The life of Mary Mapes Dodge, author of "Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates," a pioneer in the field of literature for children and adolescents during the nineteenth century, is recounted in this paper--from her childhood as the daughter of a well-connected but impecunious lecturer, scientist, and inventor through her later years as a…

Although psychological studies of the mass media have been dominated by cognitivist and psychodynamic concepts, a study of the mass media using a behavior analysis method may be used to analyze the content of the mass media. By applying that analysis to fictional teacher-learner interactions an interpretation of those relationships can be made and…

The metaphor of community has become central to discussions about reading, writing, and teaching. According to this metaphor, an individual learns a discourse through entering into the community that uses it, and by accepting the practices and values of those already in it. Yet an argument can be raised for a definition of discourse that is not…

The rhetoric of black writers and speakers asserts that (1) attitudes and practices toward black language are politically based to keep blacks subordinate to the dominant culture, and (2) African American scholars have a right to determine the meaning and implications of black language. Black rhetors contend that even those blacks who speak…

The universality of the childhood experience is a perspective that is useful in the classroom where the student body reflects the multiethnic, multicultural roots of American culture. The novels from the Caribbean can add new material to the body of world literature and should be included in a crosscultural study of the "bildungsroman"…

As the United States entered the nineteenth century, it did so under the influence of the Second Great Awakening. This was the second wave of revivalism to sweep the nation, and it originated in the frontier as the Great Western Revival. One pertinent characteristic of the revival was its rhetoric, a rhetoric that was a prime expression of a…

The aesthetic quality and psychological subtlety of contemporary picture books give genuine expression to a child's conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions. Increasingly, themes of existential and developmental stress are appearing in picture books. Typical reactions aroused by such stress factors--and also by themes treated in picture…

This course, designed to help students explore serious thoughts about the future of society, is intended for an English literature class at the advanced secondary level. The course consists of nine interrelated modules that deal with the following topics: current predictions about the future, with special attention to the film "Future Shock";…

Unfair competition is a complex problem affecting all areas of American business, including the communications media. Piracy of material, an alarmingly widespread example of unfair competition, involves legal as well as ethical questions. This monograph uses the historical approach to trace the development of common-law precedent and trends and…

Six months of observation--at two universities, at a drama festival, and with several independent theatre companies--form the basis for this evaluation of theatre in Kenya, Africa. While Kenyan dramas deal with a variety of themes, the majority are topical rather than universal in their treatment of issues. In many, the emphasis is on the…

Films can be an effective method of teaching English, the humanities, and social studies to students from the junior high school through the community college level. This book in part a guide and in part a teacher's memoir, sets forth a rationale for using films in the classroom to encourage reading, writing, thoughtful discussion, and an…

This report discusses the opposition to fantasy, as well as the support for it, both as an activity of the mind and as literature, and concludes that fantasy literature is useful in promoting language development and literature appreciation. The report then discusses characteristics of fantasy literature, lists works suitable for class use, and…

A seminar devoted to explorations of the feelings of self and others, as a means of heightening responses to literature, is described. (JH)

Part of a larger investigation of the rhetorical character of the presidencies of Harry Truman through Jimmy Carter, this report concentrates on the presidents' linguistic styles and their semantic choices. The first half of the report discusses the background of the study and the development of a computerized language analysis…

This chapter is a review of literary works that can enrich and expand the curriculum; pedagogical methods and techniques for the teaching of literature are not dealt with here. This review covers Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French literary works that span the mid-portion of the century, up to 1972. Background information and some explication…