Theodore Taylor's "The Cay" received a great deal of criticism upon its publication in 1969 for its racism, yet it has remained in American public school curricula for over fifty years. Defenders of the novel have argued that it advocates for color-blindness, a position that has helped entrench it in schools. Meanwhile, few critics have…

Students in the English Language Arts classroom have access to more author commentary than ever. While following authors on social media may deepen students' engagement with their assigned reading, it also threatens to subdue students' own interpretations of the authors' texts. This essay explains how educators can introduce basic aspects of…

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a reputed anti-slavery novel in American literary history. Tom, an unusually loyal and submissive slave, was sold to different slave masters again and again until he was tortured to death. Tom's tragic fate had multi-faceted roots. This paper tends to give an objective interpretation of Tom's personality so as to…

Seeking to expand program offerings and cultivate repeat visitation at a mostly volunteer-run historic site, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House has partnered with retired Xavier University professor John Getz to lead a monthly literary discussion series, "Visiting 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'." This article presents how the series has created space…

The refutation and the obliteration of the modernist era in Canadian literature by Robert Kroetsch and reasserted by Glen Wilmott makes it imperative to look at highly experimental literary works in the first half of the 20th century in Canada. The purpose of this paper, thus is to make a case for the inclusion Irene Bird's "Waste…

Teaching and reading literature are commonly viewed as contributing to the cultivation of empathy. This article presents critical and pedagogical approaches to test this view and suggests a distinction between low-level, simple empathy inspired by the reading and teaching of "The Tortilla Curtain" and a more complex, self-critical…

Hassan in "The Kite Runner" was brave, kind-hearted and loyal, but he still ended up with misery. From the three dimensional ethical perspective, Hassan's tragedy is not only greatly related to national and religious ethics, but also influenced by deformed family ethics. Thus it can be seen that national discrimination and religious…

This essay illustrates the application of reception study, the subfield of literary history that emphasises the historical experiences of readers, to pedagogical contexts by investigating the teaching of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" (1925) in American high schools during the 1980s. Focusing on the episode in which Jay Gatsby…

Baby Suggs's sermon in the clearing to formerly enslaved Black folx offers readers an important anecdote about living in the afterlife of white supremacy (Hartman, 2007; Sharpe, 2016). Baby Suggs seemed to understand that the priority for survival and emancipation was loving one's flesh in a world where "yonder they do not love your…

Despite ongoing and prolific critical scholarship arguing for the widening of the secondary language arts curriculum, many practicing teachers are required or encouraged to teach a curriculum dominated by canonical texts. This is often the case at schools with highly diverse students whose varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds have…

This article argues that instructors can effectively implement visual and multi-modal methods often used in beginner and intermediate courses as effective building blocks to develop skills of literary analysis. The article presents aspects of a mini-curriculum based on "Die Verwandlung," the graphic novel, and examples of student work…

The depictions of cruel witches in Roald Dahl's novel "The Witches" echo the cruel, abusive measures taken by adults in the historical treatment of children. The concept of child-hatred, described by Lloyd Demause and other critics, is an effective lens through which to view the hyperbolized hatred of children described in "The…

This article provides a close reading of Meg Rosoff's award-winning novel "How I Live Now". It argues that an understanding of the text can be extended through an application of ideas found in contemporary spatial discourse concerning place. Reading the novel within this context allows a discussion of ways in which it draws on…

"The Road" has been an important part of the author's English IV Honors course for several years now. Undeniably bleak, it details a father and son's journey through a seared, post-apocalyptic wasteland. As they travel through the burnt remains of America, they are threatened by starvation, dehydration, and scattered, hostile humans. Although his…

"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.