Using great literature to clarify and to improve students' writing is like using the unknown-literature to explain the only slightly less unknown--the writing of compositions. An alternative is to study films to foster an awareness of technique, for films contain many of the same rhetorical and structural devices as literature. It is possible to…

Proposes a study of "Citizen Kane" in high school using a somewhat simplified version of post-modern literary critical theory. Chooses this film because of its familiarity and accessibility and because the ambiguity and indeterminacy of its text allow room for exploration by students. (NKA)

Successful fantasies may either force us to look freshly at everyday things or expand our capacity to believe.

Based on Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that all works of art lend themselves to critical reviews; critical reviews consist of opinions and support for the opinions; and a critical review may compare and contrast a work in one medium to the same work in…

Suggests that Shakespeare's intense self-consciousness of the theatrical conventions within which he was working, associated with an emphasis on studying the text as produced, has to be an important starting point for any classroom study of Shakespeare on film. Offers ideas for teaching such films, such as the Zeffirelli production of "Romeo…

Examines the published film scripts for three movies in discussing the value of reading such scripts as a part of film study in the classroom. (RD)

A teacher discusses an English class' response to Solzhenitsyn's novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and the controversial film, "Scum." (HOD)

Suggests that the movie "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial:" is a classic because it touches a mythic nerve--every person's impulse to find a home within an alien environment. Proposes that E.T.'s story, with its New Testament parallels, can be used to teach literary allusion. (MM)

Argues that elementary language-arts teachers should expand their definition of "text" to include film, a valuable instructional material. Notes that today's elementary students come to class with a great deal of knowledge about films--prior experiences which teachers can tap into. Discusses the application to film of reader-response theories. (SR)

Compares selected aspects of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey" with Homer's The Odyssey." (SW)

Discusses how films of Shakespeare's plays can be used to teach literary analysis in the classroom and to nurture an interest in Shakespeare. Suggests some books for teachers which specifically address Shakespeare and film. (PRA)

Sketches an alternative, or perhaps an addition, to critical analysis and personal response. Notes the approach is historical and intertextual. Demonstrates this method using the popular television series "The X-Files." Shows how a description of a text can be built up through various kinds of research. Argues that historical and…

There are rich teaching possibilities in the comparative study of prose and film versions of the same story. (JH)

Young adult literature is the subject of this journal. The first article, "The Executioner Sings" (Jay Bennett), relates how and why its author writes. The next article, "Cinderella and the Pigman" (Lucy E. Waddey), explains why kids read the works of Judy Blume and Paul Zindel. "An interview with Keven Major" (Mike…

Various approaches that teachers can use to help students interpret contemporary plays are presented in this discussion of teaching drama. Plays discussed include two from the Theater of Illusion ("Look Back in Anger,""A Raisin in the Sun"), two from the Theater of the Absurd ("Rhonoceros,""Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead"), and two from…