.4.
ENGLISH IN FLORIDA
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
BULLETIN 35A
1962
STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Tallahassee, Florida
THOMAS D. BAILEY, Superintendent
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UNIVERSITY
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ENGLISH IN FLORIDA
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
BULLETIN 35A
1962
T STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Tallahassee, Florida
THOMAS D. BAILEY, Superintendent
/
_______/
Foreword
IT IS WITH MIXED FEELINGS of pride and relief that we
offer this guide to teaching English in Florida secondary
schools to the teachers of the state.
The feeling of pride arises from a job well done by a committee
of hard-working professors, supervisors, administrators, and
teachers who have thoughtfully created, carefully sifted, and
meaningfully set down some sound and workable suggestions for
improving instruction in the field of English.
The feeling of relief comes from the knowledge that here at
length we have a new guide to teaching English which reflects
current trends and modern usage and considers the vast implica-
tions of modern communication media. There has been an under-
standable but none the less discomforting lag in providing this
information for Florida teachers, and it is gratifying to know that
now it is available.
Originally charged with developing a curriculum guide in
English for grades one to twelve, the committee responsible for
this publication elected to divide its efforts and to concentrate
first on the teaching of English in the secondary school. This pub-
lication is a result of those efforts. A guide to teaching English in
the elementary school will follow closely.
Before offering it for general distribution, the committee has
tested the usefulness of this document in a variety of ways. The
Florida Council of Teachers of English spent one day of its annual
meeting in 1961 reviewing and reacting to the workdraft. Large
numbers of English teachers have used the material experiment-
ally in their classrooms. Scores of other professional educators
have made suggestions for improving its effectiveness. The practi-
cal nature of the document which has evolved will ensure its
usefulness.
To teach pupils to speak and write accurately and clearly and
to communicate effectively are major goals of the schools.
Although this guide alone cannot guarantee the attainment of
these goals, it will provide a common base on which English
teachers, both new and experienced, can build their own individu-
ally appropriate instructional programs.
As teachers you are not asked to follow the guide precisely,
not even to accept it in its entirety. You are asked only to give it
careful consideration and to glean from it any values it may hold
for you. The guide does not answer all questions, and those ques-
tions that are answered may not always provide you with the
answers you want or can accept. I am confident, however, that
the teacher who does not find something helpful in this document
will be rare.
THOMAS D. BAILEY
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Acknowledgments
M ANY PERSONS have contributed to the production and
publication of this guide. Every contribution, great or
small, served to further the work and bring closer the time when
the guide would be available to teachers. To recognize all of these
people by name would be impracticable, and in the process the
name of someone would almost certainly be unintentionally
omitted. Nevertheless, to them is due a great measure of apprecia-
tion and much of the credit for any success this publication may
enjoy.
Grateful acknowledgment must be extended individually to
the members of the state-wide committee which was charged with
the responsibility for developing a guide to teaching English. This
committee comprised Frank Doggett, Principal, Duncan U.
Fletcher High School, Jacksonville Beach; Miss Barbara Gole-
man, Miami Jackson High School, Miami; Mrs. Blanche Ham-
mond, Principal, Pine Hills Elementary School, Orlando; Miss
Margaret Japour, Head, English Department, Boca Ciega Senior
High School, Gulfport; Mrs. Ida Larkins McDowell, Bristol; Dr.
David Stryker, Associate Professor of English, University of
Florida; Miss Louise Watson, General Supervisor, Franklin Coun-
ty Schools, Apalachicola; Mrs. Elizabeth White, Language Arts
Supervisor, Dade County Schools, Miami; Mrs. Martha Willson,
Assistant Professor of Education, Florida State University; and
Dr. Dwight L. Burton, Professor and Head of English Education,
Florida State University, who served as chairman.
Appreciation is also due the members of the State Department
of Education who assisted the committee in the development and
publication of this guide. Dr. Sam H. Moorer, Director of the
Division of Instructional Services; Dr. Joseph W. Crenshaw, Cur-
riculum Specialist; and Paul Jacobs, Consultant, Language Arts,
are due special recognition for the helpful editorial contributions
and strong professional support they gave this project.
We are further indebted to J. K. Chapman, Howard Jay Fried-
man, W. H. Pierce, and R. W. Sinclair for suggestions and assist-
ance with lay-out, illustration, and preparation of the guide
for publication and distribution.
Introduction
4 HIS PUBLICATION is a guide for the English program in
T junior and senior high schools of Florida. It is not a course
of study nor a syllabus.
It long has been recognized that a curriculum in English, as
in any subject, must be developed by local groups of teachers who
can appraise the special needs and characteristics of particular
student populations and communities. Such local groups, however,
need guidelines which can be determined from a study of the
scholarship and research in language and literature and in the
teaching of English. To identify such guidelines is the purpose of
this publication.
Accordingly, the committee preparing the guide took as its
first responsibility the analysis of scholarship, research, and cur-
rent trends in the teaching of English. The recommendations and
suggestions which are offered represent an application of this
analysis to the Florida scene. Thus, this is not merely a statement
of beliefs by one group.
Articulation of grade levels is a major problem in the English
program. The Committee preparing the guide represented all
grade levels from primary to college, though the material for
grades 1-6 and for grades 7-12 appears in separate volumes.
All instruction in English must develop, of course, from certain
objectives on which, in general, teachers of English agree: under-
standing and enjoyment of literature and skill in the oral and
written uses of English. Rather than discuss these objectives for-
mally, however, the committee decided to allow them to be im-
plicit in all that is presented. Vital to the development of the
individual and to the welfare of our society, the effective English
program seeks to develop the language abilities of every student
to the limit of his potential.
In the work of the committee the aim of responsibility to the
scholarship in the field was coupled with the aim of practicality.
In his day-to-day work with a many-faceted subject, the individ-
ual English teacher faces many problems. Though his professional
solutions will be his own, he should find help in this guide; for it
is likely that many of his problems are also the problems of other
teachers. Among the practical problems treated in the guide are
these: How much writing should students do? What kinds of
writing should be emphasized? How can writing be evaluated
most effectively? What does grammar do for students, and what
does it not do? Should structural linguistics be substituted for con-
ventional grammar? How can students' language usage be raised
to higher levels? What are important literary experiences at the
various grade levels? How should the literature program be
organized? Are book reports valuable? How can instruction in
speaking and listening be worked into the regular fabric of the
English program? How may effective units be organized? What
adjustments should be made for students of high ability and of
low ability? How does team teaching work? What is good college
preparation in English? What role should the English teacher play
in the teaching of basic reading skills?
Implementation of the Guide
Preparation of this guide will have been an idle exercise, of
course, unless it is put to use in improving the English program
in the local communities of Florida. If implementation is to be
effective, teachers, principals, supervisors, and teacher-education
personnel all have vital roles.
The role of the teacher. Naturally the effectiveness of any pro-
gram rests, in the final analysis, with the individual teacher. If
the kind of English program envisioned in this guide is to be
developed, every teacher must be willing to scrutinize rigorously
his own procedures and to make adjustments where needed,
even at the jeopardy of his personal comfort and prejudices. Fun-
damentally, what is required of the individual teacher is a profes-
sional attitude. This demands that he be willing to act on the
basis of the scholarship in his field even at the expense of pet
procedures or individual views if these are not in harmony with
the body of professional information. It is vital that the teacher's
professional rights be protected; it is also important that teachers
exercise individual initiative. But with individual rights goes the
responsibility to adjust instruction in the light of research and
scholarship. The teacher, for example, who insists on extensive
exercises in sentence diagramming in the belief that writing abil-
ity is being improved is not professionally responsible.
The role of supervisors, curriculum consultants, and depart-
ment heads. Persons with overall supervisory or consultative
responsibility can help greatly in the implementation of the guide
by bringing it to the attention of teachers and by discussing it in
group meetings. Furthermore, they may help in obtaining needed
materials for implementing recommendations of the guide. They
may help also in enlisting the interest and cooperation of admin-
istrators and in explaining the material in the guide to adminis-
trators, members of boards of education, and other laymen.
Obviously, too, they will need to assist individual teachers in
interpreting the guide and in implementing it step by step.
The role of principals. In systems in which there is little pro-
vision for overall supervision, the principal may help in the ways
listed immediately above. As the leader of the faculty in the indi-
vidual school, the principal can lead in setting a scholarly atmos-
phere. His interest in implementing the guide and his encourage-
ment of the English teachers in doing so may be his greatest
service. He may help greatly, too, through taking the attitude that
teachers of all subjects have responsibilities in teaching reading
and study skills and in developing skill in the basic mechanics of
language. It will be important, too, for the principal to provide,
as nearly as possible, the optimum conditions for effective teach-
ing of English. This will involve an analysis of materials, teaching
schedules, and procedures for scheduling students.
The role of teacher education personnel. It is obvious that
teacher education personnel in the State's colleges and universi-
ties will play an important long-range role in the implementation
of this guide. Some rigorous analysis of college curricula and
teaching procedures by departments of English and of education
may be in order. Most of the state's prospective junior and
senior high school teachers of English are not receiving adequate
training in writing, language structure, or speech. Too often the
literature courses stress literary history with the result that the
student does not himself learn how to read the genres of litera-
ture. Very few prospective teachers have opportunity to take
much-needed courses in literature for adolescents. A number of
students are given inadequate experiences in student teaching.
Departments of English and of education may render great serv-
ice by working together in attacking the question: Are we
producing teachers qualified to teach in the kind of English
program envisioned in this guide?
Only a widespread team attack will produce an improved Eng-
lish program.
Action is needed now!
Table of Contents
FOREW ORD ................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................ iii
INTRODUCTION ............................... v
I. LITERATURE .................................. 1
Dimensions of the Literature Program ...... 2
Organizing the Literature Program ......... 7
Individual Reading ........................ 14
II. R EA D IN G ............................ ....... 17
Objectives of a Developmental Program ..... 18
Planning a Developmental Program ......... 20
Areas of Emphasis ........................ 22
III. GRAMMAR AND USAGE ...................... 43
Purposes in Teaching Grammar ............ 43
The Ferment in Grammar .................. 47
Principles to Guide the Teaching of Grammar 48
U sage .................... ........ ....... 54
Aspects of Language Study for Advanced Stu-
dents ............... .................. 58
IV. WRITING .................................... 60
Motivation for W writing .................. ... 60
Preparation for W writing .............. 61
How Much W writing? ................... .... 62
Evaluative W writing ........................ 63
Suggest Specific Improvements ............. 63
Cumulative Records ....................... 74
Conferences ............................... 74
Elementary Principles of Composition ....... 75
M echanics ................................. 76
Spelling ............................. .. .. 78
Personal and Creative Writing in Grades 7- 9 82
Personal and Creative Writing in Grades 10-12 84
Utilitarian Writing in Grades 7- 9 .......... 85
Utilitarian Writing in Grades 10-12 .......... 86
Critical and Intellectual Writing in Grades
7 -9 . . . . . . . . 8 7
Critical and Intellectual Writing in Grades
10-12 ......................... ....... 89
Courses in W writing ......................... 90
A Final Comment ......................... 90
V. SPEECH IN THE ENGLISH CLASS ............. 92
Scope of Instruction ................... ..... 92
Speech Activities .......................... 93
VI. LISTENING AND VIEWING .................... 108
L listening ......................... ....... 108
Viewing .................................. 121
VII
Course Patterns ........................... 129
Administrative Innovations ................. 131
Course Planning .......................... 133
Unit Planning ............................ 136
Ability Grouping in English ................ 141
Illustrative Units .......................... 147
VIII. ARTICULATION .............................
Factors in Planning a Sequence .............
Procedures in Articulation .................
College Preparation .......................
High School-College Articulation Program ..
