In Elizabeth A. Dagrosa Harris' high school English classroom, the writing assignment that inspires the most dread in her students is the literary criticism paper, a common assessment usually assigned in the second semester of the British literature curriculum. This assignment is grounded in solid and time-tested standards that describe research…

In a thematic study she calls The Hero's Journey, the author introduces the classical archetype of the hero and the journey of the hero with Homer's "The Odyssey." After all, the wily tactician dreams up the idea for the wooden horse trick, thereby winning the war for the Greeks. He visits hell and, against all odds, makes it back. He defeats the…

Scott Snair proposes a mnemonic for students to use when critically examining written opinion. The acronym, RATTKISS, represents a "step-by-step method for understanding and evaluating written opinion." (Contains 1 figure.)

School administrators across the U.S. are asking literature teachers to become reading teachers, and not surprisingly, many secondary teachers are having difficulty with this transition. The author's transition to reading teacher was hurried by her dissatisfaction with lessons that featured question-answer discussions. Curious about how students…

Discusses how writing is the combination of two voices, "creator" and "critic," and how writers use these voices to create a recognizable yet variable pattern. Presents two story beginnings by Rachel McCaleb Watts that illustrate the repetitions and variations in one writer's work. (ARH)

Describes how to adapt a film study technique (Richard Lacey's image sound skim) to literary study (the image or scene skim) to develop students' skill in perceptive reading. (DD)

Students knowledge of literary theories helps them to understand that there are many ways to know texts, to read and interpret them. Divergent and critical thinking about literature developed by high school students through analyzing a fairy tale, a short story and a novel are presented.

Discusses the common beliefs that (1) understanding poetry is an individual act, (2) each person's understanding of a poem is equally valid, and (3) observers must superimpose meaning over nonmeaning. Argues that, unlike science and mathematics, there are any number of "right" answers in the interpretation of poetry. (JD)

A study of Richard III, Shakespeare's version, versus a study of the real king, can help to prevent the complacent state of mind and will encourage students to search for the truth, freed from the propaganda with which it is often surrounded. Brief annotated bibliography. (Author)

Explains how analogies teach students to read critically as well as independently. Presents examples of student-written analogies, and notes that this exercise gives students confidence in their powers of literary interpretation. (MM)

Offers a list of questions for teachers to ask their literature classes, including questions on the author, the style, the theme, the setting, and the plot. Notes how sequencing these questions can prepare students for other activities in literature appreciation. (RL)

Offers an essay on the "obscenities" of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," to be used as a class exercise in critical reading, diction, and tone. (RL)

Presents five reasons for classroom study of Mary Shelley's gothic work: (1)intriguing style and subject matter, brevity and novelty; (2)narrative versatility; (3)representation of the Romantic Era in English literature; (4)female authorship; (5)significance of the central theme of "scientific aims pursued in reckless disregard of human…

Offers a set of principles for constructing questions that compel rereading and proposes a set of principles by which literature teachers can construct significant questions--ones which compel rereading and textual constraint while encouraging independent interpretation, response, and hypothesizing. Provides examples illustrating the applications…