The interactions of the teaching act are extremely complicated and have not been codified for easy use; this has made it difficult for teachers to judge the teaching act. A paradigm for analyzing the teaching act is: subject matter of this nature, in this amount, for this purpose, with motivational activities and methodologies of these types, in this situation or setting, and with a teacher with this disposition, this background, and these qualities and attitudes produces these patterns of affective and cognitive learning in students at this level of development and maturity, with this kind of experience and with this kind of background. When any component of this paradigm is changed, then the patterns of affective and cognitive learning are changed. (An illustration of the use of the paradigm in teaching "Romeo and Juliet" is included. (TJ)