This instructional resource, designed to be used by and with elementary level students, presents six works of art which tell stories. These images, created by master artists from diverse cultures and historic periods, serve as starting points for exploring various artistic techniques. Images include: "The Bayeux Tapestry" (Late 11th…

This handout is a guide to library resources in the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte for the criticism of Romantic (19th century) American literature. The guide explains important reference sources in the Atkins library reference collection and how to find biographical and critical information in books and…

A concise yet comprehensive survey of works written for young people from infancy through early adolescence, this book provides both students of children's literature and the general reader with an introduction to the study of the field. The book is divided into two parts, the first addressing the contexts within which literature for young people…

A study determined whether using reader response logs in an introductory college literature class would prove to be an effective method of helping students learn to apply the critical methodology important to increasing understanding of literature. Subjects, 33 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory literature course, wrote response…

This monograph presents a critical essay and a comprehensive 454-item bibliography on the contemporary African-American filmmaker, Spike Lee. The essay, entitled "African-American Folklore and Cultural History in the Films of Spike Lee" (Gloria J. Gibson-Hudson), analyzes Lee's filmmaking approach from a cultural and historical…

An anthologized classroom is one in which students are writing toward an anthology of their own essays and drawing on the anthologies of previous classes. Students choose which of their own essays to include, and the works are then photocopied, bound, and sold to the students at cost before the end of the semester. The central challenge to the…

An assignment that has proven successful in teaching "Communication Theories" (a senior-level capstone course at Northern Kentucky University) is "The Application Folder." The goal of the assignment is for students to apply concepts from the course in their everyday life. Students monitor and analyze what they watch, read, and…

An examination of the film, "Educating Rita," explores the effects of power respective to particular gender categories and suggests ways that the film becomes a case study in gender and education. The film is about a woman, Rita, who wants the ability to have choices in her life, pursues an education as the key to providing choices, and…

Teaching models, derived from theory and research, are static, and lack responsibility. Models substitute an abstracted notion for teachers. Literature can be viewed as a field of play, where meaning opens, rather than as a body of knowledge. The teacher's challenge consists of posing questions that allow students to formulate their takes on a…

Three installments of "Writing Assignment of the Month," a regular feature of the National Council of Teachers of English publication, "Notes Plus," are presented in this compilation. The articles describe writing exercises which have proven to be successful in the classroom. The first article gives suggestions for introducing…

Teachers' role as primary audience has important implications for writing instruction. Teachers represent a combination of two audiences: a literal audience--a specific person or group of people implied in a writing assignment--and an ideal audience shaped by the writers themselves. As these two general types of audiences imply, writers both…

Written authorial commentary, or metadiscourse, in social studies texts helps students anticipate context, goals, text organization, and author perspective, and results in texts that readers find interesting and easy to remember. An analysis of informational and attitudinal metadiscourse instances in nine social studies textbooks and nine…

The role of literature in education is examined, and implications for assessment of student understanding of literature are outlined. There are three distinct views of the role of literature in school. Literature is variously construed as an adjunct to the learning of reading and writing, as a subject with its own body of knowledge, and as an…

An analysis of the content and a critique of the significance of President Jimmy Carter's 1977 commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, show that technical weaknesses such as poor organization, inconsistent style, and overbreadth limited its intended effect. Carter had hoped that this speech would dispel confusion over some of his…