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…

As part of the theatre studies program offered by Montgomery County (Maryland) senior high schools, this instructional guide for advanced acting is designed to train students in the rigorous skills of preparing and presenting a character in performance. After listing 11 educational objectives, including being able to identify character elements…

Teachers' dismissal of Robert Cormier's books as "too depressing" suggests a lack of sound critical understanding of his work and a lack of faith in individual young people. The body of adolescent or young adult literature has come a long way in recent years. The writing has shown a much fuller range of literary quality and the content…

The concepts of distance, modalization, comprehensibility, and tension, as used for discourse analysis, can be applied to the analysis of speech events in literary texts. Such a linguistic approach may lead to new insights for the psychological description of authors and/or literary characters. Available from Dept. of English, University of…

Departing from the tendency to dwell extensively on the symbolism in Shakespeare's plays and to see the works as metaphysical formulations, studies in this book focus on his work as "plays about people"--their reactions as real people to possible situations. Four plays are examined, scene by scene: (1) "King Lear" and the Just…

Several people have tried, unsuccessfully, to learn the facts about J. D. Salinger's life. The little information available from secondary sources about Salinger indicates that "The Catcher in the Rye" has autobiographical elements. Salinger's life parallels Holden's fictional adventures in that Salinger (1) was born and reared through…

A study of symbolism in feature films reveals how the symbolism employed by film makers can serve as a bridge between feeling and thought, and between aesthetics and cognition. What individuals read from and learn through a symbol varies with what they bring to it. The filmmaker's symbolims must be universal and not private. However, symbolism in…

Divided into four sections, this book, which examines women's literature, depicts the roles women have been forced to assume in society and are now beginning to occupy. "Woman as Heroine" consists of analyses of traditional views of women with discussions of myths of women, stereotypes of women's roles, needs, attributes, and potentials.…

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)

Explains how the wolf has been misrepresented in children's literature. (HOD)

Relates how initiation and growth are experienced by both readers and characters in C.S. Lewis's classic fantasy, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." (HOD)

Analyzes Flannery O'Connor's early short story "The Crop" and relates its thematic struture and characterization to her later work. (RBW)

In their anthology, Guth and Rico cite as preface to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," a student paper saying: "The mere doubt of the existence of good and the thought that other human beings are evil can become such a corrosive force that it can eat out the life of the heart." This is what happens to Brown. In the…

The "Harry Potter" series has become a phenomenal success with children. "Harry Potter" books in print worldwide is in excess of 116 million, and they have been translated into 47 languages. What might account for this huge popularity? While the characters and events are certainly engaging, funny, original, and creative, they…