Details the ways that English teachers can promote empathy and overcome student division through literary study. Provides concrete ways of developing such empathic attitudes, and offers a 34-item annotated bibliography of related literary works. (HB)

Discusses the ways English teachers might usefully mix the "old" literary canon with the new canon. Argues that such a mixture produces better readers. (HB)

Argues that relevant, multiethnic literature and meaningful, "democratic" activities provide a means of finding the solution to the literary tyranny that has dominated English studies for many years. (HB)

Describes how literature can help students contend with racial stereotypes. Discusses the problematic nature of the concept of race. Uses Christopher Columbus as a case study of the author's claim. (HB)

Provides an overview of African literature, including brief discussion of numerous writers from a variety of African nations. Appends a 195-item list of works cited. (HB)

Describes five novels written by authors from Sierra Leone that English teachers might use in their classrooms. (HB)

Sketches the way one English teacher used silent film to engender creative writing in a school for American Indian students. Advocates the use of humor in cross-cultural educational settings. (HB)

Contends that there are specific reasons that most college application essays are poorly written. Explains what English teachers can do to change this situation. (HB)

Contends that developing a semester-long independent study project is a useful way to motivate students. Argues that giving student the choice and responsibility for selecting a topic of study is highly motivating. (HB)

Gives advice for English teachers faced with the increasingly multiethnic makeup of their classrooms. Discusses what rainbow teachers must not do along with what they must do. (HB)

Describes methods and strategies by which two teachers have succeeded in engaging their students in gender issues such as nontraditional roles and sexism in literature. (HB)

Describes how one English teacher developed a five-day approach by which William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" was successfully introduced to a seventh-grade class. Argues that it is possible to have such young students read and enjoy Shakespeare. (HB)

Gives an overview of how one English teacher taught the concept of "home" to a group of sixth-grade students. Provides an 11-item annotated bibliography of young adult literary works dealing with the theme of home. (HB)

Two professors offer positive and negative responses to the need for an accurate representation of reality in literature, offering insights into the ways that reality forces itself on art. (RL)

Examines the health of literature, both in the market place and in the schools. Contrasts the pervasive effects of uncensored popular literature with vigorous efforts to censor the classroom study of literature. (RL)