One of the greatest challenges for English language arts teachers today is the call to engage students in more complex texts. Tim Gillespie, who has taught in public schools for almost four decades, has found the lenses of literary criticism a powerful tool for helping students tackle challenging literary texts. Tim breaks down the dense language…

Uses the film version of Bernard Malamud's "The Natural" to show how archetypes and irony make their appeal to a serious audience without in any way making the film less entertaining. (EL)

Considers how teaching Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" creates special problems--and thus affords special opportunities--not encountered in the reading of or critical response to this text. Discusses different editions of "Frankenstein" and reasons for using them. Notes that "Frankenstein" is a story that appeals to all…

Proposes a study of "Citizen Kane" in high school using a somewhat simplified version of post-modern literary critical theory. Chooses this film because of its familiarity and accessibility and because the ambiguity and indeterminacy of its text allow room for exploration by students. (NKA)

Presents critical interpretations of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" from four points of view: the feminist reading; the reader response reading; a realistic reading; and a historic reading. Outlines classroom activities and follow up activities to use along with the four interpretations. (PM)

Based on Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that all works of art lend themselves to critical reviews; critical reviews consist of opinions and support for the opinions; and a critical review may compare and contrast a work in one medium to the same work in…

Discusses several approaches that students have found helpful for analyzing "Jane Eyre," including point of view, comparison, character development, language, imagery and symbolism, and the novel's elements of autobiography. (HTH)

Outlines the teaching of Edward Thomas' poetry over a six-week period. (SRT)

Offers one teacher's approach to teaching Robert Hayden's poem "The Whipping," along with her students' responses to the poem. (ARH)

Argues that William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is the play that is best suited for the high school English curriculum of the 1990s. Discusses historical and critical aspects the play's key themes. Shows ways of using the play in high school classes, and describes 19 works to read alongside of"The Tempest." (HB)

Discusses the teaching of "Bleak House" to students who are daunted by its length and complexity. Provides suggestions on how to get beyond those complexities and allow students to understand the central concerns of the book. (SRT)

Suggests the use of parody to deepen students' understanding of how and why poems work. (TJ)

Suggests encouraging students to use three or four steps to disintegrate their original objective descriptions of an event in a novel as a way to experiment with writing and to develop some critical observations about the author's fictional world. (TJ)

Describes the usefulness of helping students use varied critical stances (including feminism, new historicism, psychoanalytic criticism, and deconstruction) in the teaching of literature. Demonstrates with the "The Odyssey." (SR)

Describes a class activity in which students analyze modern song lyrics and their poetic devices as an introduction to the study and analysis of poetry. (SR)