This article describes a multi-part approach to Shakespeare's playwriting, including his conception of comedy, his method of characterization, aspects of staging, and the status of male and females. It can accommodate all types of Shakespearean plays. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is treated as seminal, while other plays are also…

Describes a three-week project in an English classroom in which students in small, mixed-ability groups used PowerPoint to enhance a unit on British literature. Outlines the lesson itself and discusses its positive results, including peer-teaching and learning, improved student motivation to understand themes in poetry, positive socialization, and…

Describes how, at a school in Texas, Shakespeare becomes a teaching vehicle for learning-disabled students as they engage in a year-long class that studies Shakespeare and his times, as well as produce an entire play. Argues that the experience works so successfully because it is student-centered, collaborative, and experiential. (SR)

This essay shows how the construction of literature curricula and the study of literature can contribute to civic education. The paper describes the anti-civic forces now at work in literature programs in U.S. schools and explains why these forces exist. The report suggests how literature programs can strengthen the underpinnings of a…

The London Stage Information Bank (LSIB) is a machine-readable text of "The London Stage, 1660-1800," an 11-volume publication that contains information on plays, entertainments and afterpieces, casts, box-receipts, and contemporary comment compiled from playbills, newspapers, and theatrical diaries of the period. The LSIB can be…

Describes an investigation of how English-as-a-second-language students feel about studying English literature and tells how two literature courses were modified in response. Short stories and novels were chosen to demonstrate fundamental aspects of literature within the framework of accessible language and structure. (Author/LMO)

Describes two departments that house both English and foreign languages, one at a small private liberal arts college and the other at a regional state university. Discusses some of the problems that occurred when the two disciplines were combined and the surprising advantages of such a collaboration. (SED)

Discusses the effectiveness of a week-long teacher inservice workshop on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in the context of an analysis of participants' responses to a 10-question evaluation of the inservice. (AEA)

Describes how an English teacher in a Queens, New York, ghetto school introduced her grade nine students to Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations." Focuses on students' responses, which eventually became enthusiastic, and discusses the use of classics within the curriculum. (KH)

The holdings of the Darton Collection, a special library of children's books published in England before 1850, are discussed. The collection, housed at Columbia University in New York City, includes childrens' games and illustrations as well as books. (PP)

Describes how a computerized environment supplemented traditional undergraduate courses in English literature and composition at the University of Florida, and was developed with a grant from IBM. Highlights include the use of MOO (multi-user, object-oriented) space; student assignments; the client-server setting; and student and teacher…

Posits that the 1990 publication of the New Revised Standard Version of the BIBLE offers a teaching opportunity for public schools, especially in social studies and literature. Points out that new knowledge about ancient texts generated by biblical scholarship and changes in the English language necessitated creating a new standard text. (CH)

This paper considers the role of teaching English literature in an advanced English as a foreign language (EFL) course, and the importance of creating a literature syllabus that reflects the needs and the interests of the students. Classroom literature instruction has traditionally taught students to interpret literature as the teacher does, while…

Elaborates on the existence of group differences within the student population, the relevance of the differences to English literature instruction, and ways to deal with the differences. Patterns of response and possible teaching strategies are described with reference to the story "Eveline" by James Joyce. (AMH)

An intensive college English Literature course provided a special learning opportunity through its innovative reading and writing assignments. From the beginning, students learned by individually selecting, finding, and reading texts and writing descriptive reports intended for class sharing and interaction. The final project involved a formal…