Challenging the taken-for-granted status of canonical authors, especially Shakespeare, is difficult, but not impossible. This research offers a glimpse into the inferential processes of a group of grade ten students from diverse backgrounds who read unfamiliar passages from Shakespeare. The findings reveal a complex picture of meaning-making,…

This qualitative case study explores the nature of reading engagement, taking a reader response approach to analysing and discussing the experiences and perspectives of real readers. The paper reports a collaborative research project in which a group of five primary-age children and a group of five adults of different ages were asked to read and…

With support, young adolescents crave the challenge of learning about serious ideas through serious literature. Middle-level learners also enjoy opportunities to become immersed in activities that foster a deeper understanding of serious ideas. After discussing the value of using serious narrative literature, a rationale is provided for supporting…

This paper takes the grotesque as a model of subjectivity that offers compelling inroads to understanding adolescence. Bakhtin notes that the grotesque "seeks to grasp in its imagery the very act of becoming and growth, the eternal, incomplete, unfinished nature of being". I argue that Carson McCullers' novel, "The Member of the…

How teachers can use such materials as parallel-text editions, graphic novels, and film adaptations to increase students' understanding of and interest in Shakespeare was the impetus for a classroom action research project that examined the effects of teaching methods on student comprehension and engagement. The author of this article…

The "Analects" is the most influential and enduring Chinese classics, which shows its splendor as early as 2,400 years ago between the spring and autumn and the warring states periods, covering a wide scope of subjects from politics, philosophy, literature and art to the education and moral cultivation. To the translator, the most…

English teachers have those favorite characters in the literature they choose to study with their students, from the classics of Lennie and George in "Of Mice and Men" to more contemporary characters such as Arnold in "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" who was "born with water on the brain" (Alexie 1). The author loves allowing…

"Waiting for Godot" is one of the classic works of theater of the absurd. The play seems absurd but with a deep religious meaning. This text tries to explore the theme in four parts of God and man, breaking the agreement, repentance and imprecation and waiting for salvation.

Western fiction is unique among the major fiction genres recognized by public libraries (which would include romance, mystery, and sf) in that it is defined principally by its physical setting--the American West (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and in particular the frontier territories of the 19th century. The popular conception…

This purpose of the study was to determine the effects of teachers using the Question Exploration Routine (QER) in regularly scheduled secondary-level English Language Arts classes to help students answer questions about the development and use of main ideas in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Questions were posed in both…

Teach "The Little Prince" to senior English students? Senior Advanced Placement English students? What could these people who had analyzed "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," wrestled with "The Sound and the Fury," dissected "Heart of Darkness," and deconstructed "East of Eden" possibly find of value in a "children's book"? The tendency to…

Bullying remains a wretched, pervasive problem in the society, especially for teenagers. Bullying is commonly defined as negative acts that occur repeatedly and involve an imbalance of power (Olweus 413); since this widely accepted definition excludes one-time acts of cruelty, the authors prefer to use the word "conflict" in their conversations…

Not long ago, "summer reading" meant settling under a shady tree with a hefty book. Shady trees are still around, but books with pages can seem as out-of-date as vinyl records to many kids, especially older ones. Today, they scroll through content online, swipe pages on tablets, and manage a near-constant stream of media. Teachers can take…

Jefferson's republicanism--a people-first, mostly bottom-up political vision with a moral underpinning--was critically dependent on general education for the citizenry and higher education for those who would govern. This paper contains an analysis of Jefferson's general philosophy of education by enumerating some of its most fundamental…

In this paper, we expand on our presentation at ICDS2010 (Dobson et al., 2010) in describing the design of several new forms of interactive visualization intended for teaching the concept of plot in fiction. The most common visualization currently used for teaching plot is a static diagram known as Freytag's Pyramid, which was initially intended…