The teaching of grammar has been strongly debated for decades, often with reference to an alleged decline in the 1960s. This article takes a historical perspective on grammar, or knowledge about language, within English Education. In the eighteenth century, Adam Smith's "Lectures in Rhetoric and Belles-lettres" offered a discernibly…

Discussions of English department identity and mission more often center on the undergraduate major curriculum than on classes for general-studies and other non-major students. In such courses, though, educators have an opportunity to touch the intellectual lives of far more people than they do in courses for majors. The author argues in this…

Describes how rhetoric replaced literature as the prevalent focus for teaching composition. Questions why teachers neglect the use of literature in composition classrooms. Argues for the inclusion of literature into composition courses as a means of inspiring conversations beyond the realm of academia. (HB)

In a response to the Minnesota Conference on the Future of Doctoral Study in English, argues that literary theory has redirected attention to the medieval liberal arts of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. (JK)

Argues that provision must be made for new works to enter the literary canon, suggesting that meaningful reformation of the canon must evolve from discussion among those involved in the profession of humane letters. Claims lethargy inhibits the process of canon reformation, and discusses revisionist approaches to curriculum. (ARH)

Suggests ways to respond to the changes in the teaching of college literature wrought by recent literary criticism and theory. (DD)

Encourages the Yale English Department to put an end to the unnatural separation of the teaching of literacy and the teaching of literature. (DD)

Questions whether literature should have a role in first-year composition courses. Argues that this question cannot be discussed without deciding on the objectives for such a course. Claims that first-year composition should eliminate the use of literature and focus on practicing the discourse of the academy. (HB)

Proposes that literature is a means to understanding life and society. (MKM)

Summarizes responses to a questionnaire on popular courses that was sent to English department chairpersons in 1977. (GW)

Reports on a survey that asked 500 students what the word "literature" meant to them. Concludes that the variety of answers indicate that English teachers need to be clearer about what they believe literature is and that only then can they clarify the objectives of a literary education. (JAD)

Offers suggestions for seeking out neglected writers from all literary periods and advocates teaching the works of these writers along with the works of accepted great writers. (MKM)

Summarizes responses to a questionnaire on popular literature courses that was sent to English department chairpersons. (GT)

Relates autobiographically the author's experiences learning to write as an inventor, in the process exemplifying personal writing as a mode to be fostered in composition courses. Argues for a presentation of writing as a constant discovery and construction of knowledge rather than an accumulation of facts. (HB)

Suggests ways to give literary theory its rightful place in literary study by teaching psychoanalytic, literary, and philosophical texts in a comparative perspective. (DD)