Offers a method for teaching English using biographies in conjunction with creative writing assignments, for example, writing a short biography of another student in the class. (SRT)

Offers 10 basic principles that express the beliefs of the deans of 12 Pennsylvania colleges about the nature of literature, how it is best studied, how it is best taught, and the relationship between writing and literature. (SRT)

Discusses using reader response instead of standard literature interpretation teaching methods for the study of adolescent literature in high schools. Asserts that this method gives authority to the students as reader because they must assume responsibility for understanding the text, themselves, and the world. (SRT)

A teacher discusses how she used criticism of "The Scarlet Letter," when studying the book, in her honors class. The students were also intrigued by the biographical information they learned about Hawthorne, and eager to use it in interpreting his novel. (SRT)

Offers a method of using reader response theory that emphasizes the expectations about a text and how those expectations are fulfilled or deflated. Specifically, students read traditional fables, fairy tales, and parables, and compare them to contemporary works such as Kafka's "Metamorphosis" and Marquez's "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings."…

Discusses the history and evolution of censorship and how different publishers have censored textbooks and literature anthologies in order not to appease certain groups. (SRT)

Offers a method for using structural analysis of literature, specifically, students discussed both structure and content within the context of four short stories, thus enriching their understanding of each by way of contrast. (SRT)

Discusses how traditional character types (such as Rip Van Winkle, the Ben Franklin character, and the Great Puritan) that Twain criticized through his satire survived his attacks and can be found today in many kinds of literature, including film and television. (SRT)

In describing a public television program about the Salem witch trials, this article discusses the authenticity of props, the accuracy of events, and some errors in the production. It also points out some inaccuracies in sources and other sources that would be valuable for teaching seventeenth century colonial history. (SRT)

Relates the experience of a teacher who discovered that students enjoy studying literature if they are allowed to experience it rather than analyze it. Contends that the effort to teach books at the secondary level using literary criticism is a misguided response to a national literacy crisis. (SRT)

Describes the implementation of a content area writing program in a middle school. Observes that many teachers were resistant to the task and passed their frustration on to the English teachers. However, most were pleased with the improvement in students' writing due to the increase in the amount of required writing. (SRT)

Discusses what the public wants from educators in public schools, re-evaluates the stereotype of educators, proposes improvement of communication, and recommends a media-blitz to change the public's perception of educators. (JK)

Considers the revolutionary effects of including more interdisciplinary content in English and the idea of teaching English indirectly through a focus on meaning that would result in an "agenda of learning" across the disciplines. (JK)

Applies a brief history of standard English usage in America to take issue with the College Board's pronouncements on basic academic competencies. Points out the underlying injustice to demand a mastery of standard English from students who, through no fault of their own, have had no chance to master it. (JK)

A former high school English teacher recounts his discovery of Steinbeck in "Steinbeck Country," California, and the effectiveness of this literature in the classroom. (JK)