Our understanding of a story is highly dependent upon our ability to recognize the underlying purpose for actions described in the story. We need to view those actions as steps in, or reactions to, plans. This paper sketches some of the components of a model for the understanding of plans and social actions. The model is first applied to narrative…

"Strunctional" analysis identifies, simultaneously yet separately, both the structural and functional links that tie sentence pairs together. Coherence in prose results from an appropriate combination of structural and functional relations between each sentence pair. Structural links between sentences comprise syntactic and lexical links;…

In this anthology of translations of American Indian prose and poetry, it is pointed out that differences in styles and mental attitudes of various tribes are reflected through self-expression. In keeping with this, the compilation is organized according to geographical regions in North and South America, including Mexico and Central America.…

This experiment investigated the assumption that children's learning and retention of prose material can be differentially affected by varying discrepancy from expectation (as established by an advance organizer). It was hypothesized that a passage which differed significantly from expectation would produce heightened arousal, which should in turn…

A report, in book form, of a "user-survey" concerned with the best current classroom practice in making use of novels, short stories, biographies, etc. The findings are based partly on teachers' replies to a questionnaire about their use of particular books and partly on the author's visits to a number of schools where he observed lessons and…

An attempt is made to show or suggest to the newcomer, whether adviser or reporter, some of the humor forms, devices, or ideas that can be used in a school publication. Twenty-four different types of humorous devices are included. These are boners (humorous errors); howlers (play on words); the pun; ethical light verse and limericks; humorous…

This monograph is written primarily for the researcher. It reviews a number of attempts to measure appreciation of literature. The measurements are grouped in two categories: (1) discrimination among poems or prose extracts, and (2) content analysis. Following the review is an evaluation of the limitations and possibilities of these measures. The…

One-hundred and forty undergraduates were divided into seven equal groups; each group read five passages and then answered one of seven types of questions. However, after reading the sixth passage, all subjects received the same type of questions. Reading time for each passage was recorded, and students were encouraged to read faster. Significant…

This analysis examined twentieth-century Spanish American works, geographically distributed throughout the area and including all genres. Results are given by genre and by nation. (RM)

Examined effects of enforced organizational strategies on the memory of older adults for textual material. Young and old adults sorted scrambled sentences of a prose passage into the correct order. When older adults were required to make an in-depth analysis to sort material, their incidental memory for textual information was approximately equal…

Preschool children were presented with short passages in either a story or a communication context. In the first experiment, recall according to importance level was ascertained; in the second, metacognitive awareness of importance level was evaluated. Six-year-olds demonstrated some metacognitive awareness of importance level. Developmental…

Investigates the hypothesis that older adults remember prose less well than young adults because they are less sensitive to the structure of prose passages. Results of studies using stories, essays, and essay summaries suggest that the old are as sensitive to passage structure as the young but recall less information. (Author/CB)