This article will share a postcolonial analysis of three widely taught texts that the author has used to introduce both secondary English language arts classes and college students in multicultural young adult literature courses to postcolonial criticism: Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," Gene Luen…

Embracing the dynamic nature of English language can help students learn more about all forms of English. To fully engage students, teachers should not adhere to an anachronistic and static view of English. Instead, they must acknowledge, accept, and even use different language forms within the classroom to make that classroom dynamic, inclusive,…

For students who sense no fluidity between their academic context and their personal contexts, what's at stake is more than just their scholastic achievement--rather, their development as individual agents who exist in larger social and historical contexts is jeopardized. When teachers and schools neglect to recognize the legitimacy of…

"Not reading," even for many good students, has become a mode of operation with respect to book-length texts assigned in school. Many students enter secondary and postsecondary literature classes "intending" to "not read" the books teachers assign. More students than teachers want to admit do not complete assigned reading, choosing instead to…

Drawing on published scholarship and her own high school teaching, the author describes how works by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman can be used to integrate GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) issues into English classes. The author can't imagine a single high school that doesn't include Whitman and Dickinson at some point in its…

YouTube, the video sharing website that allows viewers to upload video content ranging from cute dog tricks to rare rock videos, also supports a lively community devoted to the performance of Shakespeare and Shakespearean adaptations. YouTube is also a popular site for student producers of Shakespeare performances, parodies, and other artistic…

A community college teacher emphasizes the dynamic aspects of language correctness and helps his students understand that achieving correctness is not simply a matter of following a set of rules. His students write letters and speeches in which they demonstrate the relationships among language, power, purpose, and audience.

Suggests that by reading relevant literature, examining films, essays, and music lyrics, and listening closely to students themselves, both teachers and students can come to better understand violence. Reviews specific works of literature and subject areas covered in a lower-level college literature course and a high school English class. Includes…