Notes that some scholars have argued that writing poetry was harmful for psychological health of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. Contends that their writing probably provided cathartic benefit for them and helped them gain cognitive distance from their inner conflicts. Argues that writing may have helped both poets survive longer than they might…

Anne Sexton, distinguished poet, killed herself in 1974. Sexton's poems, many dealing with suicide, read together with richly researched recent biography, enhanced by biographer's access to tapes of Sexton's sessions with her psychiatrist and by foreword by that psychiatrist, permit unusual opportunity to understand the interrelationship of her…

Presents Part Two of the ongoing series Letters to a Young Writer where poet and professor Susan Mitchell corresponds with a contemporary composer as a means of exploring the relationship between poetry and the human voice. Reflects on the role of the poet in a civilization, a "habitat," under attack. (SG)

Presents an interview with poet and novelist Fanny Howe. Discusses the nature of titles, the peripatetic poem, and the "perilous point" from which her favorite authors write. (RS)

This study investigates the cultural and educational ideas of the French deaf poet-teacher Pierre Pelissier (1814-1863) who was an instructor at the Paris Deaf Institute from the early 1840s until his death in 1863. As a young man, Pelissier became interested in composing poetry and through his verse, captured many of the social frustrations…

The ideas of four contemporary poets--Ann Deagon, Lyn Lifshin, Marge Piercy, and Alice Walker--concerning the oral interpretation of poetry are presented in this paper. The poets' ideas relate to the following topics: (1) the importance of reading poems aloud; (2) reasons why they give poetry readings, and effects of their poetry readings on their…

Through his prose and poetry, John Keats revealed much about his personal outlook and values that might be applied to a description of poets in general. Keats was fascinated by the workings of the human mind with its power to transform, connect, and communicate. He was full of curiosity, eager to relate the fragments of knowledge he acquired to…

This special issue of the "Indiana English Journal" is devoted exclusively to the writing of Jesse Stuart. Two of his poems, "John and Ephesus" and "Synthetic Heroes," are included, as well as an interview with Stuart in which his life history, his views on writing in general, and his views on his own writing in…

This paper describes Rod McKuen's theories of poetic composition, arguing that McKuen appeals to the anti-intellectual, blindly sentimental capacities of the American public. A comparison of McKuen's work with the work of such poets as James Dickey, Robert Lowell, and Theodore Roethke is outlined in order to demonstrate to students the superficial…

Originally presented at a series of NCTE Spring Institutes on the topic "Behavioral Objectives/Humanistic Goals: Bridging the Gap," the papers in this monograph are divided into four sections. Sections one contains personal credos on the goals of English teaching: "McNamara's Band and the Educational Edsel" by Charles Weingartner; "English…

Fifty white students and fifty black students from the eleventh and twelfth grades were asked to rank in order of their preference ten poems written by black and white authors, each accompanied by the author's name and a picture depicting his race to determine whether knowledge of an author's race acted as a determinant of the literary preferences…

The author, who is a poet, finds that it's "no good trying to be literary" with inner-city children. (Editor/RK)

Interviews Charles Causley, distinguished contemporary British poet, who talks about his art and his work with children. (SR)

Briefly describes the career of the poet and reprints three selections from a newly released anthology of her complete works. (CRH)