There are many references to reading, and some to writing, in Shakespeare's plays; a list is provided in an Appendix. They are analysed for what they reveal about the social status of literacy in Shakespeare's day, and the references to reading are analysed further according to oral v. silent reading, and whether characters have company on stage,…

Investigates whether the rhetoric of uninterrupted, sustained, silent reading was evident in primary classrooms (in England) where the practice was professed to operate. Finds that, while the value of a quiet reading time was generally acknowledged, many models operated under the guise of "uninterrupted sustained silent reading," models…