In reaction to articles by J. Warnock and W. Bennett, argues that a common background knowledge required for literacy does not depend on specific texts, or a literary canon, rather one needs to know a few facts about some of them. Concludes that cultural literacy is not text-bound. (SRT)

Describes reading materials for gifted children ages birth to nine years that correspond to the following characteristics of the gifted: vocabulary, curiosity, sensitivity, beauty, and humor. HOD)

Muses on the attempts that have been made to establish an august list of literary works to be taught in the secondary school and offers a personal opinion of book titles, ninth through twelfth grade, that are defensible on literary quality and are educationally worthwhile. (HOD)

Examines the traditional criteria for evaluating first and second language reading texts. Proposes that, if reading is interaction between a text and a reader, variables related to the reader's side of the process, global textual properties, content characteristics, and rhetorical and discourse features should be considered before linguistic…

Discusses the issue, raised by Solzhenitsyn's work and the film "Scum," of the relation of literature to the world it purports to depict. (CRH)

Offers five personal views of censorship that were developed as a result of teaching English and fighting censorship. (HOD)

An instructor of an adolescent literature course wanted to give the students an opportunity to study some novels not specifically written for an adolescent audience. Examples of such novels were: Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," and Jamaica Kincaid's "Annie John." Including…

Two common tendencies that lead many mainstream students to misinterpret other cultures are the combative response and the exoticizing response. These misinterpretations, however, can be excellent learning moments for helping students understand the constructed nature of culture and the contextual nature of learning. Transformational multicultural…

The feeling dimension of students cannot be ignored in teaching and learning situations. Feelings are there and must not be ignored. Reading stresses word recognition, comprehension of subject matter at diverse levels of complexity, and application of what has been learned. A major ingredient so frequently left out is student appreciation of the…

Literature circles generally involve four or five students who are actively engaged in cooperative learning. Learners choose a library book to read based on interest. The same titled paperback might be discussed by participants in the literature circle. Alternative suggestions for literature circles include choosing a library book on a similar…

This paper discusses the difficulty students often face when many new words are simultaneously introduced in a text. It suggests teachers may address this difficulty in a number of ways, including the following: writing to a publisher to suggest improvements; providing lists of new words to students before reading selections; and focusing on…

Many theories have been developed to try to explain humor, among them, the social theory; psychoanalytic theories based on Freud; cognitive theories which identify stages corresponding to those of Piaget; and eclectic theories which combine elements of all the theories. The developmental stages of humor parallel the intellectual and emotional…

A number of reading specialists are finding themselves testifying in court or writing expert opinions for court cases in such diverse areas as civil rights, criminal law, contracts, warranties, and due process. The validity of readability formulas was tested in the case of David v. Heckler. Another case involved a group of Florida prisoners who…

This paper looks at recent debates about text selection and censorship in Australia. Its aim is to point beyond the terms in which the censorship debate has been conducted in the mass media, and to prompt reflection on how texts are used in English classrooms. The paper raises questions of language and cultural identity in secondary English…

Children's literature is surveyed, beginning with Victorian authors and concentrating on twentieth century children's books written in the United States. The argument is made that the "problem novel," now so popular in the United States, does not extend the reader's experience, and that it is driving out finer kinds of children's books. (PP)