Suggests two shifts in perspective that will help turn writing across the curriculum courses toward aim and away from mode as a central organizing principle. Suggests a theoretical shift from "mode" to "topic" and a practical shift from single to plural textuality, combining several textual paradigms as demonstrated in the…

Reviews the use of humor in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Black Creole Jamaican literature and song. Concludes that irony is inherent in the creative expression of early Jamaicans and writers about Jamaica, arising from inconsistencies of attitudes of Blacks toward Whites and toward themselves. (FMW)

Toni Cade Bambara's novel "The Salt Eaters" is art colored by social responsibility as the author attempts to give her African-American audience a sense of their history and their identity so they can value and accept collective work and responsibility. The novel's strengths and thematic weaknesses are discussed. (SLD)

This book is a collection of essays designed for high school and college teachers who want to introduce non-Western and other non-canonical texts into their traditional literature courses. The essays in the book explore the kinds of visions encountered when teachers cluster Western texts with those outside the dominant Western tradition. Papers in…

An examination of the film, "Educating Rita," explores the effects of power respective to particular gender categories and suggests ways that the film becomes a case study in gender and education. The film is about a woman, Rita, who wants the ability to have choices in her life, pursues an education as the key to providing choices, and…

Black autobiography can only be viewed sensibly in the classroom if an attempt is made to come to terms with the social and historical milieu in which the work was produced and with the persona and ethos of the writer. Critical failure to do so puts critic and text at a serious disadvantage because such failure restricts critical vision to the…

The life of Mary Mapes Dodge, author of "Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates," a pioneer in the field of literature for children and adolescents during the nineteenth century, is recounted in this paper--from her childhood as the daughter of a well-connected but impecunious lecturer, scientist, and inventor through her later years as a…

An analysis of the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks shows that she can be used as a model for students at many grade levels to emulate. Her poetry excels as a model, not only because of her imagery, but also because of her use and modification of both traditional and newer forms of poetry and her skill with the devices of sound. Like other evolving and…

One of a series of works aimed at presenting contemporary critical opinion on major authors, this collection includes essays by Victor Brombert, Martin Turnell, Erich Auerbach, Jean Prevost, Raymond Giraud, Irving Howe, Judd D. Hubert, Leon Blum, Jean Starobinski, Jean-Pierre Richard, and Simone de Beauvoir--all dealing with the biography and…

An effective teaching method, the technique of changing crucial characteristics of a literary work and presenting students with unsuitable alternatives leads the students to their own discovery of the artistic appropriateness of the original. Examples may be seen in each of three representative areas of English: (1) poetry--substitute words to…

Explores issues in defining a category of Filipino/a media arts under the umbrella of Asian Pacific American media arts. Three waves of Filipino/a American media output are mapped, and the representational issues connected with each wave are outlined. Works from each of the waves are identified. (SLD)

This study focuses on imagery of youth and old age in the plays of Euripides, especially the "Suppliant Women," considering frequently used words in each play according to formula developed by Pierre Guiraud. Identifies a motif, the rejuvenation theme, in several of Euripides' plays. Shows how the word "neos" (new, young) helps…

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:…

Although the acts of reading literature and writing are closely linked, literature study and composition instruction remain distinct pursuits within college English departments. Style seems to be an interest that unifies the two pursuits. The most common view of style equates it with acceptable rhetorical and grammatical conventions. A second view…

During the last 15 years, Chicano literature has not only repeated some of the topics of Mexican literature, but has added many more. Similar to Mexican literature, Chicano literature deals with: the pains, trials, and common experiences of childhood; the loss of religion, as traditional Catholicism confronts the changing needs and desires of the…