Arranges a literature class to create a reading community in the classroom--chairs in a circle, journal reading aloud, and frequent small group activities. Suggests choosing a literary work with at least three to four developed characters for use in a participatory talk show format so that students can engage with a literary text "from the…

In recent years, children's trade books have included a growing number of stories that negatively portray the well-known adults in a child's world--parents, teachers, and librarians. This paper examines children's and adults' reactions to such negative characterizations and defends their presence in children's literature. It then lists and…

Communication theories provide some assistance to these involved with interpretive reading, but the performance of literature calls for its own theory based on meaning and the unique qualities of interpretive skills. Theories of meaning involve both word meaning, based on the generalized processes of shared language experiences, and a personalized…

Based on William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that, on a literal level, the novel deals with what happens to a group of boys stranded on an island; and that on a symbolic level, it investigates what happens to civilized people when the structures of civilization…

Discusses the genre of teen paperback series. Topics addressed include the necessity for different evaluation criteria than those applied to monographs regarding setting, characters, and continuity; value judgments regarding quality and enjoyment; collection development; and improved circulation. (LRW)

Richard Wright's literary work emphasizes a contrast between black women and white women. Although both are "givers" to black boys, the nature of what they give is different. The black woman gives physical life, feeds it, and protects it at the expense of spiritual or creative vitality. Her goal is to survive bodily, to breathe, to have…

This volume contains 1970-71 Literature assessment exercises (all in the public domain) which have been selected for release at this time by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Information furnished for each exercise includes: the literature objective it was designed to measure, the theme (section) in which it appears, relevant…

Several of the important themes of post-World War II English, French, and German drama are analyzed in this book. The first chapter briefly examines the major contemporary playwrights in each national literature. Subsequent chapters discuss contemporary drama as an expression of Artaud's "theatre of cruelty," its relationship to the changing…

Across the centuries the heroes in dramatic works develop and play out action along the same lines, although the dramas may have been created by different authors and may reflect various eras and cultures. A case in point is a comparison of the two Spanish plays "El Caballero de Illescas" by Lope de Vega (1602) and "Los Intereses…

The "Introduction to Shakespeare" course in the Quinmester Program involves the careful study of the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" and the comedy "The Taming of the Shrew," emphasizing language, development of character and theme. The course also includes the study of biographical data relevant to the evolution of…

Suggests that children, even in early elementary grades, can grasp basic elements of children's literature using a spiralled sequence story curriculum, which helps them examine types of character, such as the trickster; elements of plot, such as the journey; and generally see patterns in the stories they read. (JC)

An analysis of four writers' portrayals of nineteenth and early twentieth century working class life reveals a progression of political thought about the treatment of people's struggles to effectively change society. In Dickens'"Hard Times" (1854), the protagonist is a martyr-saint who finds solace in subduing his anger and continuing to…

Separate articles in this journal discuss the treatment of controversial themes in current adolescent novels; literature for teenagers that deals realistically with family life; teaching students to apply the concepts of transactional analysis to the study of literary characters; teaching students how to interpret poetry; and using comic-book…

Political conditions have influenced the screen images of U.S. cinema, and the images of African Americans have reflected prevailing social stereotypes. The history of African-American representation in films is traced, and it is noted that the tendency to portray African Americans stereotypically has not changed. (SLD)

The Quinmester course "Shakespeare" is designed to bring out behavior patterns in characters revealed through dialogue in the plays of Shakespeare. Selections include sonnets, the romantic comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the history play "Richard II," and the tragedy "Hamlet." The sonnets are analyzed…