The loss of richness and multiplicity of word meaning can result in a decline in the metaphoric activity of the mind. A technologically-oriented civilization pressures students to devalue word connotation in favor of denotative exactitude. To counteract this tendency, teachers should adopt for themselves and instill in their students a regard for…

A teacher's developing awareness of his college students' dependence on jargon as the expression of their culture is portrayed with the aid of quotations from Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Parallels are drawn between Prufrock's attitudes and student language in the classroom. (AF)

The first of six papers included in this collection--"What is English?"--calls for a greater integration of language, literature, and composition, with special emphasis on the use of grammar as a key element in both composition and literature study. The second paper, "The Voice of the Writer," describes the gap between experience, the role of the…

This section of the 1970-1971 National Assessment of Educational Progress presents summary data for the responses to literature assessment. Data is presented in graph and tabular form and discussed in detail for the educational attainments of nine year olds, thirteen year olds, seventeen year olds, and adults (ages 26-35). The data is also…

This study is a revision of a previous study, sponsored by CEMREL, Inc. (see ED 041 903), whose principal purpose was to investigate methods of teaching dramatic literature; additional information was obtained on the practical problems involved in educational research and the utilization of some basic aspects of multivariate fractional factorial…

Offers 10 basic principles that express the beliefs of the deans of 12 Pennsylvania colleges about the nature of literature, how it is best studied, how it is best taught, and the relationship between writing and literature. (SRT)

Describes a three-week unit with disadvantaged students in an alternative school called "Outsiders: Literature and Life," which focused on experiences of alienation, involved reading "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton, and culminated in the production of a magazine of student-written oral histories. (EL)

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to answering questions using information gathered through direct observations,…

Based on James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier's novel "My Brother Sam Is Dead," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that one way to learn about the past is to read historical novels; and that some people take one side or another in a war or other conflict, and some find themselves caught in the…

Describes how the curriculum of a tenth-grade world literature class, with an emphasis on literary genres, was transformed to a curriculum concerned with ethical choices and their consequences within an array of individual and social contexts. Shows how this conversation about ethical choices and dilemmas in her students' lives transformed how the…

Describes an AIDS-centered curriculum for a composition class in a New York City community college. Describes selecting a text, assignments, attending a conference, guest speakers, and the research paper. Notes that the subject of AIDS not only provokes reflective writing and much class discussion but also compels writers to express and sometimes…

Presents 29 brief descriptions of research in the teaching of English (published July through December, 1999) in the areas of: bilingual/foreign language education; classroom discourse; discourse processes; literature; professional development; reading; research methodology; technology and literacy; and writing. (SR)

Video is an effective educational tool in English Literature classes when the teacher is creative in its application. Video has five specific properties which make it an effective instructional device: (1) condensing or expanding an experience; (2) making the invisible visible; (3) taking the viewers where they could not go; (4) eliciting…

Looks at how technology has changed an eighth-grade teacher's world of teaching and learning in a variety of ways, including: professional growth; connecting the writing process with word processing; presentation of information (such as short story elements or parts of speech); research on and access to the Internet; electronic literary magazines…

This 16th annual report presents information on current trends and issues informally discussed by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions. Issues discussed included the following: (1) Commission on Composition (Rick Gerhardt, director): the role of writing in literacy; computers and writing instruction;…