The discussion questions and essay prompts in this collection were compiled from contributions made by participants in the 1991 Arizona Shakespeare-Milton Institute. After an introduction which presents some general guidelines for teachers and students, the collection addresses the following works: "As You Like It"; "The…

Notes that the brief but crucial appearances of Prince Escalus in "Romeo and Juliet" offer a key to the understanding of how plot proceeds in any dramatic or comedic work. (FL)

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" is usually taught as being about love's redeeming power. Usual interpretations of this story, however, ignore its title. It is also about a woman who discovers and uses her sexual power. To begin discussion, students are asked how many have ridden a horse and whether they have ever bought or sold a horse at…

Intended for college teachers and students of Anglo-Saxon literature, this paper provides an overview of the sophisticated poetic devices used by the "Beowulf" poet. The paper examines how old English words for color range in hues in a way that modern English words do not, and how these words for color are used in "Beowulf."…

Part of a three-program set, this computer software program is designed to support the teaching of literary criticism in the English classroom through a focus on characterization. It aids teachers in the search for literary meaning by providing questions from different reading positions. The program is easy to operate and requires little prior…

Part of a three-program set, this computer software provides a comprehensive range of generic questions on plot in literature. The program is comprised of: 150 questions sorted into 14 categories; supporting ideological commentary classifying question types; and a user-friendly program enabling worksheet production. It is underpinned by a Critical…

Part of a three-program set, this computer software program is designed to aid teachers in the search for literary meaning by providing questions from different reading positions. The program provides 150 questions in 3 forms--a generic version of each question (without reference to any particular work), an example question (showing how the…

Intended for college students and teachers of English literature, this paper examines the lives and works of three great medieval Anglo-Saxon priestly scholars whose Latin writings have preserved the Anglo-Saxon roots of the English language. The paper first describes the works of Aldhelm, born in 650 A.D., whose poetry was not in the Latin…

The literary theorist Terry Eagleton believes that literary study is the study of human discourse. To build on his idea for use in the classroom, it must first be assumed that literature constitutes a dialogue between the work (and its author) and the reader. The dialogue process can be introduced in a 2- to 4-week unit through a cluster of…

Intended for college teachers and students of Anglo-Saxon literature, this paper provides an overview of the poetic devices available to poets of the fourteenth century. The paper examines how the "Pearl" poet made use of numerical symbolism and the principles of formal logic as structural devices, giving examples of these devices from…