The experiments described in this report attempt to further understanding of the storage and retrieval of factual information. In the first five experiments, organization of simple prose materials is varied. Effects upon both accuracy and order of recall are discussed in terms of retrieval strategies determined by organization. The fourth and…

Previous studies of elocution and expression in America established the cultural significance of oral reading activities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There is an abundance of information available from private oral expression schools established by four prominent Dallas teachers: Mrs. A. A. Cocke, Mrs. Pearl Wallace Chappell,…

Twelve groups consisting of 277 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders participated in a study of the effects of teaching ten concepts of logical thinking, on ability to read critically. The two-month program of instruction consisted of a direct oral presentation of the ten selected concepts followed by practice in using the concepts. Analysis of…

The organizational thinking structure presented here aims to help teachers and children to develop and use thinking skills during reading. Three levels of reading are defined: reading the lines, reading between the lines, and reading beyond the lines. (Author/DS)

Cites and discusses each usage of the term "elective affinity" in the writings of Max Weber and relates Weber's usage of the term to literature, chemistry, and philosophy. (Author/DB)

Discusses a study which compared the reading scores of first and fifth-grade subjects classified as reflective or impulsive. Reflective first-grade girls scored higher on all tests than impulsive girls, reflective first-grade boys scored higher than impulsive boys on the critical reading measure, and no differences were found for fifth-grade…

Describes an approach to the study of literary texts, using French examples. Three phases are: elementary semantics, text synthesis, and presentation of a poetic text. This approach is found to yield insights not only into the text but into language in general. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Critical reading lays a foundation for problem-solving ability and, ultimately, more intelligent behavior. A reading program designed to teach critical reading skills is briefly described. (Author/IRT)

Notes with contemporary literary theorists that language is figurative rather than referential. Advocates using the four "master tropes"--metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony--as a conceptual framework for the composing process. Suggests that these tropes each represent different strategies for presenting experience, categories for…

Because gifted/talented and creative high school students typically seek new views, a Sartrean analysis is useful in encouraging them to see things in less conventional ways. Jean-Paul Sartre's literary theories postulate that literature is action and writing is engagement and that the writer is responsible for "awakening" society. (CB)

Explains how analogies teach students to read critically as well as independently. Presents examples of student-written analogies, and notes that this exercise gives students confidence in their powers of literary interpretation. (MM)

Eight ways parents may help develop and sharpen their children's reading skills, especially those that are critical, are described. (JL)

Argues that using literature in writing classes can teach students how to think, make meaning, and compose, and that in order to improve students' writing through reading, teachers must increase their emphasis on the aesthetic reading stance, which synthesizes an individual's feelings, thoughts, and observations to form meaning from a text. (MM)

Provides an overview of techniques an instructional designer can use to examine printed subject matter materials when conceptualizing unfamiliar content. Highlights include a discussion of conceptualizing versus learning, interactions between designers and subject experts, and interacting with print materials based on content area reading…

Argues that literacy has indirect cognitive effects through the conceptual distinctions and social practices that it fosters. Examines the distinction between what is given in a text and what is inferred by readers. Argues that children's acquisition of this distinction is decisive in the development of a literary thought mode. (JD)