Many negative assumptions about Blacks are reflected in current language and the language in literary works, dictionaries, the media, textbooks, and tests. Teachers must try to eliminate racist language and behavior by discouraging the use of negative language and by helping students to appreciate language flexibility and cultural diversity.…

A performance-oriented approach to teaching William Shakespeare's literature has been found to be effective and enthusiastically received by college students. Ten years of teaching Shakespeare through full play production has shown that the rewards, eloquently expressed in the testimony of students, more than compensate for extra work required of…

Describes a course in modern British literature in which the students developed their own reading list by conferring with the instructor. Notes success in making students active participants in the course. (RS)

Analyzes the rightward movement of noun and prepositional phrases in the Early Old English poem "Beowulf." Evidence is provided for heavy noun phrase shift, with a characteristic major intonational boundary between the main verb and the postponed noun phrase, and preposition phrase extraposition, where the intonational boundary was much…

Describes a "Shakespeare Coursework Unit" in which Shakespearean and other literary works of the Tudor era were analyzed for evidence of the gender biases prevalent in that period. Notes that by the end of the course, students accepted the assertion that textual analysis is never truly completed. (SG)

Asserts that bringing politics into the classroom can help students to become critical thinkers and effective communicators. Argues that, as students begin to desire and even create their own Camelots by improving themselves and then their governments, they learn what the world needs teaching. Describes the process used to bring politics into the…

Describes and reports on a survey of 164 U.S. universities to ascertain what is taught as the current canon of British Romantic literature. Asserts that the canon may now include Mary Shelley with the former standard six major male Romantic poets, indicating a significant emergence of a feminist perspective on British Romanticism in the classroom.…

Applies 51 stylometric computer tests of Shakespeare play authorship and 14 of play authorship, developed by the Shakespeare Clinic, to 37 "true Shakespeares," 27 plays of the Shakespeare Apocrypha, and to several poems of unknown authorship. Finds that no claimant, and none of the apocryphal plays or poems, matched Shakespeare. (DSK)

States that Great Britain's National Curriculum pre-20th century list of prescribed authors is overloaded with unrealistic choices. Reports on a small-scale survey of actual choices made by teachers from this list. Calls for further research. Discusses teaching treatments of actual texts and makes a case for recognizing the work of the poet John…

Examines the possibility of a university based on dissensus, disagreement, and diversity. Deconstructs the traditional English major, noting the inappropriateness of studying British literature as a substitute for a national cultural whole. Notes that the United States has never really had cultural unity and has always looked to the future for it.…

This article describes a multi-part approach to Shakespeare's playwriting, including his conception of comedy, his method of characterization, aspects of staging, and the status of male and females. It can accommodate all types of Shakespearean plays. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is treated as seminal, while other plays are also…

Describes a three-week project in an English classroom in which students in small, mixed-ability groups used PowerPoint to enhance a unit on British literature. Outlines the lesson itself and discusses its positive results, including peer-teaching and learning, improved student motivation to understand themes in poetry, positive socialization, and…

Describes how, at a school in Texas, Shakespeare becomes a teaching vehicle for learning-disabled students as they engage in a year-long class that studies Shakespeare and his times, as well as produce an entire play. Argues that the experience works so successfully because it is student-centered, collaborative, and experiential. (SR)

Educators are under increasing pressure to raise student achievement on state-mandated exams, and they are at the same time expected to increase the use of technology in their classrooms. Although the number of classrooms incorporating computers has increased, technology integration has been less than successful. The purpose of this study was to…