Contrasts the complaints of a class of gifted students about Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities" with their teacher's discomfort at sitting through the long and tedious movie "Brazil." (NKA)

Describes a study in which students taught by a creative method liked poetry more and understood it better than those taught by a directed method. (DD)

Describes the challenge for publication advisers when students publish their opinions. Notes that there are two important legal questions that arise in this regard: whether criticism directed at a teacher can become grounds for a successful libel action; and whether that criticism is based on opinion. (PM)

Discusses how Francine Prose accuses English teachers of assigning simplistic, badly written books that breed incompetent writers and readers who loathe literature. Notes that Prose focuses her contempt upon "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Suggests that students show teachers how to help them love…

Indicates some of the problems students encounter in interpreting poetry and cites the reasons that students express for liking or disliking poetry. (RB)

Provides a list of 118 reasons why the author's students claim they study American literature, including: (1) to broaden their vocabulary, (2) to learn from other people's experiences, and (3) to develop an open mind about different kinds of literature. (JD)

Proposes that in addition to entertaining, film offers up subject positions; mobilizes desires; influences its audience unconsciously; and helps construct the landscape of American culture. Notes that film can provide a pedagogical tool for offering students alternative views of the world. Concludes that as a form of public pedagogy, film combines…

Discusses how Katherine Paterson, in her novel "Jacob Have I Loved," chronicles the human search for identity. Summarizes the novel's plot involving twin sisters. Analyzes the novel's assertion of the importance of individuals set against the backdrop of all humanity. (HB)

Discusses recent events in American culture's ongoing debate concerning the censorship of reading materials for young adults. Considers the ways to defend reading selections from attack by potential censors. Gives advice for teachers challenged to defend their reading selections. (HB)

Considers the ways in which hypertext literature differs from print literature with specific reference to questions of sequence and closure. Discusses how hypertext fiction - electric stories - might be used to invite students of English language arts to interrogate their beliefs about literary form. Defines literary hypertext and theorizes about…

Defends Blume's works by presenting internal evidence displaying the honesty and lack of exaggeration that make her books popular with adolescents and unpopular with critics. (CRH)

Notes that classic literary works such as "Romeo and Juliet" are often taught in ways that infuse negative impressions of sexuality, while students need and deserve a more realistic approach to the subject. Cites Alice Munro's "Lives of Girls and Women" as a book that provides this approach. Lists other acceptable books. (FL)

Analyzes results of a ten-nation study of literature education in terms of three different "deep structures" or basic approaches to literature curricula. Analysis of responses reveals significant national differences in curricular deep structures and indicates that agreement between student and teacher responses increases as students'…