Extensive discussion of Puerto Rican culture and Thomas' life as depicted in his book. (SP)

Author recommends use of mystery stories in English classes, and describes six categories of mystery. (SP)

Focuses on John Barth's story, "Glossolalia," in discussions of the study of literature along generic lines as a means to determine a work's participation in history; and of the character of truth. Suggests a dialog that integrates theory and practice in introductory literature courses. (DMM)

Recounts the history of the "domestic" novel, a genre written by women and intended for the burgeoning female reading audience of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (RL)

Notes the villanelle is one of English poetry's most demanding forms. Discusses two distinct ways in which a villanelle unfolds - as a satellite or as a snowball. Describes how the meaning of the repeating lines in a snowball villanelle change and increase with each recurrence. Presents exercises for teaching the villanelle. (SG)

Discusses the topic of creative nonfiction and how it is addressed throughout this special issue. Suggests that how creative nonfiction is placed does have implications for literature and writing, both creative and non. (SG)

Analyzes the literary strategy used by a biologist in order to make a new knowledge claim in a different discipline. Argues that review papers afford the best opportunity for constructing new knowledge claims, because they do not have to conform to a routinely standardized structure, and they allow a wider semantic repertoire than do experimental…

Examines written communication within the Amish cultural context. Notes that Amish-authored nature essays were introduced by Samuel Miller, an Amish farmer with an interest in nature study. Suggests that the acceptance of this new genre was due to Miller's particular manner of appropriation that connected it to the Amish cultural value of…

The use of metadrama as the organizing principle for introductory college classes on Spanish Golden Age theater is discussed. Four categories of metadrama are the play within the play, the ceremony within the play, role playing within the role, and literary and real-life reference within the play. Examples are provided. (21 references) (LB)

Discusses common threads in the coming-of-age novels by Chicano(a) writers Rudolfo Anaya and Sandra Cisneros. Asserts that these novels are every bit as strong and as literary as the bildungsromans that are traditionally read in literature classes. (PRA)

Discusses a writing assignment in which students write biographies comprised of literary genres such as dialogues, poems, newspaper articles, obituaries, songs, and letters. (RS)

Provides a fresh look at the genre of historical fiction and its use in the classroom. (MG)

Discusses the works of several authors who successfully depict young women in a realistic light, creating complex, multifaceted, appealing human beings with whose plight all readers can identify. Discusses works by Kathryn Lansky, Hadley Irwin, Brock Cole, Zibby O'Neal, Robin McKinly, Lyll Becerra de Jenkins, and Suzanne Fisher. (PRA)