An honors seminar at Bloomsburg University (Pennsylvania) investigated the story of Jesus as it has evolved in different media over nearly two millennia. Initially the students studied two gospels with contrasting versions of the life of Jesus, in order to explore the process whereby oral material is transcribed into written form by different…

This paper provides a creative approach to developing literary understanding and writing ability in students in a college introduction to literature course. Eight assignments are described which pair literary works having some feature in common. A sample suggestion from the first group of exercises, concerned with characterization, is as follows:…

To help students develop a broadly generative approach to reading and writing about literature, teachers of literature should employ not only systematic procedures, but also the eclectic and utilitarian spirit of rhetorical invention. A semiotic perspective offers the most solid theoretical foundation for establishing a genuinely heuristic…

As an interesting development in recent literary criticism, reader response can enhance a composition class in many ways. Reader response, by incorporating both intellect and feeling into an aesthetic reaction to literature, restores the subjective aspect that some forms of criticism deny. Three main elements compose the repeated cycle of a…

Comments upon the role of teachers in breaking down students' resistance to learning, and suggests that teachers become, not all-knowing givers of knowledge in the classroom, but persons who help students become interpreters themselves by separating themselves from their own interpretations. (JC)

Explores responses to fiction reading by students who record these responses in journals. (NKA)

Describes the focus of a freshman literature course: understanding literary meaning, analyzing literary form, and exploring literary value with each of the three one-quarter classes drawing on the resources of a major area within current literary studies, such as hermeneutics (meaning), poetics (form), and criticism (evaluation). (EL)

Chinua Achebe is one of Africa's best-known and most influential contemporary writers. His first novel, "Things Fall Apart," is a narrative about the European colonization of Africa told from the viewpoint of the colonized people. Published in 1958, the novel recounts the life of the warrior and village hero Okonkwo and describes the…

The social, cultural, and historical documents and commentary in this casebook illuminate the reading of "The Catcher in the Rye," a novel that has become an important rite of passage for many young adults. In addition to a literary analysis, the casebook acquaints students with the larger world in which Holden Caulfield, the…

This casebook of materials about William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" will enrich students' understanding of the historical context of the play and encourage interpretations of its cultural meaning. Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" reflects perennial cultural concerns about order and freedom, particularly as they clash in the…

Calls for writing instruction that leads students to realize that meaning depends upon context and perspective. Describes a course in which students "problematize" and write about issues within literary works. Explains that students observe visual artworks which serve as companion pieces to the literary works and to students' own compositions…

Reports a conversation between Cleanth Brooks and Willie Morris concerning changes in literature during the postmodern era. Discusses narrative form, arguing that contemporary literature is moving away from story telling. Contends that the small percentage of the public which reads serious fiction is the reason for this shift. (KO)

Presents a summary of research done in the field of young adult literature from 1967 to 1992. Summarizes research done in areas such as methodology, booklists, author studies, critical analysis, social issues, reader response, and reading advocacy. (HB)

What is pleasing about hypertext is what has always been pleasing about genre fiction: the creative process of reading. Genre novels are written to a formula--and often called formula fiction. Critics say they are written to make money and to make money only. According to C. S. Lewis, they "rot the mind." If looked at from the standpoint…

This book offers teachers a convenient means of broadening their understanding of reader response theory and criticism and applying this theory to the teaching of literature in high school and college classrooms. The book is designed to arouse individual teachers' interest in reader response theory and encourage them to apply it to their teaching.…