APPENDIX 1: A Checklist .....................
APPENDIX 2: Publications for Teachers of English
APPENDIX 3: Films, Filmstrips, and Filmslides
for Teaching English ...........
. PLANNING INSTRUCTION .........
CHAPTER 1
Literature
DESPITE THE HEAVY burden of skills teaching which the
English course carries, it is the study of literature which
furnishes the real content of the English program and lies at its
core. For most secondary school students, study of literature is
often their only contact with the humanities.
It is imperative, then, that the literature program be as effec-
tive and vital as possible. Yet to many high school graduates,
their study of literature, in retrospect, recalls a hazy melange
of identifying "morals," searching for climaxes, sleuthing for
similes and metaphors, and memorizing sonorous lines of verse.
In many schools the important objectives of the literature pro-
gram have gotten buried under a mass of traditional practices
and assumptions inherited from literary scholarship of an earlier
day.
The Report of the Literature Committee of the School and
College Conference on English' cites four popular "miscon-
ceptions" in the teaching of literature:
I. Excess of literary history
2. Misguided "correlation"
3. Abuse of technical analysis
4. Unimaginative application
It ay be profitable for each high school to examine its program
for evidence of these distortions. There is little doubt that pro-
grams in the eleventh and the twelfth grades often have been pre-
occupied with the history and chronology of literature. Students
have learned facts about authors and selections, have sampled
scantily of a great many writers, and have learned certain gen-
eralizations about literary periods and movements. Few teachers
1Reprinted in G. W. Stone, Jr., Issues, Problems, and Approaches in the Teaching
of Engish. (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1961.)
will deny that there is value in historical perspective and in a
student's ability to identify what he reads with certain great
traditions such as romanticism and realism. But many would
not agree that a plodding chronological survey of American or
British literature is the best way to achieve these outcomes or
that such surveys have not frequently resulted in teaching about
literature at the expense of directing experiences with literature.
Again, most experienced teachers would agree on the value
of wise correlation of literature with other subjects such as social
studies. Yet the attempt to "fit" literature into the social science-
based unit often may prevent the student from seeing the special
) values of literature.
Overemphasis on the technical aspects, or craftmanship, of
literature is the bane of some programs. Analysis-f-literary
-technique is in i 1n tcg lg course enrollinngqOnly
S majors in English,-but-theanalytical approach must be used
most cautiously--.with__general students in the high school.
Emphasis on the technique of literature-too early-has dr-iaedup
the incipient interest of many students. It is important that
students develop an understanding of technique, of aspects of
craftmanship and the critical terms that describe them, not
directly and formally but inductively through ever-expanding
and more intensive experience with selections of literature.
Unless a student can recognize and discuss irony, for example,
in a short story he reads, it will be of no value for him to
memorize a definition of the term.
To the authors of the School and College Conference Report,
"unimaginative application" means the attempt "to make litera-
ture useful to the student as a preparation for specific situations
in life"-the teaching of Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man,"
for example, for the purpose of showing students "how to deal
with those who may some day make claims on our kindness."
Certainly, literature should be relate ssible, to- real
u -osasibities plumbed, but overcon-
cern wt% "iuu~s u iatiisms ltifying.
Dimensions of the Literature Program
Three dimensions2 apparently define the literature program
2Much of the material from this section is drawn from several published articles
by Dwight L. Burton and from Literatu:re Study in the High Schools (New York:
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1959).
in the high school: (1) th. devlo t pension in which
concern is with the role o e in personal delight
and insight into humanexperience (2) the humanistic dimen-
sion, in c ern is with the role of literature in bringing
youi t-cirontact with a cultural tradition; and (3) th edimen-
sion of form or skill, in which concern is with V- the
tudent to som f rm.
The Developmental Dimension"
Escape. Though escape is not a primary interest in the
teaching of literature, it is a legitimate function of literature and
is a major motivation of adolescents in choosing voluntary read-
ing. For the student, the escape route through books may lead
to the summit of Mt. Everest, an island in the South Seas,
outer space, or a lake resort where a summer romance is almost
inevitable. For individual guidance and suggestions for students,
the literature teacher should have at his disposal in the class-
room or school library a good collection of books which provide
escape reading.
Extension of literal experience. Literature is rewarding to
most readers in its power to extend actual experience. Within
one's literal little world there simply is not enough of the kind
of experiences he craves, especially in adolescence. The adoles-
cent thirsts for action-the boys for the outdoor adventure,
western, sea story; the girls for the milder adventure and
romance. A very popular genre of book with the adolescent is
the junior novel which treats of contemporary adolescent cul-
ture. Of the many writers of junior novels a few serve a worthy
place in the literature program. Mary Stolz, Zoa Sherburne,
James Summers, among others, write with artistry and insight
about the world of adolescence.
In the function of extending experience, literature offers the
chance for adolescents to play roles, to try themselves out.
G. Robert Carlsen writes that young people "come to a semi-
integrated picture of themselves as human beings. They want to
test this picture of themselves in many kinds of roles that it is
possible for a human being to play He [the adolescent]
wants to know what it would feel like to be a murderer, even
though he is not planning to be one. He wants to know what
it feels like to give one's life to religion, to be corrupt in
politics."3 In this sense literature is preparation for experience,
and it is important that selections for study or individual reading
be chosen carefully in terms of their truth to experience, not
only in terms of historical chronology or significance as examples
of genre.
Literature has power, too, to take the reader to the bizarre
fringes of experience. Apparently there is in human nature gen-
erally a fascination for the strange and unusual; this is especially
pronounced in adolescence. Little wonder that Poe is a favorite
story-teller! The vogue of science fiction has its roots partly in
the taste for the bizarre, and teachers need not apologize for
recommending such science fiction writers as Robert Heinlein,
Isaac Asimov, and Nelson Bond.
The supernatural is an important skein in the literary tra-
dition and is a source of interest as well. Here the channel of
interest leads from the slimy monster story to Stevenson's Dr.
Jekyll, Coleridge's Christabel, Keats' La Belle Dame, and James'
The Turn of the Screw.
Insight into human experience and character. Growth to
maturity of mind probably involves fundamentally an awareness
of the complexity of human character and motivation. Of course,
such complexity is at the heart of literature. The power of litera-
ture to impart an understanding of human experience and
character gives literature study its major cogency. In studying
a good selection of literature, whether a skillfully written junior
novel or major classic, the student inevitably examines his own
motivations as he becomes aware of the motivations of fictional
characters. Huckleberry Finn, for example, represents universal
adolescence in his battle of conscience concerning whether to
turn Jim over to the authorities.
Insight into human experience involves, too, an awareness
of the clash of values. A fundamental question undergirding the
literature program is, "What do men live by and for?" Selections
from Antigone to The Canterbury Tales to Michener's Bridges
of Toko-ri to MacLeish's J. B. dramatize answers to this question.
Biography becomes important in this connection as students con-
sider careers as diverse as those of Louis Armstrong, Albert
Schweitzer, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
3O. Robert Carlsen, "Behind Reading Interests," English Journal, XLIII (January
1954), p. 10.
Insight into human experience must encompass the legacy
of human suffering. Literature study can make a contribution
to this insight by the development of an understanding of the
nature of tragedy. Students frequently finish their study of a
work such as Macbeth without understanding why it is a tragedy
when the "good guys" triumph at the end. In the twelfth grade
the study of Macbeth might be enlarged to a modest study of
tragedy in general, with the reading of Shakespeare preceded
or followed by a Greek tragedy and a modern play by Eugene
O'Neill or Arthur Miller. Perhaps such a unit might include
fiction by Chekhov or Katherine Mansfield. Exceptionally able
classes might study James Joyce's The Dead.
Another factor important to the individual's synthesis of
experience is a perception of the significance of the everyday.
Poetry is a vital medium for promoting this realization, for it is
the individual facet of experience that absorbs the poet. In
poetry, detail, as expressed in single words and phrases, assumes
key importance. This is not always true of prose. In this con-
nection it is of vital importance that students develop the under-
standing that poetry is about all things, something of guts and
virility, not just sentiments of hearts and flowers. In the junior
high school, students respond especially to lusty narrative poetry.
"The Cremation of Sam McGee" may be distasteful to the
teacher, but it may represent a milestone for the seventh or
eighth grader. Senior high school students often respond to off-
beat poetry not included in the standard anthologies in adoption
-poems such as Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish" and Karl
Shapiro's "Buick" and "Auto Wreck."
The Humanistic Dimension
The humanistic dimension, in which students are brought
into contact with a literary tradition, is in no conflict with the
developmental dimension. The concerns of youth and the literary
tradition come together at more joining than the literature
program has time for.
Contact with the literary tradition has been rather widely
confused with exposure to certain anthologies or to certain lists
of books. Yet the literary background presents so many possi-
bilities that it is professional obtuseness to limit students to a
narrow list of so-called "classics" or to introduce selections known
to be deadly with students merely on the basis that exposure
per se is beneficial. The chronological surveys of American and
British literature prevalent in the eleventh and the twelfth
grades are justified frequently on the basis of acquaintance with
the tradition. The survey, of course, was inherited from the col-
leges in an earlier time, and there has been a trend in both
colleges and high schools away from such "Cook's tours" in
which undue emphasis may be placed on learning about literature
at the expense of experience with literature. Certainly, high
school students should have experience with superior examples
of the various literary genres drawn from American, British,
and world literature. But contact with a literary tradition cannot
be defined in terms only of acquaintance with authors and titles.
What is most important is contact with ideas which have
engrossed man over the centuries: man versus nature; power
versus intelligence; individuality versus conformity, for example.
A literature program which introduces students to the ways in
which these eternal problems are approached in literature of the
past and present is bringing students into contact with a literary
tradition.
The Dimension of Form
The tendency toward an overemphasis on technical analysis
in some schools has been cited earlier. Yet the various genres
of literature are art forms, and the study of literature must
necessarily involve study of these art forms. Form and idea, of
course, never can be divorced. As teachers work with the ideas,
concepts, and effects in fiction, poetry, and drama, they must at
the same time work with the means through which these ideas
and concepts are expressed and these effects achieved. Awareness
of the function of form in literature will come gradually from
the time that the seventh grader practices following a plot in
fiction until the honors twelfth grader works with symbolism
in modern poetry.
It is important that concern with the dimension of form begin
early on a realistic plane. The eighth grader, for example, must
learn to deal with such concrete symbolism as that of the coffee
drinking related to growing up in James Street's Goodbye, My
Lady if he is to be expected to understand, as an eleventh
grader, the color symbolism in Crane's The Red Badge of
Courage. Or if the ninth grader is introduced to the symbolic
use of scene in a junior novel such as Annixter's Swiftwater,
in which a boy's fight with a wolverine on a trapline represents
the meeting with evil, he will be in a better position later to
deal with symbolism of action in Moby Dick or some other
mature masterpiece.
Organizing the Literature Program
An effective program in literature will offer both intensive
and extensive experiences. In general the study of literature in
class will provide the intensive phase; independent reading will
represent the broad extensive phase.
Study in Class
It is not the purpose of this guide to prescribe any single
plan for organizing class study of literature. The vitality of the
literature program in any grade will depend more upon the
teacher-his background, his ingenuity and imagination, his com-
mand of teaching techniques-than upon the specific pattern of
organization. Yet it is important to consider certain inherent
advantages and disadvantages of the common plans of organiza-
tion. Adherence to a few very general principles seems indis-
pensable to effective class study of literature:
1. The adopted anthology is not enough. No single anthology-
textbook of literature-can alone provide an adequate basis
for literature study at any level, no matter how the anthol-
ogy is organized. The anthology should be viewed as a
convenient and important resource, not as the course of
study. The selections as well as the editorial paraphernalia
should be used discriminately. By no means will all of the
selections nor all of the study aids be appropriate for given
groups.
