Inspired by Leslie David Burns and Stergios G. Botzakis's efforts to demonstrate how texts recognized as exemplars by the Common Core State Standards could be used to address national standards and meet the needs of contemporary students, the author aims to illustrate how alternative nonfiction, nonprint texts--sports-based documentary…

One reason zombie films are so frightening, and perhaps so popular, is because zombies represent a unique type of monster. Rather than frightening people because they are so alien to the world as people understand it, zombies are horrifying in how closely they resemble people. Zombies are people and represent the potential of zombie…

Five teachers respond to the title question, providing literary analysis of the cult film and explanations for its appeal. (RL)

A rationale for using film in the language arts classroom and suggestions on how to use it. (DD)

Argues that Fritz Lang's film "Metropolis" deserves exploration and analysis because of its outlandish plot, dazzling visual and technical elements, and its reflection of the closing days of Weimar Germany. Presents a brief study guide designed to stimulate student curiosity and facilitate further interest in the film. (RS)

An attempt is made to show how at-risk students can increase their literacy skills through reading film as text by connecting classical Greek and Elizabethan theater to contemporary film. Films that feature violence are utilized by students to increase their literacy skills and also reach a critical awareness of the impact of violence in our…

Proposes a study of "Citizen Kane" in high school using a somewhat simplified version of post-modern literary critical theory. Chooses this film because of its familiarity and accessibility and because the ambiguity and indeterminacy of its text allow room for exploration by students. (NKA)

Lists 101 ways to use television, radio, film, and other media-related processes and products in the English classroom. (JL)

Examines several novels, short stories, and movies in a mini-course on the image of rural America in popular culture to determine if the idyllic picture of country life sometimes favored in the media leads to a mythologizing of country life. (NKA)

Lists the recommendations and rationales by 14 teachers for film/book combinations successfully included in the classroom. (KEH)

Shows how to help students fill in textual "gaps" to interact more fully with contemporary texts, classics, and myths. Presents examples of this approach for studying (1) Shakespeare's "Hamlet" with Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"; and (2) George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" with the…

Explores the origins and elements of popular culture--noting that English instruction and popular culture need not be mutually exclusive, and that selected materials from popular culture may serve goals of the English curriculum without compromising them. (NKA)

Presents a model for a composition workshop using topics generated from the popular media. Designed to help students explore the mimetic characteristics of popular culture and to analyze the appeals, claims, and techniques used in advertising. Grouped under thematic guidelines of social roles, assignments are flexible in length but easily changed…