How can the best of mathematical problem-based learning be applied toward literature classes? Daniel Sussman, an English teacher at Moorestown Friends School in New Jersey, discusses how he uses problem solving tactics to encourage close, critical reading of fiction texts in his Jewish literature and poetry classes. He explores the challenges of using math-based learning in English classes and the ways that this type of learning can be broadened to work with the normally open-ended questions that one often finds in literature classroom discussions.