Discusses the ways that the word "quality" can be used in English, as either a noun or an adjective. Outlines numerous ways the word is currently used. (HB)

Discusses studies that examine literature instruction in U.S. secondary schools. Examines studies of required book-length works, titles recently taught, the importance of book-length texts, sources of literary materials, and selections included in popular anthologies. Concludes that the curriculum as a whole remains relatively traditional in its…

Discusses the effects one teacher experienced when her students asked for silent time in the classroom to read ahead in the assigned adolescent novel. Suggests that a key goal of literature instruction should be getting students to read with interest and engagement, without the interference of the instructor. (HB)

Gives advice for the construction of literary maps which memorialize the authors of specific geographical locations. Discusses the development of a literary map of Utah. (HB)

Describes various teaching tips used by two practicing English teachers to enhance literature instruction in the classroom. Focuses on the inherent interest students have in heroic fictional characters. (HB)

Describes an approach to teaching William Shakespeare by which one teacher had students take the plays from the page to the stage by becoming actors and directors as well as scholars. Shows ways of relating various plays to more contemporary works. (HB)

Argues that William Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part I" is an appropriate and useful text for secondary English classrooms. Shows how the play lends itself to performance-based instruction. Outlines ways of accomplishing student engagement, using film versions, and assigning written work. (HB)

Considers the nature and function of the past in the way people construct the present, particularly with regard to the study of literature. Presents reader response as a feasibile approach for teachers of literature. Discusses issues surrounding the literary canon and the role of literature teachers. (HB)

Argues for the use of poems by other poets alluding to plays by William Shakespeare when those plays are studied. Gives four examples of poems and explains how the poems relate to the plays. (HB)

Describes one teacher's methods for introducing to secondary English students the concepts of resistant reading and critical thinking. Describes the positive and negative aspects of resistant reading and theoretical frameworks for talking about it. (HB)

Questions the persistence of the concept of organizing scholarship and instruction along national or chronological lines. Proposes a radically new system by which English studies might be organized. Suggests developing "contact zones" which bring diverse texts into dialog with one another. (HB)

Considers the emergence of English as a separate high school subject beginning late in the 19th century. Describes the influence of the Committee of Ten, whose objective was to assure that students were prepared for college. (HB)

Gives responses of nine practicing teachers to the question, "What book or article published since 1987 has had the most significant influence on your teaching and on teachers you know?" Provides citations, summaries, and overviews of the works. (HB)

Considers how in many school districts and states, English teachers are being influenced to more directly address the teaching of workplace literacy within the English curriculum. Suggests some functional ways that educators might weave workplace literacy into the existing fabric of the classroom without displacing the important things currently…

The answer to the question, "What's happening to the standards project organized by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)?" is that the project is going forward. Though its federal sponsors rejected it in the fall and winter of 1993-94, the project is continuing under the…