While memorization has been criticized as outdated, recent studies have suggested that memorized poetry constitutes a vital repository which enhances the quality of individuals' lives. The pedagogical potential of learning poetry by heart, however, has hardly been explored in contemporary settings. This qualitative study focuses on the experiences…

In this article, the author shares interview data showcasing teacher expertise and calls for more focused professional development in reading and discussing literature.

Responds to the Pacesetter English program by nominating it for the 1995 National Council of Teachers of English's "Doublespeak" Award. Criticizes the Pacesetter program as faulty and a "mind-numbing manipulation of teachers, texts, and students." (HB)

Gives an overview of how curriculum design might best be undertaken. Provides unconventional suggestions for developing curriculum. (HB)

Lists 26 sources of literature from the California Reading List. (DF)

Addresses two questions: (1) What are the functions of literature? and (2) How do children respond to literature? (HOD)

Paper presented at Annual Convention of National Council of Teachers of English (Milwaukee, Wis., November 28-30, 1968).

This study attempts to clarify and exploit Joseph Schwab's recent and current work on "practical" and "eclectic" curriculums in a simulated deliberation about a concrete curricular question, How might "Hamlet" be taught to one group of high school juniors? By exemplifying curricular deliberation, it aims to clarify…

Tells the story of one English department's struggle over curriculum controversies and the implications of that struggle for the integrity of specific teachers' classroom curriculum and the literary education of their students. (TB)

Argues that the literal and cultural "text" of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) calls into question the entire project of teaching English at the secondary level in this country. Teases out the connection between the study of NAFTA and the study of text and what it might mean for the teaching of English in the next…

Provides a detailed look at the creation of the Pacesetter English course by a member of the advisory committee that created it. Contends that the final assessment of the course through testing is a mistake based on economic factors. (HB)

Lists 128 authors whose work is included in the reading program approved for use in journalism classes in California, including Woody Allen, Pearl S. Buck, Jesse L. Jackson, and George Orwell. (DF)

A survey of college freshmen's attitudes toward literature and literature courses indicated the students' latent interests in literature courses, their generally positive attitude toward reading literature, and the possibility of attracting, with certain types of courses, non-English majors to English departments. (RL)

In order to help teachers identify works of literature that will remain vibrant parts of their students' lives and give them new insights into themselves, their friends, and their enemies, this journal contains articles suggesting works that the authors found most meaningful to themselves. Titles and authors are as follows: (1) "'April Morning':…

Address delivered at the Association of Departments of English (ADE) Seminar, June 29-July 3, 1970, at San Fernando Valley State College, Los Angeles, California. (DS)