A questionnaire designed to gather data on seven different approaches to the teaching of composition and disseminated among a sample of high school and college English teachers in the New York area forms the basis of this discussion. Form, thematic, grammatical, processes, creative, rhetorical, and psychological approaches are defined and…

A science fiction unit on space designed for secondary schools is described and advocated in this article. This experimental program, presented to 9th grade students at University High School, State University of Iowa, provides a highly imaginative experience in literature while raising unique philosophical and moral problems not found in other…

Opting for curriculum design in the teaching of English which is based on recent psychological theory and current thought in logic, the author contrasts the more traditional chronological presentation with "process and structure" techniques. The weaknesses inherent in the idea of a curriculum patterned on the notion of having to "cover ground" in…

An appeal for a reappraisal of the role of linguistics and traditional grammar in the secondary school is made in this article. A case is made for a return to traditional grammar in the teaching of English at all levels prior to graduate school. Five writing models with student assignments based on creative imitation illustrate the kind of…

The "virtues" and "defects" of both present English spelling patterns and proposed spelling reforms are examined in this article. In lieu of reform, the author proposes that new spellings be accepted as the demand is overwhelmingly felt. An enumerated series of observations deals largely with phonetic and spelling interrelationships. (RL)

A critical review of Bernard Knox's literary analysis of Sophocles'"Oedipus the King" in a four-lesson film series is offered largely as a "warning" to high school teachers. Central to the criticism is the author's belief that Professor Knox has imposed a reductive and marginal interpretation on the play which tends to obscure rather than enlarge…

The tendency of modern English and speech teachers to turn away from vital issues has resulted in the present "undistinguished state" of rhetoric teaching and its lack of relevance to life. The proper subject matter of rhetoric is "the thought, opinion, and information revealed in the great, persisting, and unresolved problems of a civilization…