This paper addresses my experience with a group of 11th grade students and their reading of The Grapes of Wrath (1939, 2002) by John Steinbeck. I questioned how the application of visual arts integration strategies, specifically the use of spontaneously created paintings, might influence the reader responses of my high school junior-level…

Discusses a class activity in which students engage in a mock trial based on a hypothetical charge that could have developed from the plot of a novel. Discusses the six-step process, and the five procedures and requirements. Suggests that students win more than just the case--they win the knowledge of process. (RS)

Discusses ways in which Mikhail Bakhtin's two key ideas--multivocality and carnival--are played out in John Knowles' novel "A Separate Peace." Suggests that the novel will remain vital, alive, and accessible to students as long as they hear, respond to, and participate in the dialogues in the novel. (RS)

Brings to focus, on Paterson's novel "Park's Quest," the author's own experiences. Emphasizes the importance of personal engagement with literature in the present as the foundation of a commitment to literature. Discusses transactional theory of response, a personal transaction with "Park's Quest," and implications for…

Discusses Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," especially the characters of Long John Silver and Jim, and why the novel continues to be read today by adolescents. Discusses, also, the character of Jimmy Little, the adolescent protagonist of "Somewhere in the Darkness," a contemporary novel. Furnishes questions for…

Applies the reader response theory of literary critic Wolfgang Iser to the reading of Chris Crutcher's novel "Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes." Examines both the reader's engagement with the novel and Eric Calhoune's engagement with the world of Sarah Byrnes. (RS)

Discusses how romantic novels can be used to generate interest in the secondary school classroom. (DF)

Details the planning and the specific assignments involved in teaching "Great Expectations" over a period of nine months. Explains how the novel was coordinated with other reading using the themes of Judgment, Influences, and Control. (NH)

This paper focuses on the "transforming spirit of adolescence." The six novels (all have young female protagonists) explored in the paper show the natural bewilderment (and delight) that accompanies new powers and abilities. The paper focuses on radical young adult transformations in Annette Curtis Klause's "Blood and…

Explains how teachers can use written compilations of student-generated questions and comments as a basis for discussions of novels and poems. Shows that student brainstorming ideas can be used effectively as the basis for writing assignments. (TB)

To encourage creative thinking, high school teacher Kelly Courtney-Smith asked her students for creative responses to Hesse's novel, using a technique she learned from coauthor Michael Angelotti. Students painted or wrote poems interpreting their reading, then responded to the creations of their classmates. The students found that these…

A study explored the developing literacy response of adolescents through writing by investigating three characteristics: patterns, individual variations, and the effects of genre on response. Subjects, 7 grade nine students from a small private secondary school on the west coast of Canada, were selected for their wide reading experiences. Subjects…

Explains how to teach F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" in three stages: before, during, and after a close look at the text and outlines the novel's narrative structure. (HOD)

Emphasizes the importance of having students write "artistic" responses to literature, thereby revealing what meaning the literary work has for them. (HOD)

Teachers' dismissal of Robert Cormier's books as "too depressing" suggests a lack of sound critical understanding of his work and a lack of faith in individual young people. The body of adolescent or young adult literature has come a long way in recent years. The writing has shown a much fuller range of literary quality and the content…