Literature should not be used only as a teaching aid or a source of pleasure but as a means of developing and expanding the imagination. (JH)

This study explores the proposition that literary criticism may be an important part of the elementary school curriculum and that its practice can be informed by the theories of Northrop Frye. The study is in three parts. The first chapter of Part I argues that there is virtually no emphasis in the elementary school on the study of literature as…

Experiencing literature is the first step toward becoming a literary critic. The primary task of the literary critic is to understand and explain what is experienced and then to interpret works of literature in relation to all the literature the student knows. To help children grow as critics of literature it is necessary to broaden their…