him more accessible to students. (NB)

Presents nine answers to frequently asked questions about "Adolescent Literature," sometimes called YA (Young Adult Literature), including: what YA literature is, why it did not exist before 1967, why educators read YA literature, YA's relation to the classics, building a classroom library of YA books, essential resources for teachers, and some…