2. Paperbound books are an important resource. A great
wealth of literature, from juvenile selections to the great
classics, is available in inexpensive paperbound editions.
Paperbacks should be used to supplement the adopted hard-
back anthologies. In some classes, paperbacks may replace
the hardback anthologies completely. Paperbound Books in
Print, issued quarterly by the R. R. Bowker Company, 62
W. 45th Street, New York 36, New York, is a valuable
reference.
3. Recordings, films, and other audio-visual aids will enrich
the study of literature. A wide variety of visual aids is
available for literature study. The National Council of
Teachers of English distributes many of these aids on a
non-profit basis. Catalogs may be gotten free from the
NCTE, 508 South Sixth Street, Champaign, Illinois.
4. Patterns of organization and approaches may vary greatly
from one ability level to another. Many schools group stu-
dents by ability for study in English. The individual teacher
may meet classes representing two or three different levels
of ability each day. Obviously, the pattern for literature
study appropriate for the honors class will not fit the
"basic" sections.
Class study of literature is usually organized in one of these
five general patterns: (1) topics; (2) types; (3) chronology;
(4) themes; (5) individual works.
1. Topical organization-In this plan selections representing
various genres of literature are studied under a general
topic which is of interest and significance to a certain age
group. Typical unit titles are: "Heroes Yesterday and To-
day"; "Moments of Decision"; "Strange Encounters"; "Small
Town America." This organizational pattern is especially
appropriate for the junior high school. It is of great impor-
tance that junior high school pupils see the relationship
of literature to their own lives as well as generate a zest
for reading. The topical plan provides for wide reading in
an interesting context. Junior high school students in gen-
eral are not yet ready for the depth analysis, abstraction,
concern with technique, and lack the background demanded
in the other patterns of organization. The topical plans
lends itself well, too, to the core curriculum common in
seventh and eighth grades. Such units as "Wagons West-
ward" and "The Family Team "feature an integrated
approach to literature and social studies.
The topical pattern is also the most appropriate one for
the low-ability sections in the senior high school. Again, the
emphasis in such sections is on breadth rather than depth in
literature, and low-ability students cannot deal with abstract
ideas, as in the theme approach, nor with technical analysis,
as in the types approach. In one tenth grade low-ability
English class the following literature units furnished the
basis for the year's program:
Brief Encounters
People Who Were Different
The Daily Routine.
Strange Things Happen
Western Days
2. Types organization-In the commercially distributed anthol-
ogies, the types approach has been most prominently fea-
tured for the ninth and the tenth grades. In this plan, of
course, units are organized around the various genres or
types of literature. If tall tales, folk tales, science fiction, and
such forms are considered types, this plan of organization
may be effective occasionally in the junior high school. How-
ever, the more conventional types approach is most useful
with mature students; its prominence in textbook-anthol-
ogies for ninth and tenth grades is an educational mystery.
The most obvious drawback of the types pattern is that it
puts literature study in a context many students consider
sterile. Then, too, it promotes a tendency toward over-
concern with technical analysis. Another objection is that
the types approach is inapplicable to long forms: novel and
full-length drama. In most high school classes there is not
time for the class to read and compare several novels and
full-length dramas in any one unit or even school term. An
understanding of the form of the novel and drama will have
to be developed over the several years in which students
study literature. Some teachers believe that the same thing
is true of the other literary genres.
3. Chronological organization-Chronological treatment of
American literature in the eleventh grade and of British
literature in the twelfth has long been the dominant pattern
and remains the pattern in most of the hardback anthology-
textbooks designed for these grades. The general disadvan-
tage of this approach has been cited earlier: the tendency to
teach about literature rather than to guide students in
experiences 'with literature. The detailed survey is an
anachronism in the high schools. Many of the colleges, from
which the survey was an inheritance, have converted the
survey courses in American and English literature to "major
figures" courses.
The fact that the adopted anthology is organized chrono-
logically need not deter the teacher from organizing a course
in another fashion if he is willing to supplement the antho-
logy and to do necessary violence to the sequence of its
selections. Used as a resource rather than a course of study,
the chronologically organized textbook-anthology can serve
any good course in American or English literature.
Though there is little justification for retaining the plod-
ding historical approach, the general chronological pattern
may be effective with high-ability, or honors, classes in the
senior high school. Through such an approach, the advanced
student may develop an understanding of the development
of great literary traditions and their relationship to the
present. In one twelfth grade honors course,4 the following
units furnished the structure of the literature program for
the year:
I. The Greek Heritage
A. Highlights of mythology
B. Oedipus Rex and Antigone
C. Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot
II. The Birth of English Literature: A Zest for Life
A. Arthurian lore-Malory and others
B. Chaucer
C. Modern selections by Maugham, Kipling, Noyes,
Masefield, and others
III. The Renaissance Spirit
A. Selections from The Prince by Machiavelli
B. Hamlet
C. The Renaissance man in modern selections
4University School, Florida State University.
IV. The Classical Mood
A. Bacon, Chesterfield, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Johnson
B. Donne, Milton, and the Cavalier poets
C. Newman, Forster, Orwell, Auden
V. The Romantic Mood
A. Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge, Shelley
B. Wuthering Heights
C. Modern romanticism
VI. The Sober Mood: Realism and Victorianism
A. Browning, Tennyson, Arnold, Strachey
B. The Mayor of Castlebridge by Thomas Hardy
C. Modern realism
VII. The Quest for Identity
A. The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad
B. The Dead by James Joyce
C. Modern poetry
4. Thematic organization-In this plan, the study of selections
from the various genres of literature centers around a
controlling idea or theme. This pattern is very like the
topical except that the organization of units is necessarily
tighter, and the theme, unlike the topic, states or implies a
definite proposition about human experience. Typical unit
titles are "Conformity versus Individualism," 'The Trial of
Conscience," and "The West as Symbol and Myth." This
pattern is most effective with high-ability and general classes
in the senior high school, though, with careful choice of
theme, the plan is effective with low-ability sections, too.
For example, one teacher carried out in a twelfth-grade
"basic" section a successful unit centered around the pro-
position, "Men live lives of quiet despair." One eleventh-
grade low-ability group engaged in a unit on "The Image of
the American," starting with the newspaper and television
screen and going to such selections as The Ugly American.
Careful choice of theme-in terms of general significance as
well as manageability by adolescents-and relevance of
selections to the theme are the two requisites for an effective
program organized in this pattern. When these two con-
ditions are satisfied, literature is given its most vital
context.
5. Organization by individual selections-Some literature
programs have no overall pattern. In some schools, this may
indicate that literature study is haphazard and aimless,
with no meaningful context, a series of assignments or les-
sons which adds up to nothing in the mind of the student.
On the other hand, some teachers maintain that an overall
pattern of themes, topics, or chronology is unduly restrict-
ing and distorting, that each selection of literature should
be approached as a thing in itself, an individual work of art.
Such an approach is rarely found in the high school
although the chronological pattern sometimes actually
results in this. Organization by individual selections is prob-
ably effective only in very advanced senior high school
classes where the students already have developed rich
backgrounds and sophisticated insights and are ready to
progress through a series of major works.
This discussion of patterns in the organization of litera-
ture programs by no means implies that a single pattern
need be used exclusively in a given class. Random eclectic-
ism will produce a rudderless program, but considered
eclecticism may produce a variety of approach of especial
importance in general or heterogeneous classes. No matter
what mode of organization may be followed, most teachers
agree that class study of literature should involve consider-
ation at each grade level of several major works of litera-
ture. These works will not be masterpieces in many
instances, but will invariably represent literary art. A num-
ber of selections which might furnish "core" experiences
in literature at each grade level are listed below. No class
would be expected to deal with all of them. The allocations
to grade levels as shown below would have to be adjusted
to ability levels. That is, low-ability eleventh or twelfth
graders, for example, might study some of the works sug-
gested for the eighth or ninth grade. Short selections-
poems, short stories, essays-are not included. Most of the
selections are available in paperbound editions.
Seventh Grade
Buck, Pearl. The Big Wave. (Fiction or drama)
Knight, Eric. Lassie Come Home. (Fiction)
Krumgold, Joseph. And Now Miguel. (Fiction)
Scott, Walter. Lochinvar. (Poetry)
Twain, Mark. Tom Sawyer. (Fiction)
Ullman, James R. Banner in the Sky. (Fiction)
Whittier, John G. Snowbound. (Poetry)
Eighth Grade
Clark, Barret. Fires at Valley Forge. (Drama)
Holmes, Oliver W. The Deacon's Masterpiece. (Poetry)
Noyes, Alfred. The Highwayman. (Poetry)
Service, Robert W. Cremation of Sam McGee. (Poetry)
Stevenson, Robert L. Treasure Island. (Fiction)
Street, James. Goodbye, My Lady. (Fiction)
Ninth Grade
Annixter, Paul. Swiftwater. (Fiction)
Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain. (Fiction)
Kipling, Rudyard. Ballad of East and West. (Poetry)
Kipling, Rudyard. Gunga Din. (Poetry)
Richter, Conrad. Sea of Grass. (Fiction)
Sherwood, Robert. Abe Lincoln in Illinois. (Drama)
Tenth Grade
Buck, Pearl. The Good Earth. (Fiction) (Able Students)
Byron, George Gordon. Prisoner of Chillon. (Poetry)
Coleridge, S. T. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. (Poetry)
Goldsmith, Oliver. She Stoops to Conquer. (Drama)
Michener, James. Bridges of Toko-ri. (Fiction)
O'Neill, Eugene. Ah, Wilderness. (Drama)
Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. (Drama) (Able Students)
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. (Drama)
Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. (Fiction)
Eleventh Grade
Benet, Stephen Vincent. The Mountain Whippoorwill, (Poetry)
Clark, Walter V. The Ox Bow Incident. (Fiction)
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. (Fiction)
Faulkner, William. The Bear. (Fiction) (Able Students)
Frost, Robert. Death of the Hired Man. (Poetry)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. (Fiction) (Able
(Students)
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. (Fiction)
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. (Fiction) (Able Students)
Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. (Fiction)
Marquand, John. The Late George Apley. (Fiction)
Melville, Herman. Billy Budd. (Fiction)
Miller, Arthur. All My Sons. (Drama)
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. (Drama)
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. (Drama)
O'Neill, Eugene. The Hairy Ape. (Drama)
Twain, Mark. Huckleberry Finn. (Fiction) (Able Students)
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. (Fiction)
Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. (Poetry) (Able Students)
Whyte, W. A. The Organization Man. (Non-fiction)
Wilder, Thorton. Our Town. (Drama)
Twelfth Grade
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. (Fiction)
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. (Fiction) (Able Students)
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. (Poetry)
Coleridge, S. T. Christabel. (Poetry)
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. (Fiction)
Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Sharer. (Fiction)
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. (Fiction) (Able
Students)
Eliot, T. S. Murder in the Cathedral. (Drama) (Able Students)
Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones. (Fiction) (Able Students)
Fitzgerald, Edward. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. (Poetry)
Hardy, Thomas. The Mayor of Casterbridge. (Fiction)
Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. (Fiction)
Joyce, James. The Dead. (Fiction) (Able Students)
MacLeish, Archibald. J. B. (Drama) (Able Students)
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. (Drama) (Able Students)
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. (Drama)
Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion. (Drama)
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. (Drama) (Able
Students)
Individual Reading
One of the twin anchors of the literature program is class study
which involves primarily the intensive experiences with litera-
ture; the other is individual reading, involving mainly the exten-
sive experiences. The in-class literature program which does not
lead to voluntary out-of-class reading by many of the students
may well be suspect. One Florida high school principal maintains
that voluntary summer reading by students is the best proof of
the effectiveness of the literature program.5 But the choice of
whether or not to carry on individual reading cannot be left to
the adolescent. Individual reading, as distinct from purely recrea-
tional reading, should be a part of his required work in literature.
