The problems of teaching poetry in the elementary classroom are (1) the choice of poems and (2) the way in which the teacher presents the poems. Becuase good poetry can encourage the child's imagination, a teacher should avoid the mediocre "children's poems" generally found in textbooks and should present students with worthwhile poems from other…

The procedure for conducting graduate German literary seminars at Harvard is outlined. The seminar schedule is explained in terms of the entire course and of weekly work. Such features as choice of subject for research, group discussion, oral progress reports, and presentation of seminar papers are described. The selection of seminar subject and…

A guide to material dealing with children's literature, this annotated bibliography describes books, articles, and pamphlets selected on the basis of their estimated usefulness to adults concerned with the creation, reading, or study of books for boys and girls up to 14 years of age. Except for a few historical landmarks, the items discussed are…

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…

Argues the need for professors and departments of English to reach a new consensus on goals for teaching literature. (JH)

Recommends, for teaching English in the upper grades, Malamud's "The Assistant," which deals with the life of a minority group in New York during the Great Depression, and which emphasizes the importance of neighborliness and mutual helpfulness. (IFS/WGA)

Reflects on the role of New Historicism in teaching literature and remarks on the lack of historical awareness in students today. Offers suggestions for connecting history, as well as other disciplines, to literature to combat currently fragmented college educations. (JC)

Examines the sociolinguistic and structuralist traditions of English teaching in Great Britain. Suggests a curriculum systhesizing elements from these two traditions and a progressive/arts tradition. (ARH)

Presents a brief overview of the history of the emergence of composition courses in English-speaking universities and examines research on the activities of reading, composing, and responding to literature. Describes a literature and composition course in English as a second language which focuses on the interrelationship between reading and…

One way in which changing attitudes toward scientific knowledge and technology can be made the focus of attention in a college literature course is suggested by this analysis of Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus," Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," and Friedrich Durrenmatt's "The Physicists." (JMD)

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…

The articles in this journal issue provide information on the study and teaching of folklore. Separate articles discuss the following topics: oral history; the teaching of folklore in Texas secondary schools and colleges, both as a separate discipline and as supporting enrichment material; a term project assignment in a college-level American…

Stressing the importance of choosing either a child-centered or a subject-centered orientation in developing a children's literature program, this paper discusses the characteristics of child-centered and subject-centered approaches to literature and then focuses on the dominant literary theories of structuralism and revisionism. Maintaining that…

"MORE THAN THE COMMON ELEMENT IN COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE," LANGUAGE IS A SUBJECT APPROPRIATE FOR STUDY IN THE ENGLISH CURRICULUM. HERETOFORE, THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION HAVE SUFFERED FROM TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' INADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE OF RECENT LANGUAGE DISCOVERIES, AND LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION HAS BEEN INCOMPLETE AND DISORDERLY.…

The fantastic tale is a genre of children's literature in which magic and reality are found side by side in a superficially plausible story with a definite historical setting. Motifs characteristic of the tale are living toys, strange children, modern witches, space and time displacements, "doors" to the wonderland, the mythical world itself, and…