Much of the clamor about instructional relevance today results from student dissatisfaction with (1) the narrow and anachronistic definition of literature commonly given by teachers, (2) the artificial compartmentalizing of literary works, and (3) the assumption that literature can only be apprehended through analysis. Rather than concentrating…

The best literature dealing with the Holocaust assumes the worthwhileness and preciousness of human life. (JH)

The Bible still offers artists their basic myths and patterns for interpreting the American experience.

The focus story forms are differentiated by their characteristic uses of time and space and by the psychological processes they engage.

Successful fantasies may either force us to look freshly at everyday things or expand our capacity to believe.

Discusses feminist literary theory and describes challenges the experience of feminist literary theory presented to high school English students and their teacher. Students found that feminist theory threatened heterosexuality, agency, the good girl image, and the feminist haven. Makes recommendations to teachers who choose to utilize feminist…

Students engaged in literary response on weblogs they wrote and maintained for an 11th-grade English class. Three focal students, all members of a "regular" American Literature class in a school that is highly invested in The College Board's Advanced Placement program, forge hybrid social languages from the discourse of formal literary analysis…

Parallels are drawn between Kobo's novel and Kafka's "The Trail." (KM)

The phenomenon of writer use of sport inferences in the literary genre of the novel is examined in the works of Updike and Mailer. Novels of both authors were reviewed in order to study the pattern of usage in each novel. From these patterns, concepts which illustrated the sport philosophies of each author were used for general comparisons of the…

Women's literature is not a literary category and the teaching of women's literature is a subversion of women's liberation. (DD)

Explicates core aspects of two censored narratives: the movie "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial" and the novel "Huckleberry Finn." Points out similarities between the two works and raises the issue of the estrangement of youth from adult society. (RH)

Discusses psychoanalytic theory as a valid technique for teaching and interpreting literature. (RB)

The article deals with historical concepts of progress as it relates to humanistic studies and the arts. An interpretation of Williams' work is used for illustration. (DB)