The work presented here is an empirical study of how advanced learners of English as a foreign language in Argentina access and understand the culture-specific dimensions of literary narrative texts. It has three purposes. First, to extend research into reading in a foreign language to take account of the culture-specific content of texts. Second,…

Objective: To determine the degree to which the medical humanities have been integrated into the fields of internal medicine and psychiatry, the authors assessed the presence of medical humanities articles in selected psychiatry and internal medicine journals from 1950 to 2000. Methods: The journals searched were the three highest-ranking…

To examine the relationship between the literary responses and the moral responses of 11-year-old children to selected literary works, a study was conducted involving 28 mature sixth-grade readers. The subjects participated in eight lessons where widely recognized literary works containing moral dilemmas were read. Their responses were given in…

Disputes the contentions mabe by Bruno Bettelheim concerning the state of reading and reading instruction in the United States. (FL)

Discusses some of the problems facing educational researchers of children's literature. (RB)

Describes a study in which students taught by a creative method liked poetry more and understood it better than those taught by a directed method. (DD)

Discusses "Little Daylight," an original fairy tale that lies within George MacDonald's children's book "At the Back of the North Wind." Shows how the tale encapsulates some of MacDonald's key philosophical concepts, and subverts numerous expectations a reader may bring to the fairy-tale genre. (SR)

This study investigated the adolescent experience with adult literature. Sixty-six eighth graders' free written responses to the Junior novel "Turned Out" were compared to their responses to the adult novel "A Separate Peace." Both novels were segmented into four divisions representing the exposition, development, climax, and conclusion of each…

This paper contains a historical review of the literature pertaining to American popular literature and analysis of two different samples of adult fiction on best sellers, one an analysis of readability levels and one an analysis of the portrayal of female characters. In the first analysis the Fry Readability Formula was applied to each of 60…

Provides suggestions for using transactional theory, which stresses the importance of interacting with text, in teaching literature at the secondary level. Lists seven principles for teaching that are inherent in transactional theory. (SKC)

Discusses portrayals of animals in children's realistic animal fiction over the course of the 20th century. Shows how the definition of animal hero generally changed from wild animals that were heroic for surviving against all odds to domesticated animals that were heroic for rescuing humans from wild beasts. Discusses animals as victims. (SR)

Twenty-six women and 26 men enrolled in a humanities course at Michigan Technological University wrote their initial impressions to short stories by James Joyce, James Baldwin, Doris Lessing, and Virginia Woolf. The names were removed and the journal entries were analyzed in light of these four questions: (1) Do women refer to their personal…

Considers the resistance of preservice teachers to address sociopolitical dimensions within the context of children's literature. Presents an account of an incident, a description of the research that the author conducted, theoretical explanations, strategies which she has utilized for countering the resistance, and reasons why research such as…

Few children possess the knowledge and experience to identify the best books from the numbers that flood the market, so it is wise for authors, publishers, librarians, teachers, and parents to be aware of any body of informed critical opinion regarding excellence in books for children. The contribution of the conscientious critic is as valuable to…

Explores the possibility that literary theorists and reading researchers are unconscious of each others interests, goals, and assumptions. Seeks to explore how the gaps between these two areas might best be bridged. (EL)