Individual and extensive reading grows very naturally out of the
topical or thematic pattern in which students first consider
together selections related to the topic or theme and then go indi-
vidually, or in small groups, to other selections suited to their
tastes and abilities but still relevant to the topic or theme. What-
ever the plan of organization, however, individual reading is es-
sential in promoting reading interests and in providing for individ-
ual tastes and capacities. The individual reading program cannot
be something separate, something divorced from the in-class study
of literature. The fairly widespread requirement of "outside"
reading-involving usually a written or oral book report every
:six or eight weeks-profits little if the outside reading program is
not planned and individualized. The Tuesday book report session
and the mineographed reporting forms are remembered with dis-
taste by the majority of high school graduates.
5Mr. Frank Doggett, Duncan U. Fletcher High School, Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
The outside, individual reading phase should be as carefully
planned as the in-class, intensive phase of the literature program.
There are two general ways in which a planned out-of-class pro-
gram may be set up. First, the teacher may outline several alterna-
tives for independent reading in each of the literature units during
the year. These alternatives would be appropriate, of course, to
the range of interests and capacities in the class. Provision is
made for oral or individual reporting of the reading for each of the
units. Second, the teacher may set up with each student an indi-
vidual reading design which will appropriately supplement and
enrich the in-class literature study for the term. Each student's
reading design will reflect his interests and his capacities. In this
plan, the teacher may hold a conference early in the year with
each student in order to plan the reading design most beneficial
for him.
In any plan for individual reading some kind of reporting will
be needed. Certainly the stereotyped book report on the standard-
ized form is outmoded, and certainly the student should not be
required to report formally on everything he reads. At times a
general, informal class discussion on a certain category of books-
current novels, for example-will serve in lieu of individual
reports. The teacher-student conference, when feasible, may cover
a great deal of ground. Yet the individual report will occasionally
be needed. Jerome Carlin describes a number of possibilities for
the book report: 6
Analysis by a man of the future. In a time capsule or in the ruins
on the planet Earth some man of the future finds the book and
writes a paper on what it reveals of life of the earlier time.
The diary of a major character. At least three crucial days in the
life of the character are dealt with as if they were being summarized
in that person's diary.
A letter written in the role of a book character.
Written analysis from a specific standpoint.
Formal book review. The superior student can clip a book review from
a newspaper and use it as a model for a review of the book which
he has read.
The scholarly critical paper. Honors classes may combine research on
"what the critics and authorities think of the author" with critical
opinion on "what I think about those of his books which I have
read." A separate section on the latter is a wise requirement, to
encourage original thinking.
Round-table discussion under a student chairman.
Conversation. Students are paired for conversation about a book.
Oral reading and discussion of brief excerpts.
6"Your Next Book Report ." English Journal, L. (January 1961) pp. 16-22.
Significant incident or anecdote. Each student is a speaker on a TV
program about good books. He must interest the audience by telling
only one incident or anecdote from his book-comic, tragic, sus-
penseful, or otherwise possessed of human interest.
Dramatization. A committee prepares and presents a scene in radio-
script fashion.
Group performance in the style of "This Is Your Life."
Reporter at the scene. While it's happening, a crucial scene from
the book is described on the spot by a TV or radio reporter.
The trial of a major character. Defendant, prosecuting attorney,
defense attorney, and witnesses may participate in the case. The
charge should preferably be one of acting unethically, unfairly, or
even unwisely, rather than one of breaking a law.
Interview. A character in the book is interviewed by a reporter or
by a TV interviewer.
The author meets the critics. Three, four, or five students may form
a group. Thus Charles Dickens may defend his A Tale of Two Cities
against two critics, as they ask: "Why didn't you save Carton by
some plot twist, giving the book a happy ending? ...
Monologue or dialogue. A pupil takes the role of the major character
and in a process of "thinking out loud" talks about the critical
situation or problem he is facing at the high point of the story.
This may be varied by using two students in a dialogue.
Sales talk. The student represents himself as a salesman endeavoring
to sell the book to the class by means of a talk on its good points.
Presentation to a publisher. The class is the selection committee for
a publisher or for one of the publishing book clubs. The student
presents his report on a book from the standpoint of whether it
should be published or of whether it should be offered to the book
club membership.
Discussion of proposed projection conducted by a "playwright" and a
"producer."
Outline of a TV or motion-picture version.
Art and other creative work. Book jackets, advertising blurbs, maps,
scenes from the story, pictures of characters, posters, and the like
are generally useful as supplements, but they do not always serve
the purpose of requiring thoughtful consideration of the book. An
accompanying analytical talk or paper is desirable if the creative
work is intended to serve as a book report.
Of course, the teacher scarcely can expect the students to read
extensively and to share reading in various kinds of reports if
he does not show an enthusiasm for reading himself and for
sharing his reading experiences with his classes. The teacher's
comments on the books he is reading or has read are a rich source
of motivation for students. The well-prepared teacher of litera-
ture not only is thoroughly grounded in the literary tradition, but
he also makes an effort to keep abreast of the current scene
through active reading of new books and of magazines such as
the Saturday Review which presents reviews and a coverage of
the literary world.
CHAPTER 2
Reading
IN RECENT YEARS reading achievement in the junior and
senior high school has been a primary target of public criticism.
As this basic "R" of the school program has stimulated censure
and scrutiny, more and more school leaders have come to grips
with an undeniable reality: too often improvement in reading
skills comes to a standstill after a student leaves elementary
school. As school personnel have sought to determine whether
Johnny really could read, there has been evidence both gratifying
and disturbing: Johnny can read and does read; however, he
often cannot read with enough competency and maturity to meet
the many challenges of modern life.
Fortunately, reading is "one up" on the much-discussed
weather. Not only is everybody talking about it, but many people
are doing something about it. Teachers of disparate fields-sci-
ence, social studies, mathematics, and home economics-have ral-
lied to grapple with this skill so necessary to a student's success.
School administrators, supervisors, department heads, and espe-
cially English teachers have urged faculties to remember, "Every
teacher is a reading teacher." And the awareness of this shared
responsibility has been a vital impetus to the improvement of
reading, as well as an important unifying factor in general in-
struction. It is obvious that only through the concerted effort of
all teachers can the best results be obtained.
Once this awareness within the school has been developed,
teachers discover the feasibility of a conscious, carefully devised
developmental program which continues throughout the junior
and the senior high school program. Certainly reading improve-
ment is not the elixir transforming all poor students into academic
"stars." But as teachers in mathematics, science, and social studies
are realizing, improvement in reading promotes improvement in
skills. In addition, it plays a significant role in the broadening of
special interests and the developing of more efficient means of
handling problems of personal adjustment.
Although crowded classrooms, inadequate teacher allotment,
and small budgets are potent deterrents to an ideal reading pro-
gram, determined teachers and administrators have succeeded in
incorporating sound remedial and developmental reading pro-
grams into their curricula-even without special reading teachers
and well-equipped reading clinics.
The following suggestions are presented in the hope that they
will encourage more "crusaders" within the secondary schools to
initiate or supplement developmental programs. Because of the
basic similarities of a junior and a senior high approach, the sug-
gestions are incorporated in one section. This guide is no substi-
tute for the many excellent books on reading improvement, nor
is it a specific course of study (such as may be found within
county publications). It is directed to the English teacher in the
realization that it is he, more than any other teacher, who
recognizes the need for a definite reading improvement plan.
Furthermore, no other teacher is in a better position to attack
the problems related to reading growth: abilities in vocabulary
skills, comprehension, reading rate, and interpretive and critical
judgment. While barriers to reading success can be the source
of the English teacher's greatest grievances, they can also be the
source of his greatest gratification. In the school where there is
no reading specialist, no well-defined reading program, the
English teacher can be the engineer in constructing a purposeful
program.
Objectives of a Developmental Program
A primary responsibility of a secondary school reading pro-
gram is to enforce a meaningful transition from elementary read-
ing activities to the more complex, demanding ones of the junior
and the senior high school. Specialized classes in mathematics,
social studies, and science create an imperative need for the child
to improve or adjust his reading rate, vary his purpose in reading,
and learn new vocabularies. The student with a poor foundation
in the rudiments of reading must be identified and guided so that
he is not allowed to sink in the bewildering whirlpool of complex
reading demands. The student adequately prepared must be
encouraged in the growth of new abilities, and the student already
advanced in basic skills must not be ignored. Some reading spec-
ialists suggest that the best readers have the most potential, un-
exercised abilities. Certainly this last group must be encouraged
and challenged so that their maximum effectiveness can be as-
sured in the varied fields of higher education. Too often, it is the
neglect of this group at a crucial time in their development that
causes them to lose interest and drift aimlessly through the sec-
ondary curriculum, ending up with little direction aimed toward
advanced education and/or meaningful careers.
Developing Reading Competency
.iC edhiig-. a studrent rn s in levels of
learing-hasas hasic tenet the knowledge that certain kills
are basic to all reading It provides training in the
"S-f we, reading rate, comprehension skills, and
i.J^tiriretive a es-i-jes.
A developmental program provides for training in different
types and aims of reading. It should consider skills required for
the understanding and application of materials in the sciences,
social studies, and language arts. Students must learn to see the
need for adjusting their reading rates to the particular demands of
asin4!n.e L Z. ldr-feco'gnize-ihe need tor
specialized vocabulary, for the exercise of complex comprehen-
sion chores. Their abilities to understand and interpret literary
works should be reinforced. Finally, students should be guided
into mature levels of understanding in the various communicative
media which deal with current political and social issues of
importance.
Defining and Exploring Student Interests
Effective developmental programs explore and enrich students'
interests. Using information gained through interest inventories,
tests, and anecdotal and cumulative records, teachers can quickly
capitalize on existing interests. As special interests expand, curi-
osity arises. This irre.ressible curiosity "f aki-l f-to read
comic books, to watch television and the movies, to extend p
erle tq- t rk t l
intere s .g unfla- .. .
Developing Growth and Understanding
Since reading experiences often develop the understanding and
integration of a person's experience, a reading program can aid
the young reader in that difficult task of understanding himself in
relation to his world. The acute problems of adolescence can be
the springboard to the reading of the fact and the fiction which
handle those very problems. Furthermore, reading materials wise-
ly selected can play a significant role in the analysis and evalua-
tion of moral and spiritual values and in the building of effective
citizenship. Certainly, a truly functional reading program should
aim toward personal, social, and cultural growth, as it recognizes
the importance of reading to the enlarging and enriching of a
person's experiences.
As the reading program aims toward these ideals, teachers
should create in young students an awareness of the need to
read and to be well informed in an increasingly complex world.
Thus, good reading habits perhaps can be instilled at a crucial
stage of growth and wiser, more meaningful use of leisure time
can then result.
Planning a Developmental Program
Teachers beginning a developmental reading program need to
take certain steps if the program is to be effective. They need to
consider how students' reading abilities are to be identified, how
the program is to be organized, and how students will be grouped
and scheduled for reading instruction.
I notification of Reading Abilities
.ThI,. Jiir iexating-e:ee v veL adin ror is
to a-w'i ideal if gthe reading abilities of
tdggenta. The administration of standardize rea ma vocaBu-
lary tests is an important means of ascertaining levels of reading
competency. There are many excellent tests devised to measure
students' vocabulary levels, reading rates, paragraph and story
comprehension abilities, and other reading competencies. (See
Appendix B.) Through a careful analysis of the results of such
tests, teachers can better determine students' specific strengths
and weaknesses.
