Faced with the task of reading literature on themes perhaps foreign to their own experience, students can explore their reactions to these issues by using a case study approach, bridging the gap between the novel and the student's own experience. In a case study, the issue of racial hatred can be objectively discussed as students gather evidence (either fictional or factual) and draw conclusions based upon it, leading to a cause and effect analysis of the event described. Literature which addresses racial hatred, such as Ernest Gaines'"A Gathering of Old Men" and "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," lends itself to a case study treatment because students must use the individual narratives of the novels as primary source material for deriving a "factual" reconstruction of the novels' events. Various preliminary activities, including role plays and studies of character motivation, use reader responses to search for meaning in the novels which can then be related to the student's own experiences. After considering their affective responses, students can approach the issue by writing a formal case study, thereby permitting the expression of emotional and intellectual reactions. (Nine references are appended.) (MM)