Weaves a discussion of the female protagonist of Laurie Halse Anderson's novel "Speak" into the main discussion of the female protagonist of Carson McCullers'"The Member of the Wedding." Demonstrates the parallels between the stories as well as the distinctions to reinforce their individual richness, and to assist teachers who may choose to pair…

The character of Billy in Ernest Thompson's "On Golden Pond" does not behave like "real" young people. Instead, he takes on adult qualities, as shown in his relationships with the other characters, in his speech, in his actions, and in the observations he makes during the play. Billy's adolescent behavior serves the dramatic…

Examines Rosemary Wells's "None of the Above," a young adult novel of despair, whose bitterness arises from the choices young people face in the dreary contemporary world. (NKA)

This research was concerned with a further exploration of the adolescent's capacity to think in formal terms about the consequences of suddenly changed circumstances depicted in literature. Implications for classroom learning are considered. (Author/RK)

Describes the Johari Window, a specialized questioning strategy for the study of characterization in fiction. Asserts that this method promotes classroom discussion, provides motivation to analyze a character in depth, develops students' empathy for a specific character, and encourages inferential thinking. (MM)

An English instructor examined 9 Judy Blume adolescent novels and interviewed 12 students (grades 6, 7, and 8) who had read the novels to look at the world as it was presented in the books and to compare the instructor's own perceptions with those of the adolescent readers. The study revealed that the books did in fact dwell on the problems of…

Designed to assess the extent of adolescents' literary awareness of detail and of characterization, and their sense of the purpose and continuity in written responses to story selections, the Literary Appreciation of Adolescents measure was constructed. Three scales measure those three factors, with each scale being scored on a five-point basis…