To investigate young children's understanding of metaphorical language, 90 chidren from preschool to third grade were read stories ending with metaphorical sentences of varying degrees of difficulty--sentences representing more or less predictable story outcomes and differing in the complexity and explicitness of their figures of speech. After…

A scale was developed and tested to measure metaphoric complexity in order to aid teachers in the selection and sequencing of young adult (YA) novels in the English curriculum. The development and testing of the scale involved two stages: (1) the development of a questionnaire to determine if differences in the metaphoric complexity of examples…

This study is designed to investigate the relationship between the extent of visualization of poetically elicited mental images (V) and five other variables involved in response to poetry: extent of verbal interpretation of the meaning of poetry; extent of recall of poetry; accuracy of recall of poetry; extent of liking of poetry; and level of…

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which practice in the use of figurative comparisons in the composing of poetry, in both oral and in written form, will increase the use of figurative comparisons in the writing of prose. The study tested oral composition of poetry vs. written composition of poetry, and intensive treatment in…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the writing of elementary children, grades four through six, to determine the relationship between specified genre and the development and use of figurative language. Three teachers, one each in grades four, five, and six in the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Indiana, collected…

Topics of the three essays in this bulletin--which originally appeared in the February, 1963, issue of "College English" and the March and April, 1963, issues of the "English Journal"--are (1) how the materials of language and poetry and the perceptions of individual minds are employed in examining a poem; (2) procedures for reading and…

The use of films in the classroom can help motivate students not only to write but also to consciously employ literary techniques. A film offers visual and audio parallels for conventions traditionally associated with writing, such as metaphor, plot, theme, point-of-view, dialect, satire, and imagery. Since these film conventions can be directly…

Oral performance of literature can be compared with film viewing, in that both are strongly based on suggestion, which forces the spectator to participate actively in the creation of images. Film is actually a series of still pictures, but persistence of vision produces the idea of motion in the mind. Likewise, literature in performance involves…

A model is described for teaching German lyric poetry based on landscape and the analysis of oppositions, such as closed and open environments. The method works well with German Expressionism and is suited to instruction by the Socratic method. Use of the model with three poems is illustrated. (SW)

Discusses the psychological implications of metaphorical language in second language learning and teaching, and their effect on students' classroom behavior and instructors' self-perceptions. These figures of speech, categorized as "human" (military, medical), and "non-human" (culinary, gardening) posit dyadic, negative relationships. Teachers…

Reports three experiments which examined preschool, first-grade, and third-grade children's understanding of metaphorical language. Subjects acted out short stories which ended in metaphorical sentences by using toys. Predictability of the story endings and the complexity of the metaphorical sentences are found to affect metaphor comprehension.…

Effective mentoring requires planned and mindful attention to the ways in which one's knowledge, skills, and experience can be passed on to new teachers. Stressing the importance of deep reflection on one's mentoring practice, the award-winning authors offer eight models/metaphors that mentors can customize to meet the individual needs of their…

Serving as an ideal entry point for children to self-expression and creativity, these participative poems by a storyteller blend the bounce and rhythm of Caribbean memory with universal aspects of childhood experience. The poems take the oral and musical folklore of the Caribbean and link it to the verse of the traditional English nursery rhyme to…

Creative writing is not a magical art from magic wands, but an everyday practice in the hands of steady writers. Creative writing calls, above all, for self-discipline. Along with intellectual and emotional stamina, a poetic writer needs sensory awareness. The writer also forms a mysterious sixth sense--intuition. In search of the good words, the…

Literature Circles are a great way to supplement a reading program in a literature-based classroom. In this lesson plan, students create and answer comprehension questions, discover new vocabulary, and examine elements of literature. The students feel ownership in Literature Circles, because they are responsible for the meeting. Any genre of…