Recounts how an experience in a high school English class convinced a teacher that he wanted to teach literature and taught him the proper attitude toward the teaching of the classics. (JL)

Various contributors recommend "The Odyssey,""Julius Caesar,""A Dog's Tale,""Ivanhoe,""Star Wars,""The Red Badge of Courage,""Demian,""Antigone,""Children of Crisis," and "Frankenstein" for use in literature classes and justify their recommendations. (JL)

Considers how high school students can see reading "The Canterbury Tales" as daunting. Shares a series of units of study "combining the literary and the vulgar" that fully engage the students with the text. Suggests that with a masterpiece like "The Canterbury Tales," students are better served when educators take it…

A teacher in an inner-city London school describes how she involves low income, minority group students in learning classics such as Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Emphasizes cooperative learning and active student involvement using their urban background. (FMW)

Explores the question of teaching virtue, which has been discussed for at least 2,500 years. The anonymous "Dissoi Logoi" of ancient Greece contained a series of arguments on both sides of the question, and the author concluded that virtue could be taught. Lessons are drawn for contemporary educators. (SLD)

The "Confessions" of St. Augustine is important as a record of the process and results of the struggle between cultures of Athens and Jerusalem as a confrontation between classical and biblical learning. As such, it models an approach to the multicultural tensions of today. An example is given in cultural conflicts between Islam and Christianity.…

Suggests that Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in American Literature, yet his writing can be too "lofty" for many modern students to grasp. Offers some examples of ways to bring Emerson down to earth, grounding his spiritualist musings in material illustrations and making him more accessible to students. (NB)

Presents nine answers to frequently asked questions about "Adolescent Literature," sometimes called YA (Young Adult Literature), including: what YA literature is, why it did not exist before 1967, why educators read YA literature, YA's relation to the classics, building a classroom library of YA books, essential resources for teachers, and some…

Argues that it is time to legitimize the whole of literature for students and reject without qualms the presumption that certain books are more fit to be read than others. Argues that educators deny students gems by proffering them a list of great works, and that this "bulldozing mentality" damages an already fragile acceptance of reading. (SR)

Describes an efficient, open-ended set of instructional activities for high school students that has students analyze song lyrics of R.E.M. (an alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia) for literary techniques, topics, themes, and form as preparation to experiment with reading, deciphering, and mimicking Emily Dickinson. (SR)

Looks at how the best writers of English from the 1600s to the present use punctuation in their nonfiction. Finds three bases for punctuation: intonation, grammar (or syntax), and semantics (or rhetoric). Shows that these authors do not regularly and consistently follow the institutionalized rules. Argues for rhetoric-based punctuation because its…

Claims Reader Response theories form the basis for helping students to enjoy reading and studying the classics. Discusses: (1) asking students to "step into" and explore the world of the text; and (2) helping students "step out" of the world of the text to consider it analytically. Presents drama activities to help students…

The modern character education movement emerged in the 1980s as a consequence of growing parental and public concern for moral drift, or what sociologist James Davison Hunter referred to as "the death of character." This public anomie was captured in these words from Sanford McDonnell, chairman emeritus of McDonnell Douglas and chair of…

Designed for young adults, this book on William Shakespeare's tragedies is one of an anthology series providing accessible resources for students researching great literary lives and works. Contributing writers' essays in the book are taken from a wide variety of sources and are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young…

University students in India generally dislike reading English classics, but some students well prepared in advance enjoyed Dickens'"Tale of Two Cities." They first read an illustrated comic book version, then read a dramatized version while listening to a recording, and then read an abridged version before reading the original. (CFM)