Discusses about 50 books of or about English literature of the Restoration period published during 1969. (DS)

Labeling literary or artistic periods is always tricky, and labeling an emerging period (such as this post-postmodern one) is, of course, impossible. Harold Bloom has labeled this period the "chaotic age" because of the canon wars that have raged among factions. One writer with a place in any canon and who is an anodyne to the chaos of…

Reference works dealing with English and American theatre and drama are listed and annotated in this paper. Part One, "Reference Works," is divided into six sections: encyclopedias and handbooks; dictionaries of terms; English and American histories; biography; indexes to characters in plays and to plays in collections; and directories of…

"Macbeth" is best understood by considering five specific elements: (1) the tragic view--a recognition of man's dignity as well as his vulnerability to evil; (2) the tragic plot--the reversals in the plans of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the scene of recognition of impending disaster, and Macbeth's continual suffering; (3) the tragic…

One of a series of works aimed at presenting contemporary critical opinion on major authors, this collection includes essays by Alfred Harbage, H. B. Charlton, Willard Farnham, H. T. Price, Donald A. Stauffer, Brents Stirling, Maynard Mack, Helen Gardner, C. S. Lewis, Alvin Kernan, Bernard Spivack, L. C. Knights, Francis Fergusson, G. Wilson…

This book, which is most suitable for high school or junior college teachers, is a guide to the teaching of twelve of Shakespeare's plays. For each play the authors include an opening essay about the general character of the play, its main theme, and the dramatic design expressing this theme. A detailed discussion of the dramatic action follows,…

Outlines theatrical and teaching techniques for classroom discussion of Shakespeare's plays, including scene preparation and performance, sound/movement exercises, and improvising scenes that Shakespeare "might have written but discarded." Provides questions for post-performance discussion. (RL)

Describes a "Shakespeare Coursework Unit" in which Shakespearean and other literary works of the Tudor era were analyzed for evidence of the gender biases prevalent in that period. Notes that by the end of the course, students accepted the assertion that textual analysis is never truly completed. (SG)

Applies 51 stylometric computer tests of Shakespeare play authorship and 14 of play authorship, developed by the Shakespeare Clinic, to 37 "true Shakespeares," 27 plays of the Shakespeare Apocrypha, and to several poems of unknown authorship. Finds that no claimant, and none of the apocryphal plays or poems, matched Shakespeare. (DSK)

This article describes a multi-part approach to Shakespeare's playwriting, including his conception of comedy, his method of characterization, aspects of staging, and the status of male and females. It can accommodate all types of Shakespearean plays. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is treated as seminal, while other plays are also…

Describes how, at a school in Texas, Shakespeare becomes a teaching vehicle for learning-disabled students as they engage in a year-long class that studies Shakespeare and his times, as well as produce an entire play. Argues that the experience works so successfully because it is student-centered, collaborative, and experiential. (SR)

Shakespeare's plays are the apex of western achievement in the humanities and as such afford a highly fertile mechanism for teaching gifted elementary and secondary students. Studying Shakespeare facilitates the understanding of an earlier form of the English language and illustrates the evolutionary nature of language. Aside from a sense of…

This booklet, containing eight instructional modules on works by major British writers, can be used either within a lower-level literature course for non-English majors or in a survey course for English majors. The first four modules focus on works from the early English period through the Elizabethan Age: "Beowulf,""Sir Gawain and the Green…