Argues that the literal and cultural "text" of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) calls into question the entire project of teaching English at the secondary level in this country. Teases out the connection between the study of NAFTA and the study of text and what it might mean for the teaching of English in the next…

Describes how to incorporate literature by women from many parts of the globe into the English curriculum. (MM)

Discusses the false dichotomy pitting aesthetic power against political complicity in literary criticism. Considers the sexual politics of the household of Nathaniel Hawthorne in light of this opposition. Suggests how literary works keep warring voices and inner conflicts alive and at odds. (HB)

Describes the way one teacher utilizes literature in the English classroom to help students to identify and explore their own personal life philosophies. Advocates moving away from the actual fiction and applying its philosophies to the lives of the readers. (HB)

Provides a detailed look at the creation of the Pacesetter English course by a member of the advisory committee that created it. Contends that the final assessment of the course through testing is a mistake based on economic factors. (HB)

Describes how one teacher developed an approach to teaching the plays of William Shakespeare that included both attending performances of plays and then producing individual scenes through student participation. Outlines other related activities of the unit, including holding an Elizabethan marketplace. (HB)

Shows how one teacher used innovative methods in teaching William Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Outlines student assignments including text renderings, rewriting a scene from the play, and creating a multicultural scrapbook for the play. (HB)

Describes one teacher's methods for introducing to secondary English students the concepts of Classicism and Romanticism in relation to pictures of gardens, architecture, music, and literary works. Outlines how the unit leads to a writing assignment based on collected responses over time. (HB)

Presents the responses of nine practicing teachers to the questions, "What controversial book do you teach anyway? How do you handle it in the classroom?" Provides citations and descriptions of the books discussed. (HB)

Discusses one high school senior's fictional rendition of her family's experiences of immigration and the American myth. Describes how stories such as this one can be moving and powerful, and thus constitute a sort of "fictional dream" into which readers enter and are thereby changed. (HB)

Describes how one English teacher developed an approach to teaching personal writing which juxtaposed the refined power of literary stories against the raw power of students' personal and sometimes tragic stories. Encourages English teachers to relate literary works to real, everyday life. (HB)

The vigorous public debate over the definition and function of the literary canon has raised certain important questions for English educators. One of the chief among all questions is how the literary canon debate has affected the content of English methods courses. The word "canon" has long been associated with a static and dogmatic…

The research orientations and perspectives of people participating in the international dialogue about the redefinition of English language studies have been varied. Two broad and overlapping areas are distinctive to English studies: the exploration of human values and experience through the study of literature and the media, and the development…

Typically, students justify their pursuit of a college education as being necessary for a well-paying job, rather than as a tool for themselves as individuals. Often college curricula are responsible for turning students away from knowledge for its own sake. But should an education be merely useful? The description of the Alphas in Aldous Huxley's…