Looks at how the best writers of English from the 1600s to the present use punctuation in their nonfiction. Finds three bases for punctuation: intonation, grammar (or syntax), and semantics (or rhetoric). Shows that these authors do not regularly and consistently follow the institutionalized rules. Argues for rhetoric-based punctuation because its…

Telling stories from secondary and college English classrooms, this book explores the new possibilities for teaching and learning generated by bringing together reader-response and cultural-studies approaches. The book connects William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and other canonical figures to multicultural writers, popular culture,…

This book aims to make a genuinely new contribution to the teaching of classic and contemporary literature in high schools--a system of teaching English that achieves classroom control through engagement and interest in content. The questions posed in the book help students build a kind of mental muscle for reading challenging texts and, what is…

Proposes using "theme baskets" as a progression of texts to scaffold core literature. Defines the theme basket as a combination of several approaches: using a thematic approach to teaching literature; using children's books in secondary classrooms; coupling young adult books with the classics; and capitalizing on young adults'…

Gives responses of 12 practicing teachers to the question, "What is your favorite modern transformation of a literary classic?" Provides citations, summaries, and overviews of the works. (HB)

Offers observations on the author's experience of the past two years as she returned to teaching high school English after over 20 years of training adults in business in government to improve their writing. Reflects on the differing demands of these work environments, and on how the canon itself and approaches to teaching classics have changed…

Offers brief descriptions from four teachers of middle school or high school students concerning how they have successfully used particular young-adult books in their English classrooms. (SR)

This book challenges the current penchant in United States education for "dumbing down" and anthologizing literature for secondary learners. The book provides a rationale for teaching the classics to all high school students. It offers a wealth of ways for English teachers to do what they yearn to do in their own classrooms: teach "the good…

Describes a project that got ninth-grade students to read and respond to classics, and lists the books they read. (JL)

Reports on ways of having fun with the classics of literature. Describes classroom uses of parody and satire to emphasize the themes and characterizations found in Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and other noted authors. (RL)

Discusses six recent books for educators that focus on young adult literature, and on responding to literature. Describes how adolescent literature can be the center of transdisciplinary, concept-based units in a middle school curriculum. Outlines use of reading response logs and learning journals. Lists recently published books by and about…

Discusses and answers objections to young adult literature which generally fall into one of two categories: that young adult books are bad because they are not the classics, and/or they corrupt the young. Offers brief descriptions of 12 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

Describes the discomfort experienced by students and teacher as they explored how blackness is portrayed and understood in "To Kill a Mockingbird." Grapples with fundamental pedagogical questions: how to talk about race with a diverse group of students and how to examine victimization and oppression. Suggests tandem teaching with M.…

Offers quotes from articles about English teaching in the United States published in professional journals from 1847 to 1955. Suggests there never was a "golden age" of English teaching. Shows discussion and controversy about teaching writing, about what literature should be allowed in the schools, whether teaching grammar is worthwhile, and…

Describes a unit wherein students reading "The Odyssey" produced visual representations of important story elements, considered differences in Homer's use of language and their own, enacted scenes from "The Odyssey," and wrote goal-setting and interpretive essays. (NH)