Examines and reviews adolescent fiction with stepfamily themes as a good medium for exposing children to the complexities of stepfamily living, for reducing stereotypes, and for providing role models. Suggests that by providing titles of recommended stepfamily literature, teachers or helping professionals can facilitate an adolescent's adjustment…

Surveys research exemplars of performance studies by tracing their epistemological claims and methodological assertions through discussions of text, event, performer, and audience. Claims a paradigmatic relationship between oral interpretation and performance studies. (JD)

Explains how to teach F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" in three stages: before, during, and after a close look at the text and outlines the novel's narrative structure. (HOD)

Notes that George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is frequently encountered in textbooks that ignore the existence of the original audience. Argues that textbook editors thereby misinform students by failing to show how writers recognize and write to particular audiences, and how writers' specific audiences determine many of the authors'…

Reports on a study of the use of metaphor and analogy in scientific writing to determine whether the author's analogical style affected the media attention a brochure received and whether it improved the reader's understanding of the content. (FL)

Why do adolescents happily read some texts but fiercely resist reading others? Why do some teens read widely while others almost never read? This book shows how to find answer these questions--and more--by observing adolescents complex relationships with reading and letting them explain why they resist or engage with text. Author Anne Reeves…

Now in its Second Edition, "The School Superintendent: Theory, Practice, and Cases," provides reflective summaries, pertinent questions, and case studies at the end of each chapter to encourage the reader to engage in reflection by linking content with personal experiences. The text provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of the school…

Exploring ways to help primary school teachers extend the literacy of their pupils, this paper devises and classroom-tests strategies whereby teachers might develop the abilities of their children to use literacy more effectively as a means of learning. It focuses on the reading and writing of non-fiction text. Outlining four basic insights into…

Examines variables affecting reader understanding of business writing. Notes that 57 business students and 82 non-business students read either a coherent or a non-coherent version of the same text and then took a test measuring their comprehension. Finds that background knowledge (schema theory) affected a reader's ability to understand business…

Discusses how books that have predictable story lines can provide rich opportunities for students with hearing impairments to expand their knowledge, experience success in decoding and predicting text, and develop a love of reading. Tips are provided for choosing books that contain familiar sequences, events, ideas, and situations. (CR)

Asks what role miscue analysis might play and how it might be (re)defined, given a view of reading and writing as "complex human activities taking place in complex human relationships." Examines some of the original assumptions underlying miscue analysis, then redefines it by highlighting three aspects of reading and writing:…

Describes how the attitudes toward textbooks of students enrolled in a study strategies class underwent change as they worked with a particular psychology textbook. Notes that the students wrote to the author, who in turn wrote back. Argues that students' affective responses to textbook reading may be the most undervalued dimension of content area…

Uses two discussion questions to teach Camus'"The Guest." Reminds students that in their discussions they need to pay close attention to the text. Explains to the students that the point of view Camus is using points to the fact that he wants the reader to focus on the character, Daru, and perhaps identify with him. (SG)

Considers how author Brock Cole may be grim and controversial, but he "paints the world as it is; instead of using soft pastels, he whips out the bright, bold, and sometimes ugly hues." Discusses the relationship between the author and the reader, and the author and the teacher. Concludes that some may say that Cole pushes the limit, but he…

Suggests that reflective academic texts highlight the ways in which relationships between writers and their diverse audiences are established. Examines memoirs and autobiographically inflected texts that establish connections between writers and readers by enlarging the notion of individual subjectivity, in particular by mobilizing categories of…