Discusses how teachers can use literature to teach students to gather basic materials for writing better compositions. (SW)

Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" is a complex, uninhibited, savage satire that concludes with the narrator's descent into madness--hardly a likely candidate for children's reading. In the nearly three hundred years since it was first published, however, "Gulliver's Travels" has become associated with children's literature, though it is…

Suggests that composition courses can strengthen ties between reading literature and writing about it. Shows how writing assignments that originate in readings of literary texts encourage students'"writerliness." Provides a sample satiric sketch assignment sheet. (MM)

Suggests a method of teaching the poetry of Alexander Pope that focuses on the satirical nature of his writing. (AEA)

Offers several suggestions for teaching George Orwell's "Animal Farm" to high school students. Included are strategies for (1) teaching themes of the story, (2) interpreting the story on several levels, (3) seeing the connections between language and politics, (4) using group activities, and (5) using visual aids. (JC)

"MOBY DICK" IS SINGULARLY APPROPRIATE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ITS PHILOSOPHICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL EMPHASIS. HOWEVER, TO GUIDE THE STUDENTS INTO THE THEMATIC INTRICACIES OF THE WORK, THE TEACHER MUST USE A CAREFULLY PLANNED, INDUCTIVE APPROACH THAT DEMANDS CLOSE TEXTUAL STUDY IN CLASS. ALTHOUGH EACH TEACHER SHOULD CONCENTRATE…

DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE NARRATIVE AND DRAMATIC MODES CAN BEST BE UNDERSTOOD BY EMPHASIZING WHAT IT MEANS TO THINK AND CREATE DRAMATICALLY. ALTHOUGH BOOKS (WHICH ARE READ) AND PLAYS (WHICH ARE SEEN) TREAT PLOT, CHARACTER, AND SETTING SIMILARLY, CONVENTIONS THAT PARTICULARLY DISTINGUISH THEATRICAL FORM ARE--(1) THE AUTHENTICATING REALITY OF THE…

The presentation of the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell to sophomores at East Orange Catholic High School, New Jersey, as a "political document" is discussed. Through research, panel discussions and voluntary comments, the students studied the book in depth comparing it to the power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky in…

To develop better communication with students, English teachers must acquaint themselves with the interests of teenagers and use these interests to establish a common ground of discussion. Movement toward such a dialogue can be started by radical teaching techniques that bridge the gap between the immediate concerns of the students and important…

Four speeches illustrating important principles in the teaching of English are collected in this booklet: (1) "The Teaching of Writing as Art" by William E. Coles, Jr., who, in posing ambiguous, provocative questions as writing assignments, compels the student to explore language in its relationship to his experience and his persona; (2)…