This paper (1) discusses the SQ3R formula for reading: survey, question, read, recite, and review; and (2) proposes a similar formula for remedial composition; R3SW, which means, read, search, select, study, and write. An example of this formula is given, using imperative sentences as the understood subject. In using the composition formula during…

In part a rebuttal to an editorial written by Ronald Regan which appeared in the "Denver Post" stating that English teachers should go "back to the basics," this paper argues that rules without reason, drills without meanings, and writing and reading without imagination are mechanical exercises without expression of self. What English teachers…

This 20-week course in mystery fiction for high school students is designed to provide experiences in logical thinking, reasoned written presentation, the nature of literary analysis via the crime story, and the tools of research. Students should be able to (1) use their language well, (2) read critically with attention to detail, and (3) meet and…

Discusses English coalitions, "Some Plain Truths about Teaching English" (a statement drafted by the Coalition of English Associations), problems of the profession with communications, and ADE history. (EL)

This paper puts forward an argument for re-thinking the nature and function of English and English Education, especially the teaching of literature, and proposes a model of empathic intelligence, which helps to formulate how much re-shaping might occur. The paper states that English literacy educators have relied for far too long on a hybrid…

One educator's interdisciplinary interests in literature, film, and culture studies led him to the establishment of "Film Study," an upper school English course in which students develop a sense of "film literacy" through detailed "reading" of visual images; in addition, students evolve a working critical vocabulary…

This paper surveys the study of English in British schools from the 16th century to the present. The paper proceeds chronologically, using key terms operative in education at various times to structure discussion. In the 16th century a key term was "rhetoric," which concerns oral expression. "The Art and Craft of Rhetoric," is…

The vigorous public debate over the definition and function of the literary canon has raised certain important questions for English educators. One of the chief among all questions is how the literary canon debate has affected the content of English methods courses. The word "canon" has long been associated with a static and dogmatic…

For English educators, the censorship issue is more than reactively attending to censors; it is really an issue of what a member of the profession does, where responsibilities lie. English educators must struggle to provide literary experience, aesthetic language experience, and promote writing as dialogue in a social context. Limiting and…

Several administrative dimensions of a successful internship program in the English department of a four-year private college in Virginia are described in this paper. The paper begins by describing briefly the comprehensive internship program for juniors and seniors that was implemented with the help of a grant and under which six additional…

The research orientations and perspectives of people participating in the international dialogue about the redefinition of English language studies have been varied. Two broad and overlapping areas are distinctive to English studies: the exploration of human values and experience through the study of literature and the media, and the development…

The motivation for monitoring public affairs and for taking part responsibly in the civic process depends on a person's "civic identity," defined as a sense of kinship with and responsibility toward others in the community. Currently civic education is the province of social studies teachers, but English and language arts teachers could…

Of the various unrelated approaches used in advanced college composition courses, one has proved especially successful in encouraging professionalism in student writers: an approach in which students are required to write for and submit their work to professional publications. When students write articles, they deal with many rhetorical modes and…

This paper asserts that the Holocaust of Nazi atrocities during World War II should be studied in high school English classes so that such events are not dismissed as historical fiction by future generations, and to help ensure that similar events do not occur. Toward this end, the paper suggests that a degree of objectivity be maintained in…

Typically, students justify their pursuit of a college education as being necessary for a well-paying job, rather than as a tool for themselves as individuals. Often college curricula are responsible for turning students away from knowledge for its own sake. But should an education be merely useful? The description of the Alphas in Aldous Huxley's…