Literary analysis is approached as an atypical research modality: a modality that falls outside the parameters of experimental research usually described in the literature of educational meta-research. It is maintained that atypical research is appropriate as ancillary and complementary to typical research. Following Guba's explication of…

Following the trend of organizing English literature study around "themes" both promotes superficial instruction and neglects a major facet of literature especially appealing to today's youth--that literature is a work of art covering the whole spectrum of man's experience where any of man's feelings, thoughts, and actions may find a place. With…

Teachers have to decide what poems should be taught and how they should be presented. The teacher ought to choose poems which he himself likes and which he expects that his students will like. Once chosen, the poem needs to be taught as a "meaningful whole" with emphasis on its unique structure and shape and on the significance of the parts in…

This study describes and analyzes, in a critical literary manner, selected biographies for children eight to twelve years of age. Biographies of Jane Addams, Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Gandhi, Toyohiko Kagawa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Albert Schweitzer are viewed from the perspective of a literary criterion based on the principles of design to…

This book presents fourteen of R. B. Heilman's essays on the teaching of English and the profession of the humanities. Discussed are administrative ways and means, pedagogical shibboleths and heresies, uses and abuses of literacy, cliches of style, moot issues of history and criticism, and the nature of the humanities and their continuing…

This 20-week course in mystery fiction for high school students is designed to provide experiences in logical thinking, reasoned written presentation, the nature of literary analysis via the crime story, and the tools of research. Students should be able to (1) use their language well, (2) read critically with attention to detail, and (3) meet and…

This collection of articles discusses the selection and use of literature for the adolescent reader. The essays can be used in classes preparing junior high or high school English teachers, or they can be used as continuing preparation by experienced teachers. The six sections of the book include: a general discussion of the literature classroom;…

Response to literature is the reader's response to the particular function of each element in a work; he is, or becomes, consciously aware of the ways in which aspects of the work interact to form the whole. Thus, response to narrative techniques--setting and exposition, dramatic moments, characterization, point of view, pattern and design, and…

In the Quinmester course "The Modern Face of Love" the nature and kinds of love are examined. A wide range of viewpoints touching on the force and morality of love are considered through various genre. Readings include "The Diary of a Young Girl,""Ethan Frome,""Love Story,""Sons and Lovers," and…

The older tradition of native American literature is discussed in terms of the systems of values which we bring to it, as well as those embedded in it. The analysis leads to a statement of some of the strengths of recent native American literature, which carries from the past some of the value judgments that have always kept the group or the tribe…

Using "historicist" techniques, scholars have offered challenging alternatives to standard views on the Romantic era. Historicists advocate yoking theories such as deconstruction with analyses of political, social, and other factors that played a role in the creation of period literature. An exhibit touring the United States is…

Discusses the reasons for Black women novelists not allying themselves with White feminists and the differences between the two groups' perspectives. Introduces the term "womanism" to express a philosophy that celebrates Black roots and the ideals of Black life while giving a balanced presentation of Black womandom. (SA)

Two different approaches to the definition of literature (criterial and prototypical) are described, and some features of a prototypical literary work are outlined. The criterial approach attempts to provide criteria that must be met by all texts to be called literature. The prototype approach focuses on a particularly good example to which other…

This paper discusses an approach to teaching third college year "bridge" courses, showing that students in a course that focuses on language and culture as well as students in an introductory course on literary analysis can benefit from using a stylistic approach to literacy texts to understand both form and content. The paper suggests that a…

Discusses a psychological criticism approach to literature and explores the psychology of English Canadians and French Canadians as it relates to literature. Written in French. (HS)