Broadens the space for a discussion of reading based in some degree of theorizing that has already occurred within the community of African-American critics and scholars. Argues that those engaged in reader-oriented approaches to literature need to intervene in the canonical debates and the critical practices of noncanonical literatures through…

Analyzes the institutionality and intractability of the "close reading" assignment. Maintains that the close reading assignment functions as an index to English in the academy. (RS)

Shows how a single passage might be handled by New Criticism, structuralism, deconstructionism, psychological criticism, and feminist criticism. Concludes that a plurality of critical approaches is better than a unity of approach. (RS)

Examines two novels by Sid Chaplin about the life of working-class youth in England--"The Day of the Sardine" and "The Watchers and the Watched." (MM)

Argues for the pervasive intervention of the Vietnam War in the cultural production of U.S. poetry. Questions the academic canon of post-World War II poetry and criticizes anthologies for ignoring Vietnam War poetry. Suggests why Vietnam War poetry has remained such an avoided subject. Lists anthologies including such poetry. (HB)

Explains the biblical reference in the title of Toni Morrison's novel, "Song of Solomon," as pointing to the book's form and political implications. Connects the title with the traditional pastoral mode and analyzes the novel as pastoral. (HB)

Outlines and discusses historical and contemporary theory concerned with the definition and consideration of simile. Provides an overview of the views of the most prominent critics and theorists with regard to simile. Compares how the literal and the figurative types of simile diverge. (HB)

Questions the persistence of the concept of organizing scholarship and instruction along national or chronological lines. Proposes a radically new system by which English studies might be organized. Suggests developing "contact zones" which bring diverse texts into dialog with one another. (HB)

Investigates a broad question in light of the author's own background: what is it that educators think they are doing while teaching postcolonial literature? Investigates an analogy between postcolonial and gay and lesbian studies by looking at the author's reading and teaching approach to Mariama Ba's novel "So Long a Letter." (TB)

Explores the possibility of seeing in Toni Morrison's novel, "Song of Solomon," the co-existence of two narratives of subjectivity. Examines the extent to which the application of a Western and non-Western narrative of subject formation yields conflicting interpretations of the novel and, in particular, the novel's ending. (SC)

Explores the notion that genres not only help define and organize kinds of texts, they also help define and organize kinds of social actions. Investigates the role genre plays in the constitution of the contexts of texts, including the identities of those who write them and those who are represented within them. (NH)

The position of the historical writer, Chaucer within classroom environment concerned with the creation and nurturing of an ethical consciousness is presented. The way in which an understanding of the writer from this perspective encourages an enhanced critical engagement with personal ethos and critical analysis for both the student and the…

Students should learn to critically evaluate their relationship to literary works and to cultivate "analytic neutrality" so that they can better understand what occurs within themselves when they read a literary work. (DD)

A weekly letter to the class gives each student in a literature class a chance to uncover their relationship to what they are reading. (DD)