Naturally, a teacher may learn a great deal more about reading
abilities and interests through observing the student, having con-
ferences with him, and reading his compositions In silent reading,
restlessness and inattentiveness, "mouthing" of wor s,po li
a line of text are obvious symptoms of real reading inadequacies.
In oral reading mispronunciations, omissions, reversals, and
repetitions quickly indicate reading weaknesses. Such tools as the
Eye Camera, reading hims, and tachistoscope may be helpful, if
available, in determining habits and patterns in reading practices.
Comparing the results of reading tests with such data as I. Q.
scores, grades, age, and results on eye tests is an ideal method of
determining achievement accuracy. This teacher study should
continue as the student advances from junior high school through
his senior year in high school.
Organizing the Program
A meaningful reading improvement program should include:
1 Instruction in reading techniques for all students as a vital
part of the curriculum
Instruction in all of the content fields, not only in English
Concentrated guidance through special classes for retarded
readers
(9 Cooperation and assistance of library staff in selecting and
providing a variety of reading materials
-n-service education program in reading instruction led by
a competent reading specialist
6. election of a reading teacher or, perhaps, a reading chair-
man at each grade level, someone who can coordinate the
efforts of all teachers to improve reading
/07. adequate facilities-a reading "laboratory," if possible, or
at least materials (guides, machines, ample supply of books)
which can be used by teachers in concentrating on improv-
ing various reading skills.
Grouping for Instruction
Grouping for instruction should be carefully planned to fit the
needs and characteristics of individual schools. Various methods
suggested are:
1. As a required class, with students given credit toward gradu-
ation (This class might be required in addition to other
required courses, or it could be part of the English
program.)
2. As a regular, systematic instructional unit in all classrooms
3. As a required class for those students a year below their
grade level in reading achievement (students, that is, who
are capable of improvement), with emphasis on a remedial
approach
4. As an elective course (with or without credit) for students
interested in improving their reading abilities.
Other provisions can be made for systematic instruction during
students' study periods or during reading periods scheduled at
regular intervals. Certainly severely retarded readers need the
guidance of a reading specialist, either in or out of the school.
Some schools have been successful in scheduling students accord-
ing to their reading levels in distinctly grouped classes in English
and other subjects.
Many skillful teachers, working in schools without specialized
reading programs, have succeeded in organizing their classes in
groups and in making differentiated assignments designed to chal-
lenge the pupil at his own level of competence. This, of course, is
the most challenging of teaching problems, but it can be a richly
rewarding accomplishment. The English teacher can provide for
individual differences, for example, by carefully prescribing out-
side reading assignments for reports and panel discussions or by
differentiating in difficulty the questions on material to be read in
common.
Areas of Emphasis
Classroom instruction in any developmental program is con-
cerned with various areas of emphasis. Areas discussed in the
paragraphs that follow are those that have to do with the mechan-
ics of reading, vocabulary development, word perception, word
analysis, use of the dictionary, word meaning and interpretation,
reading comprehension of various kinds, use of textbooks and
library materials, and critical, interpretive, and oral reading.
The Mechanics of Reading
Essential for reading proficiency is the development of actual
mechanical skills. Among the first of these is perception of words
-familiarity with the form of the word, knowleede
and pronunciation structure, and use of clues .ing. In addi-
tion, an e icient rea er m-ius teve 6p e ective eye movements:
a steady movement from left to right, with a decreasing need for
regressions; attention to widening the recognition span, or a read-
ing of thought units rather than reading word by word; and a
flexibility in speed of reading as the type of material changes.
Finally, a reader must develop habits of precision in reading, so
that he does not distort the meaning by omitting or misreading
words. Through attention to the mechanical details of reading
power, teachers take a major step toward overall reading im-
provement.
Some use of mechanical devices may help in alerting students
to the importance of technical prowess. Certainly, however, undue
emphasis on machine-guided reading can result in the distortion
of the real purposes for reading. When utilizing the "gimmicks"
that motivate reading progress, teachers should keep in mind the
primary principles of reading for content and with varied pur-
poses.
Some machines effective in stimulating improvement are
described here briefly.
1. Often very helpful and interest-catching devices are pro-
jectors which expose numbers, words, or phrases on a
screen, with time settings ranging from one to one-hun-
dredth of a second. (Only a regular ten- or fifteen-minute
exercise with one of these machines is recommended.) The
"l' principles can be effected by an individual's
use of flash cds. Tis method ineffective in widening eye
span (for the word-by-word reader), but especially in im-
proving a reader's ability to concentrate and to form rapid
associations.
2. Reading films, with variations in the speed of material pre-
sented on the screen, encourage students to increase their
reading speed, to widen their recognition span, to develop
rhythmical eye movements, and to comprehend as they
accomplish the physical act of perceiving the symbols.
2'23
'^MAoe V" PC^
3. Reading pacers or accelerators are individually manipulated
guides set at desired speeds, forcing the reader to read faster
than a shutter, a pointer, or a shadow which moves down
the page.'
Inexpensive, teacher-made materials sometimes may serve the
same purposes as expensive machines. For example, students
may pace their own reading by moving a card steadily down a
page of print, revealing a line at a time. Or a "window" large
enough to reveal several words may be cut in a card. The student
moves the window across the lines of print.
These devices often challenge or motivate students to improve
their reading skills. However, they appear most successful when
playing a subordinate role in the reading program.
As students work with machines devised to improve reading
prowess, they often learn that a faster reading speed is desirable-
especially with materials that do not require intensive reading.
Increased speed in itself is not necessarily desirable. What is
needed is a combination of techniques which alert powers of
concentration, discourage inattentiveness and undirected read-
ing habits, and consequently increase reading rate. In order
to increase speed, students should concentrate on avoiding lip
movements and habits such as pointing to the line of the text.
Simultaneously they should be encouraged to note key words,
topic sentences, and subject-verb elements forming main ideas.
As they strive to focus on thought units, while widening recogni-
tion span, their speed-and comprehension-should quicken.
Because of the increasing burden of reading assignments in the
high school, it is important that students steadily increase their
reading rates. But it should be remembered always that an
effective reading speed varies with the type of content and is
the result of a synthesis of the other technical skills. Reading
speed without the power of word recognition and acuteness of
comprehension is meaningless.
Developing Vocabulary
A student's success in reading depends to a great extent upon
his ability to recognize, understand, and use words. The problem
of growth in word power is sometimes complicated by a dull
IFor a discussion of various reading machines see Strang, Ruth and Bracken,
Dorothy, Making Better Readers. (New York: D. C. Heath, 1957), pp. 140-144.
classroom approach to the development of vocabulary. Dictionary
study of mimeographed lists of new words, for example, often
leads to frustration. Within the developmental program, many
students need training in the fundamentals of word attack; and
all students should continue a multiple approach to the under-
standing of words.
Underlying the teacher's approach to word attack is study of
a student's visual perception. Attempts should be made to
analyze his visual imagery of the whole word, of the order of
letters within the word, of similarities and differences in word
forms; his use of clues to accent and definition, and to meaning
through illustrations.
Attention should be paid to the student's use of auditory
perception skills, such as his recognition of consonant sounds at
the beginning, middle, and end of the word; his awareness of
rhyming sounds; his recognition of vowel sounds; and his
recognition of the pronunciation and meaning of words in
context.
Word attack skills. An obstacle to a student's reading success
is a severely limited store of sight words, words which he im-
mediately perceives and understands. If this supply is to be in-
creased, the student must use various methods of word attack.
While the context clue is of great importance in guiding a
reader's understanding of words, it needs the support of the tools
of phonetic and structural analysis. A phonetic approach is
helpful (if used with other approaches). Word attack is usually
enriched if a reader can associate sounds with the appropriate
letter symbols and then blend these sounds into a whole word.
Many students-retarded readers especially-require a review of
phonetic principles: a recognition of initial, medial, and final
consonant sounds; of short and long vowel sounds and consonant
blends; of vowel-consonant combinations; and of rhyming sounds.
Some useful basic phonetic information follows:
1. Seven vowel principles2
a. When a stressed syllable ends in e, the first vowel in the
syllable has its own "long" sound and the final e is silent.
evening; surprise; pole; tale
'From Ruth Oaks, "A Study of the Vowel Situations in a Primary Vocabulary,"
Education, 76 (May 1952), pp. 604-617. By special permission of Bobbs-Merrill Com-
pany, Incorporated, Indianapolis.
b. When a stressed syllable containing only one vowel ends
with that vowel, the vowel has its own "long" sound.
paper; he
c. When there is only one vowel in a stressed syllable and
that vowel is followed by a consonant, the vowel has its
"short" sound.
cap; hot; window
d. When a word of more than one syllable ends with the
letter y, the final y has the sound of "short" i. When a
word of more than one syllable ends with the letters ey,
the e is silent and the y again has the sound of "short" i.
city; pretty; money
e. When a syllable contains only the one vowel, a, followed
by the letter I or w, the sound of the a rhymes with the
word saw.
ball; paw
f. When there are two adjacent vowels in a syllable, the
first vowel is usually "long" and the second vowel is
silent.
train; boat; poem; each; seems (ou is a very common
exception)
g. When in a word of more than one syllable, the final
syllable ends in the letters le, the 1 becomes syllabic
(it functions as a vowel) and is pronounced, but the
e is silent.
table; gentle
2. Other phonetic information
a. The letter c before e, i, or y is "soft;" that is, it has the
sound of s.
cent; city; cycle
b. The letter g. before e, i, or y is usually "soft"; that is,
it has the sound of j.
generous; region; gyrate
c. w before r is silent.
d. k before n is silent.
e. g before n is silent.
f. ph has the sound of f.
g. b is usually silent after m.
Phonetic analysis should be complemented by tools of struc-
tural analysis: knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and root words;
understanding of compound words; and a familiarity with con-
tractions. As readers develop their powers of phonetic and struc-
tural attack, they should be increasingly able to unlock word
meaning by perceiving root words in syllables and blending syl-
lables into meaningful word units. Hearing sounds; recognizing
similarities in configuration; reasoning toward meaning through
detection of affixes and roots; tackling principles of syllabication;
learning synonyms, antonyms, homonyms-these are important
steps in increasing word recognition. Work with prefixes is
especially useful since a few prefixes account for most of the
prefixing in the language. A list of common prefixes follows:
*1. pre before, in front of
*2. ab- from
*3. ad to (admit, adjust, adverb) (also with "d" dropped)
4. ante before
5. anti against
6. circum around
7. con with (contract, congeal) (also with "n" dropped)
*8. de down, from (depart, deform, deposit)
*9. dis not or apart
*10. ex out or former (also with "x" dropped)
*11. in in or not
12. inter between, among
13. intra, intro within
14. mis wrong
15. per through (perspire, permeate, perceive)
16. post after
*These account for 82% of all prefixes in Thorndike's list of 10,000 words; 24% of
all words have prefixes.
*17. pro before, for (protrude, promote)
*18. re again, back
19. se aside (select, secret, secede)
*20. sub under, below
21. super above (supersede, supervise)
22. trans across, beyond
*23. un-not
24. uni, bi, tri
Although most secondary school pupils frequently refer to
the dictionary, many of them are unable to use it effectively.
Students benefit from drill that demands proficiency in find-
ing words through command of the alphabet (even an eleventh
grader has been known to.bgnorant of alphabeticalsequence
and through use of guide words. A knowledge of the pro-
nunciation key, ability to differentiate in the various definitions
and inflections, and an understanding of etymological infor-
mation, synonyms, antonyms, and related words are important
in facilitating the student's use of the dictionary.
