Explores a preschooler's repeated attraction to two books, and what it means in terms of the child's literacy before she learns to read. Describes the child's advancing critical skills. (HTH)

Urges that beginning writers be shown that by maintaining a consistent and appropriate rhetorical stance they not only signal their own role but also indicate the proper role for the audience to play. (MM)

Suggests giving literature/composition students a set of declarative statements that enable them to define a thematic statement and then write a focused, fully developed analytical essay. Includes such declarative statements from the novel "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" by Anne Tyler. (HTH)

States that reading Scott O'Dell's popular juvenile book, "The Island of the Blue Dolphins," can increase high school students' comprehension and appreciation of Herman Melville's "The Encantadas," as both works are fictional treatments of the same historic event. (MM)

Advocates introducing high school literature classes by analyzing the serious flaws in an important work such as Edgar Alan Poe's poem, "The Raven," in order to increase student involvement in evaluating literature, strengthen student trust of the teacher's judgment, and motivate students for positive criticism. (MM)

Discusses the role of literature in the secondary school English curriculum, then examines the current state of literary criticism and analysis in the classroom. (FL)

Attempts to show how each of three influential critical theories--deconstructionism, reader response criticism, and authorial intention--implies a particular view of how literary discourse is or should be processed and indicates that each view is in part justified, but not to the extent claimed by the critics themselves. (CRH)

Looks at what is entailed when education and experience are regarded as equivalent. Identifies faulty inferences resulting from learning by experience. Considers how experience can close avenues to conceptual and social change. Argues that ideas based on secondhand information are more likely than firsthand experience to manifest both the real and…

Discusses poststructuralism in the classroom--the use of contemporary literary theory in teaching undergraduates, as well as some of its consequences. (AEA)

In this article, the previous four major position papers presented in this journal are evaluated from several vantage points. These include the relationship of concept to process, the study of psychological phenomena with relation to adaptive performance and the problems of measurement of these phenomena. (Author/MA)

Questions are raised concerning theories and practice of values clarification such as an apparent contradiction between relativistic attitudes and needs for cognitive dissonance. (GW)

Notes that the paper by Williams et al (Social Forces, 55(2), 1976) establishes the reliability of Stouffer's tolerance scale in 1954 and 1973, but that it seriously distorts rather than illuminates understanding of political tolerance. (Author/AM)

Refutes the criticisms made by Harry Crockett (Social Forces 55(2), 1976) and conclude that there is no evidence in his criticisms that the interpretations of the origins of tolerance previously expressed are wrong. (AM)

Available from: Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, University of Chicago Press, 5801 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637. Subscriptions: $12.00 per year; $16.00 for institutions.

A seminar held in the Soviet Union on the linguo-stylistic analysis of a literary text is described. This approach focuses on the linguistic code and cultural context of the text. The applicability of this method in the classroom is discussed. (RM)