The complex irony of Act III, Scene i, of "Richard II" indicates how Shakespeare directs audience response in the play. Understanding this process of directed response--a dialectic of alternatives--illustrates that a meaningful standard of kingship is not provided in the play by either Richard or Bolingbroke. (RL)

Suggests teaching the first scene of Hamlet'' instead of attempting to teach the entire play in a limited time period. (RB)

Considers literature as something different from the texts themselves (specifically, a way of reading that includes the writer, the text, and the reader) so that the purposes of teachers and readers may be considered, and a flexible approach to selection, organization, and pedagogy be permitted. (SRT)