Contextual clues. Instruction in use of context clues is vital
in high schools. Students should be encouraged to "look before
and after" the new word to determine its meaning. Synonyms,
appositives, illustrations, and summaries are easy guides to defi-
nition. But other guides are provided through the association
of ideas with one's experiences. Students should work with sen-
tences and paragraphs which have been carefully devised to
clarify meaning of words through context. Visual aids can be
used to teach use of context clues, as can mimeographed para-
graphs with omissions to be supplied, or paragraphs containing
new words to be defined through a careful reading of context.
Study of context clues is an excellent medium for illustrating
a particular author's skill in creating mood or singleness of effect.
Such authors as O. Henry, Poe, and Irving present real chal-
lenges to a reader's ability to find meaning through context.
For instance, in "The Cop and the Anthem," 0. Henry casts
aspersions on the "hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy," as the
pathetic tramp dreams of "soporific Southern skies." As the odds
go against this popular fictional hero, he is pitched "on the cal-
lous pavement," is met by a policeman of "severe demeanor,"
and ultimately is termed a "despicable and execrated 'masher.'"
Another example is that of Irving's Tom Walker. Word growth-
and literary appreciation-develop simultaneously as students
fall under the legendary spell of Irving's Tom Walker and his
termagant wife.
Often, through vocabulary growth, students become aware of
their progress. If word study is meaningfully presented, most
students respond rather gratefully; here is one language skill
they can identify. They often become proud of their conquests
in this area-whether it is in learning complex scientific or
mathematical terms or simply in discovering another way of
saying bad. Some curriculum planners have discovered in stu-
dents such a curiosity about words that they have introduced
classes in vocabulary. It would seem more fitting, however, to
capitalize on this interest in the various content areas, encourag-
ing teachers to create specialized word lists in different subject
areas such as music, algebra, biology. Student growth in acquir-
ing technical terminology (laissez-faire, gerrymander, photosyn-
thesis, chlorophyll, quotient) is each subject teacher's responsi-
bility.
The English teacher, however, can help in synchronizing these
wordgrowth experiences through having students keep track
of their growing supply of words in a vocabulary notebook or
on file cards. Excellent vocabulary textbooks (paperback and
hardbound) are available for concentrated study. Books like
Building Word Power, Word Wealth, and 30 Days to a Better
Vocabulary provide not only definitions and pronunciation keys
but also experience in using words in and out of context, in
analogies, and in synonym-antonym combinations. Students,
especially advanced ones, relish their mastery of these graded
books.
Teachers who have no class sets or personal copies of these
books available for student use find special merit in their own
planned word studies, often incorporated into a literature or
composition assignment. In addition, current magazine supple-
ments and suggested activities in state-adopted textbooks pre-
sent well-planned approaches to vocabulary enrichment.
As students grow in word power, they need to become aware
of variations in shades of meaning, e.g., fat, plump, obese, stocky.
They should learn that words can be effective and even vicious
in propaganda (independent, liberal, radical, leftist). In semantic
approaches to analysis of news media, students quickly learn the
importance of word choice, e.g., idealist, dreamer, visionary,
crackpot.
As students learn the value of interpreting words used as
tools of persuasion, as they perceive connotative values, they
also can be taught the importance of words in clear communi-
cation. As they grow in word power, they should become con-
scious of the need for specificity of word choice. Thus, bad
expands to villainous, nefarious, heinous, pusillanimous, scurril-
ous. Levels of meaning in their reading and writing become
important, and their understanding of general and specific ideas
is enriched.
An appreciation of words is also vital to an English teacher's
role. Words, then, can be more than perceived and understood;
they can be appreciated for their rhythmical beauty or interest,
for their artistic effectiveness in creating varied sound effects or
moods. Many poets, from Poe to MacLeish, suggest that "A poem
should not mean but be." When students in a language arts
program become sensitive to the innate beauty of words-in
isolation and in combination-perhaps the highest ideals for word
power have been achieved.
Improving General Reading Comprehension
Vital to progress in reading comprehension is the student's
ability to "shift gears" according to purpose and content.
Obviously, different skills are exercised, for example, in the tasks
of following directions and of understanding a poem; therefore,
various abilities and skill sequences should be defined.
Sentence comprehension. While the word itself may be a
significant stumbling block to a reader's comprehension, the
organization of the sentence, if it is complex in structure, is a
reading challenge to many students. Students need to understand
the structure of a sentence, to recognize subordination through
phrases and clauses, to detect levels of coordination within the
structure of a sentence. Punctuation and capitalization techni-
ques should be used as guides to a student as he attempts to
pinpoint basic ideas. Inverted order, questions, pronoun refer-
ences, connective words-these should be understood to effect
the best comprehension. Above all, readers should be able to
detect quickly the subject-verb combination which is the nucleus
of sentence ideas.
Paragraph comprehension. Students quickly learn that the
"topic sentence," that key to the main idea, is usually at the
beginning of the paragraph. Perhaps this usual placement is
actually a handicap to many readers in that they attach undue
significance to that first sentence. They need to be alerted to the
fact that the second sentence, or middle sentence, or next-to-last
sentence may in many instances be the most concise statement
of the issue. Furthermore, they need to be on the lookout for
those signposts to change or complication: the crucial connective
words. The difficult task of assessing subordinate value to some
details and primary value to others needs special attention.
Although the topic sentence and the clincher sentence are impor-
tant clues to understanding the paragraph, the method of develop-
ment is also important. Students should have much experience in
detecting methods of paragraph organization. Looking for details,
illustrations, reasons, comparisons, and contrasts is a reader's
duty. Focusing on guide words, filtering the unimportant from
the important, searching for the proved conclusions, evaluating
the evidence, recognizing inductive and deductive organization-
these are essential steps to mature reading power.
Understanding directions. Regrettably, directions-for pre-
paring a meal, filling out a tax form, or driving a car-are often
a Waterloo for the untrained. Testing experts are ever aware
of the many errors made by students who fail to follow directions,
and classroom teachers frequently deplore their students' in-
ability to carry out instructions. Consequently, students should
have frequent drills which challenge their ability to execute a
precise task. Certainly an effective means of keeping students
alert to directions is to vary the type of test given, to give
students practice in answering different types of questions. The
student who fails a vocabulary test because he wrote synonyms
rather than antonyms may be shocked into an awareness of the
importance of reading-and executing-explicit directions. Mod-
ern standardized tests present many challenges in the form of
varying, shifting instructions to be carried out. As students find
themselves penalized for failure to meet certain specifications,
they learn to read directions warily. Skimming through instruc-
tions is quite often cause for confusion and failure; students need
to learn that directions require a careful scrutiny. Teachers can
experiment with this problem through dictation of some assign-
ments and through varying types of objective and subjective
tests. Probably the teacher's greatest service to the student is in
making him develop independence in such tasks. Too much
repetition and interpretation by the teacher obviously discourage
individual responsibility and alertness.
Skimming. On the other hand, many students waste time and
effort through too conscientious a reading of those materials
needing only a quick survey. Scrupulous word-by-word readers
are often heard to complain about the eminently successful
student who spends relatively little time reviewing for tests or
reading novels. Skimming skills are invaluable to the student as
he searches for statistical details or answers to specific questions.
In such cases, the reader's eyes move rapidly down the page
to locate names, dates, numbers, key words. This fastest of all
reading rates has as its purpose not thorough comprehension
but the mere pinpointing (in a list or in context) of the word or
phrase which answers the question. Skimming is vital, too, as a
student surveys the general plan of a reading selection, looking
for headings, key phrases, topic sentences. In gleaning the
essential pattern of thought, the student is thus better pre-
pared to give the material the scrutiny desired for full com-
prehension.
Techniques helpful in grooming students in this specific skill
may involve practice in finding dictionary information, timed
exercises in the use of television or radio schedules, or practice
in using a directory. Certainly the efficiency with which a stu-
dent locates material in his textbook is revelant to his success in
skimming techniques. Thus, format guides (index, table of con-
tents, chapter headings, topics, footnotes) become functional.
Oral questions asked in class about a paragraph, a poem, or a
short story can be directed in such a manner as to encourage
students to compete in finding answers readily. Certainly the
importance of skimming in review or study should be brought
to every student's attention. Thus, students can be guided into
the habit of discriminating between the important and the
relatively unimportant details. Skimming possibly is one of the
most valuable techniques in training readers to use their minds
as "sifters" so that they remember the truly significant in their
studying.
Reading maps, graphs, charts, tables. Inevitably, most place-
ment tests reveal that students are vulnerable in their ability to
use tables, charts, graphs, and maps successfully and quickly. It
seems obvious that social studies, science, and mathematics
teachers would find cause to concentrate on this standard weak-
ness. However, the English teacher, too, can provide helpful
experiences demanding use of this important skill. Literature
books often make use of the chronological table, which can be
used effectively if the teacher directs student attention to plac-
ing specific milestones in history, to comparing life spans of
authors, to spotting significant correlation between scientific in-
ventions or discoveries and literary trends. Graphs often reveal
pertinent social or economic factors helpful to an understanding
of literary movements, and maps certainly enrich students' ap-
preciation of geographical location as an element in literary
themes. The map, the chart, the illustration, if brought to the
young reader's attention, can be a significant supplement to
thorough comprehension.
Reading to organize. Just as the blueprint is inevitable in
constructing a building, a map in driving through an unfamiliar
area, an outline in preparing a paper, so the awareness of a
writer's organizational plan is essential to maximum reading ef-
fectiveness. Whether a student is compiling information for a
report, studying for a test, or simply reading a brief selection,
he needs to approach his task with some concept of an outline.
With the outline concept in mind, if not on paper, he can better
respond to an author's arrangement of details.
In dealing with a brief selection, the reader often finds it
helpful to skim through the material first to note topic sentences,
key words, connectives and transitional words, and clincher state-
ments. Thus, he gains an overall concept of design. Then, as he
reads more carefully, he fills in details which support the larger
ideas or primary points an author is making. Actual practice in
outlining material read, with emphasis on conciseness and preci-
sion, is invaluable. Thus, the student learns to compress ideas
through selecting sentences or phrases that are vital landmarks.
As he concentrates on the fine points of essential meaning, he
can more readily group topics into a related whole, perceive
relationships of cause and effect, comparison and contrast, and
chronological sequence. With such care, the reader is more likely
to identify the writer's purpose.
As students deal with a number of reading materials in
order to prepare reports, they form many of those habits essential
in the reasoning process. As they make use of organizational
guides (italicized words, headings, marginal comments, sentence
and paragraph summaries), they should begin to realize the
importance of linking ideas and details because of certain
relationships. Learning to group items into related groups is an
all-important step in making reading a process of thinking. Read-
ing then becomes a reasoning process, demanding more of the
student's skills and resources as he fits sub-topic under major
topic, rejects one ideas as irrelevant or inconclusive, and
recognizes another ideas as meaningful to the entire scheme.
Teachers can improve this organizational power by such
exercises as having students:
1. Reduce main ideas to major topics and then fill in sup-
porting sub-topics
2. "Unscramble" a "scrambled" paragraph
3. Group words or topics into a logical, defined order
4. Recall scenes in a narrative in proper sequence
5. Select main topics for a series of related sub-topics
6. Underline in a paragraph words which are keys to impor-
tant ideas
7. Determine the relationship which binds certain listed items
8. Distinguish within a group the main from the subordinate
items
9. Number the items in a jumbled group to show proper
sequence
10. Choose a fitting title for a group of topics
11. Summarize a paragraph in one sentence
12. Indicate the methods of arrangements they would use for
developing various topic sentences.
This last process should build a student's awareness of the
importance of various patterns of grouping ideas: through time
sequence, examples, comparison or contrast, and reasons.
Using Textbooks and Library Sources
As students advance in the secondary school program, they
are faced with the challenge of locating materials which will
supplement their texts and provide extensive information on
varied assignments. In junior high school, students should be-
come familiar with available references in various subject fields.
