Teachers have a unique opportunity to influence education by the materials they select to use in their classrooms. However, many lack the research or life experience that is useful to teach about a living culture that is different from their own in an accurate, respectful manner. This article presents four categories to consider when selecting…

The Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera mobilizes recollections of childhood not only as an event in his adult life, but as a way of articulating a longing for new forms of social consciousness. Childhood itself is recalled both as narrative and source of narrative. As such it is a place and time of memory. It is not just a construct of writing,…

This article profiles author and activist Grace Llewellyn and her cult classic book, "The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education." Llewellyn's book, which she published in 1991, created a controversy as it teaches kids everything from how to convince parents to let them leave school to how to…

Third grade students were asked to create symbolic representations of themselves as readers and writers using the engagement of sketch to stretch.

Working with first-year students at Purdue University, the author, a composition instructor, joined efforts with librarian Alexius Smith-Macklin to explore the efficacy of a collaborative approach to freshman writing instruction at the university level. Combining expertise from the Purdue programs of English education, theory and cultural studies,…

The cultural authenticity of picture books, for both literary and art quality, is examined. In a study done by the Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) in 1976 "How the Children's Books Distort the Asian American Image," 66 children's books published from 1945 through 1976 were examined and problems of serious stereotypes…

This bibliography was compiled to demonstrate the extent to which African Americans have written on a broad array of topics that do not have racial concerns as the major focus. Nonfiction books of more than 100 pages written by persons of African descent who were born in the United States or lived in the country for substantial periods of time are…

The field of Religion and Literature has long been plagued by a lack of clear focus and identity. Both the American Academy of Religion and the American Library Association have felt this lack strongly enough to commission surveys of the field. This study applies the quantitative measures of bibliometrics to periodical literature within the field…

In order to investigate the relationship between mental imagery and creative problem solving, a study of 44 separate accounts reporting mental imagery experiences associated with creative discoveries were examined. The data included 29 different scientists, among them Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, and 9 artists, musicians, and writers,…

Designed for young adults, this book on William Shakespeare's tragedies is one of an anthology series providing accessible resources for students researching great literary lives and works. Contributing writers' essays in the book are taken from a wide variety of sources and are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young…

This document is the third volume of a series designed and written for the young reader aged 9 and above. It contains three issues and covers individuals that young people want to know about most: entertainers, athletes, writers, illustrators, cartoonists, and political leaders. The publication was created to appeal to young readers in a format…

By focusing on Frederick Douglass' reconsideration of literacy in the 1845 "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," this slave narrative becomes very relevant to students today. This important historical document becomes a powerful tool with which educators can encourage students to confront contemporary, postmodern questions about…

It is argued that while it is important to make the French second language curriculum relevant to today's world, it is also important not to neglect the cultural and literary components of the traditional French major, including those learning French for business. In light of this, several French novels, plays, and stories in which business is a…

Many of the best nonfiction writers violate punctuation rules frequently enough to indicate that the rules neither tell very well what to do nor inform very accurately about what is done. An examination of 18 prominent authors' use of the entire hierarchy of punctuation marks shows disagreement and inconsistency among the writers concerning…

Suggesting that the vital element nonfiction lacks is professional attention, this book shows the literary qualities of nonfiction as well as defining its importance for young adults. The book discusses seven issues related to information books, each issue making up a single chapter. The first chapter addresses the reading interests of teenagers,…