Introduces a student-composed diagram as a means of discussing obstacles and resistances to teaching literature, such as assumptions about what a text is and whether it should be analyzed at all. Discusses a possible structure for the introductory literature course. (TB)

Using the works of writers like Thomas Wolfe, Christopher Koch, Raja Rao, and Albert Wendt, it is demonstrated that memory is a central element in postcolonial narratives and is associated with two important domains of cognition--recall of childhood and awareness of exile. (57 references) (JL)

Claims the literary critical essay does virtually nothing, as it is printed, read by a small number of literary people, and forgotten. Argues that teaching is doing and claims that the English department establishment either ignores or sneers at the kind of scholarship that tries to solve the problems of teaching literature and composition. (NH)

This paper surveys the study of English in British schools from the 16th century to the present. The paper proceeds chronologically, using key terms operative in education at various times to structure discussion. In the 16th century a key term was "rhetoric," which concerns oral expression. "The Art and Craft of Rhetoric," is…

Research on teachers and teacher thinking finds itself subject to tensions between two prevailing factions. The first sees promise of progress in the rejection of frequently conservative, idiosyncratic teachers' thoughts; the second embraces those thoughts as expressions of a sacred, lived truth. Detecting conflicting mythologies at the core of…

A critical reader "does more than simply soak up bits and pieces of information." He applies a personal reserve of knowledge and experience to a text to ascribe possible meanings. In other words, he interprets. In addition, he compares his own values and beliefs with those suggested to him by a text and defends them, if necessary. In…

The notion of literature's difficulty must have begun with its first interpreter. Biblical readings sometimes allegorized scripture into moral precept, while occult readings (i.e., Gnostic writings) often carried an implication that such texts are either for an elite readership or represent the essence of a tradition of spiritual truth under…

Analyzes results of a ten-nation study of literature education in terms of three different "deep structures" or basic approaches to literature curricula. Analysis of responses reveals significant national differences in curricular deep structures and indicates that agreement between student and teacher responses increases as students'…

Historically, homosexual literature has been ignored, destroyed, and misinterpreted by tacit agreement of all the respectable forces in our homophobic culture. (JH)

Prereading activities, analogous to prewriting activities, can draw on the reader's prior knowledge of the subject and make the student's reading of literature more proficient, raise the comprehension level, and make class discussions more meaningful. Some suggested prereading activities for the literature classroom include (1) making students…

Designed to make readers more aware of the systematic neglect of women's experience in the traditional literary canon, the paper presents feminist alternatives to the male-dominated canon, an assessment of their impact on the standard canon, and a proposal for new directions for further work. Two suggested approaches for feminist criticism are (1)…

This collection provides an inside view of the world of books, writers, and writing. The 33 separate contributions include excerpts from James Dickey's personal log that provide insights into the process of writing a novel; excerpts from the diary of John Shaw Billings, the first managing editor of "Life," that describe the launching of that…

One perspective for literary analysis assumes certain divisions of language, grammar, and "worlds of discourse." The worlds that language can express are the phenomenal, extensional, intensional, and alternate systems. Within these contexts, certain linguistic features universally affect responses to the world created and the language used. One…

THESE THREE TESTS--"ROUGHING IT,""THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA," AND "THE SHORT STORY"--WERE DESIGNED BY THE OREGON CURRICULUM STUDY CENTER FOR A NINTH-GRADE LITERATURE CURRICULUM. THEY ARE INTENDED TO ACCOMPANY CURRICULUM UNITS AVAILABLE AS ED 010 811 AND ED 010 812. (MM)

WRITTEN FOR BOTH THE "GENERAL" STUDENT INTERESTED IN CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE AND THE ORAL INTERPRETATION STUDENT WHO NEEDS A VARIETY OF CRITICAL ANALYSES TO COMBINE WITH ORAL PERFORMANCE IN HIS STUDY OF LITERATURE, THIS BOOK PROVIDES FIVE EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE AND ITS ORAL INTERPRETATION. PART 1, "THE…