Their use of these materials should be assured by careful
instruction from teachers and librarians as students progress
through secondary school.
Even the effective use of the textbook requires teaching. Too
few students recognize the importance of the title page, the index
arrangement, table of contents, preface, chapter titles, footnotes,
glossary, appendix, and bibliography. Abbreviations and systems
of cross-reference also demand attention.
Early dependence on the dictionary can promote success in
using this important reference, as noted earlier in this chapter.
The encyclopedia merits special investigation. The retarded
reader will obviously be discouraged by the reading level of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, but his interest may be stimulated by
the organization of Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia or World
Book. The English teacher should alert students to the value of
the different authoritative encyclopedias. Working in the library
with a class which has been assigned questions to be answered
from encyclopedias is an excellent way to train students to weigh
and evaluate materials. Assignments can require that the stu-
dent use the various types of indexes, understand cross references,
use visual aids, evaluate authorities, recognize the importance of
dates of publication, and distinguish among different types of
encyclopedias.
References in the various subject fields should be the respon-
sibility of the specialized class; however, the English teacher can
coordinate library skills by pointing out special references such
as almanacs and yearbooks, literary and biographical sources,
rhyming dictionaries, guides to synonyms and antonyms, sources
of famous quotations. And, often, he must take the responsibility
(or share it with the librarian) for acquainting pupils with the
library arrangement, the Dewey Decimal System, the card cata-
log, the vertical file, and Reader's Guide. Such tools as Book Re-
view Digest should be brought to a student's attention as he grows
in his ability to "review" books he has read.
Reading the Newspaper
In some communities, commerical newspapers furnish guides
to reading the newspaper, and some editors provide individual
copies of newspapers for classroom use for a one- or two-week
period. Certainly a study of newspaper format and services is a
helpful boost to future citizenship. (In towns where there is
competition among newspapers, some good practice in critical
evaluation might be feasible.) A knowledge of journalistic
principles should surely be of service to most students. Since
newspapers have such a strong influence in the shaping of public
opinion, future citizens should have some training in using this
medium wisely.
Areas of emphasis in teaching a newspaper unit might be:
1. An understanding of format and strategic placement of
articles
2. A knowledge of the different sections of the paper-news,
sports, art, society
3. Use of the index
4. An awareness of the "pyramid" style in reporting
5. A concentration on editorials and signed columns, with
stress put upon critical reading
6. Study to determine political slant of a paper
7. Awareness of importance of skimming skills.
Critical Reading
Students need training in habits of critical evaluation of
materials read. Gullibility must be discouraged if schools intend
to do their part in preparing a well-informed, alert citizenry.
The English teacher must extend training beyond proficiency in
reading rate, word perception, and simple comprehension. He
must instill in his students a growing awareness of progaganda
devices, semantic distortions, and "slanted" writing. Critical acu-
men must come into play as students work with reference
materials and determine their validity for particular purposes.
As students focus on issues of a controversial nature, they need
guidance in seeing through the smoke screens of fallacious reason-
ing, emotional argument, unsupported theories, and propagan-
distic techniques. The young reader must learn that sincerity of
conviction does not prove an argument, that factual evidence
must be accurate, that evidence must logically evolve into a sound
conclusion.
A first step in creating critical awareness is to train students
in assessing the value of materials by checking the authority or
experience of an author, the specific purpose of the selection,
and the recency of publication. In understanding a novel, skim-
ming through books for research data, or in evaluating a news-
paper editorial, a student must try to determine the purpose
behind the selection. Keys to purpose should be perused: pre-
faces, forewords, introductions, and topic sentences declaring
intent or aim. In selecting materials on a given subject, a student
needs to survey such items as publication date and chapter head-
ings to determine relevancy to his task. Skimming through a book
should reveal whether material is theoretical and general or
factual and specific. Assessing relative degrees of importance is
an important critical process.
Reliability of one source should be tested by a comparison
with other creditable sources. Students, if guided, soon become
skeptical of the authenticity of the historical novel or the fiction-
alized biography; for example, as they become aware of dis-
crepancies in Irving Stone's and Robert Sherwood's portrayals of
Mary Todd Lincoln. They should be encouraged to question this
matter of accuracy as they compare two different newspaper
accounts of the same incident. They need to discriminate
between fact and opinion by analyzing word choice for emotional
shading. Generalizations should be probed for the evidence or
authority in their favor; conclusion-jumping with insufficient sup-
port should be discouraged.
As students learn to use care in scrutinizing the inductive
and deductive reasoning processes, they quickly see errors in
such statements as "All Italians like spaghetti" or "All politicians
are crooked." Furthermore, probing such unfounded generaliza-
tions through a study of syllogisms is fascinating to many stu-
dents. Once cognizant of loopholes in inductive and deductive
reasoning, a reader has taken a major step toward critical
reading power.
Teachers should also encourage students to detect exaggerated
claims, emotional language, statements and statistics distorted out
of context, inadequate evidence, unsupported generalizations,
and testimonials from unqualified persons.
Propaganda devices. Interesting units can be prepared to
illustrate the variety of propagandistic devices found so com-
monly in advertising, in argument, in political campaigning. Stu-
dents should be made wary of devices such as begging the ques-
tion, name-calling, card-stacking, and red herring. Once alerted,
students are quick to detect an advertiser's use of "prestige"
appeal, or a politician's "plain folks" approach or use of "glit-
tering generalities" to win over his audience. The "let's get on
the band wagon" tactic, the dazzling testimonial, reasoning from
a faulty major premise, and so on-these are fascinating and
important techniques and fallacies which are traps for the credu-
lous reader.
Many activities can be planned to challenge students to read
critically and warily. Newspaper reports of the same incident can
be compared, as can editorials presenting conflicting views or col-
umns reflecting partisan slanting. Students profit from select-
ing words which slant interpretation or play upon existing pre-
judices and fears. (Here students should be reminded of the
distinction between the connotative and denotative meaning of
words.) Selected argumentative writings can be presented to the
class and the students questioned about the author's purpose or
the soundness of his ideas. Articles with the conclusion omitted
might be presented and students encouraged to draw their own
logical conclusions. Then, too, students need practice in reading
between the lines in those materials rich in implication and
indirect statement.
With increased concentration on critical reading, the read-
ing process becomes a thinking process, drawing upon a student's
ability to organize ideas, evaluate them, and arrive at sound,
logical conclusions. Perhaps training in this area is one of the
greatest services of the English teacher, as he trains young people
in handling tools vital to effective citizenship. Here he can strike
potent blows against apathy, credulity, and ignorance. With the
growth of critical, logical powers can come a crucial challenge
to narrow-mindedness and bigotry. As students probe arguments
for bias and emotional slanting, they must of necessity learn to
scrutinize their own "slants." If the English teacher in the second-
ary school does nothing else but open up minds closed by pre-
judice and illogical thinking, he has done an invaluable service
for his students and for society.
Interpretive Reading
As a student progresses in his reading prowess, he must be
helped to reach a reasonably mature level of interpretive
ability. Because so many literary works suggest rather than state
ideas, the reader needs guides to help him draw inferences and
conclusions which are logical outgrowths of the author's pur-
pose. Here he employs organizational and critical powers as he
identifies the author's purpose, perceives relationship among
ideas, and ultimately evaluates the conclusions.
Perceiving an implication requires practice in having students
state what a series of facts, ideas, or events implies. Translation
of a figurative statement to a literal one is helpful in
teaching students to make valid inferences. Cliches such as "a
rolling stone gathers no moss," "Hitch your wagon to a star,"
become fun for the student to unravel either in literal paraphrases
or original figurative counterparts. Emerson presents a challenge
to interpretation (and good topics for themes) with statements
such as "The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the
use of his feet" or "Society is a joint-stock company ... ." Stu-
dents might be asked to solve the riddle in a paradox such as
Wordsworth's "The child is father of the man" or perceive the
irony in Mark Anthony's "Brutus is an honorable man." Solving
some of Emily Dickinson's "riddles," understanding the impli-
cation underlying Whitman's adverse reaction to the "Learn'd
Astronomer," discerning Frost's alternative in "The Road Not
Taken," recognizing the symbolism of Eliot's "Hollow Men"-
these are means of focusing on this subjective art of interpreta-
tion.
After students have read a short story or novel, they should
be encouraged to understand the reason behind the particular
sequence of events. They might be asked why, for instance, Pepe,
in John Steinbeck's "Flight," fled from his pursuers. In her
short story "The Enemy," what Pearl Buck implies about uni-
versal aspects of human kindness is far more meaningful, of
course, than the sequence of events. The effects of Dimmesdale's
hidden sin, in The Scarlet Letter, reveal a profound implication
to the perceptive young reader. Many students learn to value
implications as their book reviews are geared to analysis of pur-
pose and accomplishment rather than parrot-like reporting of
details. Thus, a student learns the value of Steinbeck's desire to
reform social conditions or Orwell's or Huxley's wish to awaken
citizens to dangers inherent in modern civilization.
Perception, then, should grow beyond mechanical achieve-
ment, establish another dimension, as a student "interprets"
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as allegory, The Hairy Ape
as symbolism, Animal Farm as a fable with strong political impli-
cations. Therefore students should learn to enlarge their under-
standing of metaphorical language, idioms, allusions, abstract
words and symbols, irony, paradox, and allegory. Thus, they
can better react creatively in this process of reading, forming
logical conclusions and amalgamating these conclusions into their
own personal experience. As a result, reading then can be truly
purposeful, aiding young people in the "symbiotic" transfer
which should take place between literature and life.
Oral Reading
Oral reading skills naturally are reliant upon those of silent
reading; however, they need added reinforcement if the oral
expression is to combine accuracy and expressive interpretation.
Generally, an oral reading activity is more meaningful if a stu-
dent is given forewarning so that he can master the selection
silently first. Thus, his ability to perceive the words confronting
him and to comprehend the ideas is enhanced. Then he can
concentrate upon giving a conscientious "interpretation" through
his reading. In addition, when given time to prepare for his
oral reading, a student usually is more aware of the skills
exercised.
The "territory" included in this area of oral reading is
actually rather wide and diversified. For instance, in many
schools homeroom or classroom officers are appointed to read
announcements or instructions to their groups. Within various
classes, students often are required to read special reports or
their own compositions. In clubs, student government activities,
and assemblies, students are called upon to perform reading
tasks. In the English or speech class a student has an excellent
opportunity to try his skill at interpreting humorous, poetic, or
dramatic materials.
Inevitably, as students are prepared to perform oral reading
assignments, certain mechanical skills should be stressed. Poise
and confident manner come slowly to many adolescents; only
experience in facing the class-and in evaluating others-builds
this vital ingredient to oral reading power. Habits of distinct
enunciation and pronunciation require practice. Principles of
word attack aid in the mastery of oral expression. Often, tape
recordings help a student in establishing a pleasing and varied
tone, as he recognizes a nasal or shrill quality. Finding the appro-
priate volume and pacing words properly demand practice.
For effective interpretation in oral reading, students may
experiment with shifts in emphasis upon different words in sen-
tences. As the oral reader draws upon his silent reading skills,
he becomes aware that antithesis and balance require special
emphasis, that certain phrases and clauses need a subordinate
stress, that certain connective words demand emphatic intona-
tion. The oral reader should become sensitive to significant
groupings, to irony or satire, to changes in thought, to signifi-
cant modifiers. As he aims to understand the author's purpose,
he can more quickly screen for the listener through his own
inflections the subordinate words and phrases from the vital ones.
Effective use of the pause after a thought unit rather than after
each word may require the cultivation which practice and con-
structive criticism can provide.
