Telling stories from secondary and college English classrooms, this book explores the new possibilities for teaching and learning generated by bringing together reader-response and cultural-studies approaches. The book connects William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and other canonical figures to multicultural writers, popular culture,…

This paper illustrates several examples of visual science fiction use in teaching literary classics, and is based on the philosophy that students share a visual cultural literacy through movies and television, types of representation with which they are more familiar than with literary texts. It claims that visual science fiction can be utilized…

Gives responses of 12 practicing teachers to the question, "What is your favorite modern transformation of a literary classic?" Provides citations, summaries, and overviews of the works. (HB)

Offers observations on the author's experience of the past two years as she returned to teaching high school English after over 20 years of training adults in business in government to improve their writing. Reflects on the differing demands of these work environments, and on how the canon itself and approaches to teaching classics have changed…

States that Great Britain's National Curriculum pre-20th century list of prescribed authors is overloaded with unrealistic choices. Reports on a small-scale survey of actual choices made by teachers from this list. Calls for further research. Discusses teaching treatments of actual texts and makes a case for recognizing the work of the poet John…

This book argues against the politicization of literature and presents a guide to the great works and essential writers of the ages, the "Western Canon." The book studies 26 writers and seeks to isolate the qualities that made these authors canonical, that is, authoritative in Western culture. Noting that although originally the…

Part memoir, part courtroom drama, part primer for fighting assaults on free speech, this book narrates a 5-year-long federal battle which began in 1986 to reinstate several literary classics to the reading list of a public high school in Lake City, Florida. The book recounts how the superintendent, the local school board, and several religious…

Reading in the content areas is a basic in the curriculum. The ability to read well involves a plethora of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Measurement of instruction involves the use of highly specific objectives in reading instruction. With a measurement philosophy of instruction, the following are important to consider: whatever exists, exists…

Intended as an accessible resource for students researching William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) "Comedies," this collection of essays about the great playwright contains an in-depth biography and writings taken from a wide variety of sources. The essays are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young adults; each…

Intended as an accessible resource for students researching William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) poetry, this collection of essays about Shakespeare's sonnets contains an in-depth biography of Shakespeare and writings from a wide variety of sources. The essays are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young adults; each essay…

Reports on ways of having fun with the classics of literature. Describes classroom uses of parody and satire to emphasize the themes and characterizations found in Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and other noted authors. (RL)

Notes that with so many multivoice novels accessible to teens, there is a great opportunity to expand students' reading repertoire. Proposes that young adult novels are an excellent transition to classic literature that may seem remote or difficult. Offers advice on teaching multivoice novels. Concludes that multivoice novels show young readers…

Discusses and answers objections to young adult literature which generally fall into one of two categories: that young adult books are bad because they are not the classics, and/or they corrupt the young. Offers brief descriptions of 12 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

Offers quotes from articles about English teaching in the United States published in professional journals from 1847 to 1955. Suggests there never was a "golden age" of English teaching. Shows discussion and controversy about teaching writing, about what literature should be allowed in the schools, whether teaching grammar is worthwhile, and…

Questions the use of classic literature in the lower secondary school grades and reports on a survey of reading experience and habits, both in and outside of school, among 380 students in grades 6-12. Suggests that young adult literature can do what schools have not--turn adolescents into avid readers. (TB)