Demonstrates how the West Indian experience is really a microcosm of the New World ethos in some respects, while in other respects West Indian literature and culture reflect the black experience as a whole. (Author)

Analyzes the work of Jupiter Hammon, a black slave poet, who wrote "A Dialogue Entitled the Kind Master and the Dutiful Servant". (AM)

Presents a poem, "Henry and Edith in Casper," and discusses the composing processes that led to its creation. (SRT)

Shows how F. R. Scott's poem, "Laurentian Shield" can be used to teach Canadian history and geography. (RKM)

Displays the essays and poetry of the first-place winners of the first Michigan Social Studies Olympiad, a competition for fourth through twelfth grade students which had as its theme the celebration of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution and Michigan's sesquicentennial. (JDH)

Suggests using jump-roping rhymes and rhythms as an energetic way to guide students to a basic understanding of poetic principles. (MS)

Emphasizes classroom study of poetic patterns and images to enable students to see how poems work without overwhelming them with terminology. (MS)

Discusses the relevance of incorporating poetry into the discipline of sociology. Includes a poem and its sociological analysis to demonstrate the number of relevant sociological issues and concepts which can be introduced through poetry. (BSR)

Notes playing surrealist games called "Dialogues" provides authentic sources of irrefutable images. Claims that schematically the games are the exact reproduction of the psychic process invariably involved in every kind of creation and thus prove beneficial to break the blocked state writers sometimes face. Provides a list of games.(NH)

Reasons that teachers of literature should have as their focus not what writers do but what readers do in the process of reading literature. Concludes that readers construct literary works based on their own experience, education, and ability to imagine in response to a writer's suggestions. (JAD)

Presents a method for teaching poetry that attempts to make the (1) teachers' scholarship relevant to the students and (2) students' ignorance a source of knowledge for the teacher. Outlines an eight-step procedure that represents a useful introduction to poetry and gives students a technique with which to approach any poem. (JD)

Discusses the common beliefs that (1) understanding poetry is an individual act, (2) each person's understanding of a poem is equally valid, and (3) observers must superimpose meaning over nonmeaning. Argues that, unlike science and mathematics, there are any number of "right" answers in the interpretation of poetry. (JD)

Describes a classroom incident that underlines the need for levity and posits inviting involvement in poetry. Suggests collections of poems that will engage the junior high or middle school student. (JK)

Demonstrates how poetry may be used to illustrate basic sociological concepts and themes. Provides examples of student-written and published poems which have been integrated into the author's classes. (JDH)

By displaying slides or prints of paintings, by reading and discussing related poems, and by having students write their own poems on what they see, teachers can expose art students to a new view of poetry and visual arts. A list of poems and paintings to compare is included. (RM)