Argues that the accidents of reading a hypertext (changing your destination, forgetting your point of departure, or getting lost along the way) are not the effects of inappropriate cues, misinterpreted reference or poor design, but the general condition of the hypertext as text, amplified by the narrative turns of the link. (SR)

Explores themes relating to human transition as they appear in "Charlotte's Web" and four other stories using pigs as a subject. Discusses the motifs common to all these texts that recur in the film "Babe." Considers how the cycle of life and death is ceaseless, and pigs symbolize the necessary transitions that people must all…

Examines whether readers' perceptions of online news stories varies as a function of source attribution in those stories. Finds that they rated stories with quotes significantly higher in credibility and quality than identical stories without quotes; but that quotes did not affect liking for (and representativeness or newsworthiness of) online…

This brief article uses a weaving metaphor to address the relationship between braille and reading, with prior knowledge (the warp threads) interacting with reading content (the weft threads) by means of braille (the shuttle). Reading is seen to be an interactive process between reader, text, and the context of the reading situation. (DB)

Describes "character maps," an activity that draws upon the reader's prior knowledge of people to understand a book's characters. Includes a brief list of additional activities and extensions to reinforce comprehension through characterization. (RS)

In this article, the author redefines "text" and "poem" so that attention will be focused on the reader. The text, she argues, lies inert on the page until the reader comes along and brings it to life in the act of reading, reacting, and reflecting. A poem, then, must be thought of as an event in time. It is not an object or an ideal entity. It is…

There is an abundance of theory concerning the effects of reading literature. Some researchers do reveal effects, but few explain them. When they do, the textual features examined are neither necessary nor sufficient for literariness. Three experiments are presented here that study the relation between literary text quality and literary reading…

In 1991, David Macaulay was awarded the Randolph Caldecott Medal for his picturebook, "Black and White" (1990). He believed the Caldecott committee's choice communicated many messages to readers of all ages: "that it is essential to see, not merely to look; that words and pictures can support each other; that it isn't necessary to think in a…

The definition of literacy has become narrow, bounded, and associated predominantly with measurement of cognitive skills used to decode words. In this article, the author explores the absence in the literacy instruction of a clear, deliberate, and intentional focus upon "connectedness" between the reader and the text. The author maintains that…

Everyone has a literacy component to their lives. Family literacy refers to the ways people learn and use literacy in their home and everyday lives. Many times there is a disconnect between family and school literacies. Schools do not have systematic ways of tapping into the wealth of knowledge families possess and linking that knowledge to school…

While visiting the classroom of an English teacher on campus, the author noticed a large number of literature textbooks that were being replaced with a newer edition. In this article, she describes a project, which was inspired by these discarded literature textbooks, designed to introduce students to an art form based on ideas rather than…

High school teacher Melissa Troise challenges students to recognize the relationships that exist between literary theories, such as Marxism, feminism, and postcolonialism, and urges students to expand their contexts for reading texts by accessing and combining theories. Troise believes theory provides students with the potential to better…

In this article, we discuss the use of eye movement data to assess moment-to-moment comprehension processes. We first review some basic characteristics of eye movements during reading and then present two studies in which eye movements are monitored to confirm that eye movements are sensitive to (a) global text passage difficulty, and (b)…

This author contends that teachers should keep children reading and writing but, more importantly, they need to be sure that children are eager to engage in these activities. Requiring rather than desiring transactions with text does not help to get children hooked on books. Further, she asserts that the words "should" or "ought to" must not be…

This paper presents a model delineating attributes which enable a literate reader to successfully participate in a pluralistic society. The paper outlines the model as building upon and defining the traditional skills and schema views of reading comprehension which include maturity, attitudes, dispositions, intellectual abilities, knowledge, and…