The seven articles in this issue are concerned with the various uses of literature and literature study in the English curriculum, specifically to enhance thinking, teach composition, educate the emotions, develop reading comprehension and critical reading skills, explore and develop morals, and evoke a common culture. The titles of the articles…

"Death in Literature," a nine-week elective course for high school juniors and seniors, was added to the English curriculum at a Kansas City high school in 1976. It has proved very popular with students and is being expanded to 18 weeks. The explicit objectives of the course are to help students to explore the theme of death in various types of…

TO HELP STUDENTS ENJOY POETRY--ESSENTIALLY AN "UNTEACHABLE" EXPERIENCE--THE TEACHER SHOULD APPROACH THE TEACHING OF POETRY THROUGH A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL POEMS RATHER THAN PRIMARILY THROUGH AN EMPHASIS ON THE POEM'S HISTORICAL PERIOD, NATIONAL ORIGIN, OR THEMATIC CONTENT. THE DEVICES WHICH GIVE POETRY ITS SPECIAL RHYTHMIC…

This paper describes procedures that can be used in individual schools to evaluate various aspects of their English programs. The major portion of the paper discusses schools' ability to foster voluntary reading, in the face of the widely reported decline in such reading after grade eight. Specific suggestions are given for bridging the gap…

Six basic considerations in teaching literature to gifted children in grades four through six are presented in the first half of this curriculum guide: (1) The teacher needs a broad knowledge of literature, as well as a sensitivity to students, in order to recommend literature for each child. (2) The teacher's method of presentation is important.…

Intended for college English teachers, the essays in this collection represent the scholarship of 12 professors who participated in a year-long seminar on the teaching of reading and writing to the "new" types of students who are presently attending two-year colleges. The first essay offers a profile of the new student as one who is job-oriented…

Guidelines for curriculum design in reading, composition, and grammar and usage are presented in the form of required skills for each of four grades (6-9). Four English examinations designed to test these skills are also provided. Brief comments on examinations in other subject areas offered by the National Association of Independent Schools and a…

Archaic literature, no matter how great, should not be imposed on secondary students who are not equipped to comprehend it. (JH)

Stresses that black literature courses should not be taught in a vacuum: a supportive Afro-American studies department can help fill in the historical background for students of black American literature, and English departments should encourage their teachers of American literature to include works by black authors. (Author/GW)

Discusses the importance of improving students' visual perception as a way of improving their literary perception. Describes visual perception exercises that can be used in the English classroom. (EL)

Describes the history of the secondary school English curriculum in New South Wales, Australia since 1911. Examines the gradual shift from centralized control over curriculum development to an emphasis on teacher control over course content. (MM)

When crucial issues of text teaching were researched from "both sides" of the teaching context in 1999, findings dramatized the demands of teaching text in years seven to ten English in Australia and suggested some ways that it could be done better. Interviews were conducted with 14 secondary English teachers and 53 of their students (in…

This report describes a plan for maximizing the learning potential of exceptionally gifted secondary students. The targeted 52 eleventh grade students are members of a high school American Studies program located in a community 50 miles from a large Midwestern city. The issue of unfulfilled learning potential of the students was documented through…

Presents a justification for courses in Western American literature at the university level. (AEA)

Addresses the issue of literature appreciation and the role of English teachers in encouraging that appreciation. (AEA)