Explains how the feminist critique of education encompasses gender attitudes, sexist language, and the power structure. Illustrates the approaches of liberal, radical, and socialist feminism through a description of the design of a philosophy syllabus. (SK)

Refutes David Tukey's argument that the consensus theory of epistemic rhetoric reduces spiritual experience to a social construct which denies the possibility of a divine reality. Examines Walter Rauschenbusch's "A Theology for the Social Gospel" to prove that consensus theory accounts for religious beliefs, providing a useful framework…

Argues that negative assumptions about demagogues have precluded an adequate understanding of demagogic discourse and its functionality and appropriateness in certain rhetorical situations. Discusses the social movement perspective which employs a "social construction of reality" approach, and analyzes the discourse of Louis Farrakhan…

Examines undergraduate English programs through a survey of 108 American colleges and universities. Argues that the overwhelming emphasis on the study of literature gives students a narrow impression of the field, and that departments should offer, in addition, opportunities to study creative writing, languages and linguistics, and composition and…

Presents three assignment sequences--covering both canonical and noncanonical stories, mini-anthologies, and novels--that encourage secondary school students to think critically about the concept of literature. Notes that students can learn to analyze literature critically by comparing both canonical and noncanonical texts. (MM)

Analyzes the use of Laguna symbolic geography and Laguna and Navajo mythology in the ceremonies that heal and revitalize Tayo, the alienated hero of Leslie Silko's novel "Ceremony." Describes the sunwise cycle through the four cardinal directions and the aspects of each direction. Contains 29 references. (SV)

Argues that presidential leaks constitute rhetorical acts, enabling administrations to exercise a variety of rhetorically potent options not afforded by the public forum. Proposes a typology of presidential leaks and analyzes their rhetorical functions, benefits, and liabilities. (MM)

Examines mathematical models of style analysis, focusing on the pattern in which literary characteristics occur. Describes an autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA) for predicting sentence length in different works by the same author and comparable works by different authors. This technique is valuable in characterizing stylistic…

Describes a discussion between Cleanth Brooks and Eudora Welty about the state of the story in today's fiction. Characterizes the narrative form as the spine of literature. Points out that, too often, contemporary writers neglect this form of writing and instead emphasize a type of prose poetry. Notes that authors today overemphasize the present…

An approach to literary analysis of foreign language texts uses the tools provided by the study of semiotics. The technique is illustrated in the analysis of an excerpt from a French novel. (MSE)

Provides a definition of multicultural education (ME) and challenges the six myths most frequently voiced about it. The myths addressed include the argument that ME does little to eliminate structural inequalities, that it impedes learning the basic skills, that ME is the same as political correctness, and that ME rejects the notion of common…

Uses the interpretative location of the author's reading of Michael Ondaatje's poem "Light" and the author's writing of his own poem "Three Women Pictured" as a way of organizing a discussion of three ideas that illuminate the complexity of shared reading and response in schools. (TB)

Discusses ways that whole-language teachers can address the concerns raised by administrators, parents, and other teachers about the physical environment and noise level in the classroom. Notes that teachers using whole-language approaches often need to explain and justify their expertise and teaching methods to individuals not familiar with the…

Presents alternative views on measuring progress in curriculum transformation involving diversity issues. In a response to Lynne Goodstein's article, "The Failure of Curriculum Transformation at a Major Public University: When 'Diversity' Equals 'Variety'," this article argues that evaluation of curriculum transformation requires…

Two contemporary films, "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy," depict Scottish ethnicity from a rather narrow perspective. The positions that are sentimentally admired when attributed to white natives of Scotland are horrifying when expressed by contemporary peoples of color. These films raise interesting questions about the true nature…