Oral activities offer many opportunities for teachers to put
to good use the exhibitionism teenagers so often display. When
students have responded favorably to a recording of readings of
poetry, they can be challenged to try doing the same thing
themselves, reading a favorite poem aloud as they think it should
be read. Occasionally, sensitively alert and creative students
render better interpretations than the teacher. The chapter on
speaking presents further discussion of oral reading.
Reading development underlies progress and learning in the
entire junior and senior high school curriculum. Though the
role of the English teacher is important, this development can
be promoted effectively only through the combined efforts of
teachers of all subjects. Every teacher is a teacher of reading.
CHAPTER 3
Grammar and Usage
SINCE THE DAYS of the academies in early America when
English became established as a subject of the curriculum,
grammar has been a stock in trade of the English teacher. Yet
the teaching of grammar has caused more frustration, probably,
than any other aspect of the English program. Grammar is a
highly connotative, emotion-enshrouded word. To many laymen,
and some teachers, the word connotes all the virtue of "the
fundamentals," the "three R's." The average layman has great
faith in grammar. For him it has a hazy but firm value. Fre-
quently this feeling arises from a familiar castor-oil philosophy
of education: something that he remembers as onerous and
unpleasant, he reasons, must be salutary. And he feels uneasy
when he suspects that grammar is being slighted.
For many teachers the great appeal of grammar lies probably
in its definiteness. Here is a body of content that can be taught
and on which students can be tested objectively. This definiteness
is the more appealing because the English teacher is so often
in the realm of the intangible-when teaching literature, for
example, or writing skills which develop with such maddening
gradualness.
Purposes in Teaching Grammar
There is no need, of course, to debate the question, "Should
grammar be taught?" Of course grammar is necessary if teachers
are to give students instruction in language which entails cor-
recting and explaining. This requires some terminology and
immediately, then, we commit ourselves to some description of
the structure of the language. We must talk to students about
their sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and misplaced modi-
fiers. Grammar supplies the system with which we can com-
municate about the English sentence, which is the province of
grammar.
Grammar, in this discussion, is used to mean the system by
which the structure of the English sentence is described-its
word forms, or morphology, and the relationships of its parts,
or syntax. Gnaaa~nr has to do with what happens in the English
sentence, not with whatought to happen under certain social
conditions. This is the province of usage which is discussed in
the following section.
The first need in planning a program in grammar is for a
realistic answer to the question, "What can grammar do and
what can't it do?" Apparently, there are five common assump-
tions regarding the value of learning grammar:
.that study of grammar will improve writing
^ that study of grammar will improve usage
t that grammar study is important as preparation for college
4. that, apart from any possible effect on writing or speaking,
grammar has inherent value as a cultural study
/.that grammar study will help students in learning a foreign
." language.
Individual teachers and faculty planning groups might profit-
ably study each of these assumptions carefully. Here it is possible
merely to comment on each. Research over several decades has
established the tenuous connection between ability to write and
knowledge of grammar. The numbers of skilled writers who can-
not parse a sentence are legion, as are the numbers of infallible
parsers who cannot turn out a unified, interesting piece of expo-
sition. Grammar study, of itself, will not improve writing, though
much grammar drill is carried on ostensibly for this purpose.
Instruction in grammar cannot take the place of instruction and
practice in writing, and the value of grammar in improving
writing is realized only through close correlation of instruction
in the two phases of language study.
That there is also a tenuous connection between study of
grammar and improvement of actual usage has been established
by research. It is one thing to know rules of grammar, or even
to know the accepted form, and another to use the accepted
form habitually. That is, the study of grammar will not cause
substandard usages, ingrained through habit, to disappear, any
more than knowledge that heavy cigarette smoking may cause
lung cancer will cause the two-packs-a-day man to cut down.
Other factors which are involved are dealt with in the following
section on usage.
Senior high school teachers have been actively concerned with
the third assumption-that grammar is important as preparation
for college. In recent years, this has become highly doubtful.
The role of grammar in college English courses differs greatly
from one institution to the next and even from one instructor
to the next within the same institution; but, in general, knowl-
edge of grammar has little to do with admission to college or
with success in college, though ability to write has a great deal
to do with both.
In a study of the placement tests for freshman English used
in 194 colleges and universities in all sections of the country,
David Litsey concluded that:
1. only 2.34 per cent of the total items on the tests analyzed
were devoted to technical grammar: identifying parts of
speech and phrases, clauses, and objects; labeling infinitives,
I-articiples, and gerunds, etc.
2. punctuation and capitalization, usage, spelling, and vocabu-
ary accounted for 93 per cent of the total items on the
Ets.
3. ". it may be stated confidently that colleges no longer
are interested in whether an entering student knows tech-
nical grammatical terminology, punctuation rules, evanes-
cent pronunciations, or the like, but rather colleges are
concerned with proof that a student can actually use
language to good effect."1
A rent case-study analysis of success in the fr1shmga arg-
lish course at the University of Forida indicated that t r-
Stive English
Tlest corresponded closely with the students' achievement.2
The Cooperative ng is est, since it is given as a part of
the state-wide twelfth-grade testing program, is of especial
IDavid M. Litsey, "Trends in College Placement Tests in Freshman English," English
Journal, XLV (May 1956), pp. 250-56.
2Derrick, Clarence, "What Do You Expect?" English Journal, XLIX (February 1960),
pp. 95-107.
interest to Forida teachers. T three parts of the test measure
recognition of effective sentence structure an style, proncency
ii nf t to organize. No items demand knowTldge
of grammar terminology or skill in diagramming.
The argument that study of grammar is of inherent value as
a cultural study has been revived in recent writings of the struc-
tural linguists. For example, J. J. Lambert states: "It [structural
linguistics] may help the teacher approach with more certainty
some of the problems in sentence construction and usage, both
in speaking and writing, but this is only a by-product. .The
fact that English is our language and the fact that language is
our most important day-to-day activity are adequate motives for
studying it.3
And James Sledd argues: "I could not prove, and I know of
no one else who could prove, that the vast sums devoted to the
teaching of English grammar pay off in terms of better student
writing. Maybe the best way to make a student write well is to
get him born into an educated family where good books are
cherished, but neither linguisticist nor classroom teacher can
play God. Given a man, they can help him to understand what
he is and what makes him so, and if in the process they may
help him to become a writing man, they should be thankful for
an added blessing."4
For many able students who are capable of dealing in
abstractions, the analytical study of grammar may be interesting
in itself. If a school faculty feels that there is a need to be met
in this respect, the best solution lies probably in the one-semester
elective course in grammar or language study the senior year.
It is the viewpoint, however of the committee preparing this
bullet&tiynl of gramm i english
cSUsres or''asiients` sT'dre purpo S T vin x esion.
Echoes of the fifth assumption-that study of grammar is
necessary in preparing students for study of a foreign lan-
guage-are becoming fainter in high schools. Foreign language
study is beset by the same conflicts extant in the teaching of
English. Many foreign language teachers now eschew a gram-
matical approach to another language. Further, many teachers
8J. J. Lamberts, "Basic Concepts for Teaching from Structural Linguistics," Eng-
lish Journal, XLIX (March 1960), p. 176.
'James Sledd, "Grammar or Gramarye?" English Journal, XLIX (May 1960), p. 298.
of foreign languages and of English argue that the necessary
grammar of any language is the responsibility of the teacher of
that language. It is now rather widely understood that the oft-
repeated slogan, "I learned more grammar in Latin than in
inevitably true because the traditional English ram-
marKis morf niQcable to Latin than to English. At any rate,
the teaching of grammar for the purpose of preparing students
for the study of a foreign language is not a supportable practice.
The Ferment in Grammar
Regardless of any teacher's view of the assumptions just
reviewed, a fundamental problem must be considered by every
teacher of English who has concluded that there is value in
teaching the structure of the English language what system of
grammar shall be taught?
There is great controversy among scholars of the English
language. Som/ of them have challenged the entire basis and
content of thd grammar presented in handbooks and textbooks
commonly in use in schools. One well-known linguist, Harold
B. Allen of the University of Minnesota, has identified four sys-
tems of grammar:
Grammar A-eighteenth-century Latinate grammar, or "tradi-
tional" grammar, upon which most school textbooks
still are based.
Grammar B-derived from nineteenth-century philology and
available in such volumes as Otto Jespersen's Essen-
tials of English Grammar and Henry Sweet's New
English Grammar.
Grammar C-that development of descriptive linguistics usually
called "structural" grammar as presented in such
books as Nelson Francis' The Structure of American
English, Harold Whitehall's Structural Essentials
of English, and Paul Roberts' Patterns of English.
Grammar D-wbhwamm pre by Noam C
1 ers eand ref.. .al"
or '.en'Yie N be a (A brief explanation of
this system appears in Owen Thomas, "Generative
Grammar: Toward Unification and Simplification,"
English Journal, LI, (February 1962), pp. 94-99.
Unquestionably, some of the material in current textbooks
is of doubtful validity in describing the structure of the English
language. There is doubt, too, that a number of things commonly
taught are necessary in terms of their usefulness in improving
expression. Structural and generative grammar can bring
improvements to the teaching of grammar, though teachers who
study the new systems will find probably that the contrasts with
traditional grammar are not so drastic as might be supposed.
The new systems are undoubtedly more accurate in classifying
words and analyzing sentence elements, but their value in
teaching has yet to be proved. One research study by a Florida
teacher contrasted the effects of structural grammar with the
traditional in matched eleventh-grade classes.5 The researcher
concluded that the structural system was more effective than
the traditional in improving written composition and that the
students were more enthusiastic about the structural approach.
However, much more research is needed to identify the pos-
sibilities of structural or generative grammar. The new grammar
may be no more closely linked than the old to the improvement
of writing and speaking, and no teacher should plunge into one
of the new systems unless he is sure of his ground. Several
pertinent suggestions are given by L. M. Myers, of Airzona State
University, in College English, October 1961:
1. We should observe the language directly, and draw our con-
clusions honestly from what we have observed. It is legitimate
to use scholars as guides, to help us see and hear more
accurately .... But we should not use their authority to pass
on to our students as truth anything that we have not really
absorbed and understood ourselves.
2. We should remember-and bring home to our students-
that the spoken form of the language is the primary one,
and that the written form never fully reproduces speech ....
We should teach our students that by bringing their ears
as well as their eyes into play they can read more accurately
and write more effectively. For example, we can show them
how to hint at certain intonation patterns by punctuation ....
We can also show them that many sentences that are perfectly
clear when spoken are ambiguous in writing and therefore
need revision.
3. Perhaps most important of all, we should remember Edward
Sapir's wonderful statement that "a". -'- ." 1& '" At
best their rules are generalizations of something less than
perfect accuracy. A ,hac. .an al.. n ren ly nnl job
even wip. ,i121 "fca a a" --i fimit a ions
n'cuses it only for what it is worth. I ecaQa-gi tter
ob-3asttana( jj ggerat odern_ 7gar g. rfit
th anua ~ mntlapn b aes l*ecen
stuedenis can mol e'easilyunerskand.
Principles to Guide the Teaching of Grammar
1. Realistic planning of sequence is needed. Undoubtedly
many schools have been trying to teach too much too early in
5Lena Reddick Suggs, "Structural Grammar versus Traditional Grammar in In-
fluencing Writing," English Journal, L (March 1961), pp. 174-178.
grammar. Repetition, in hodgepodge fashion, from grade to
gral hagbeTin characteristic of grammar teach fr -ay
Since the grammar of English is largely a grammar of syn-
tax, a basic starting point in a logical sequence is the character-
istic patterns of the sentence.
Pattern Basic Example Frequency
Example with of Use as
Modifiers Sole
Pattern
I. Subject-verb Women ap- The women who were 25.1%
plauded. standing in the aisles
applauded vigorously.
II. Subject-verb- We ate ham- Sitting in the car, we 32.9%
object burgers, sadly ate the ham-
burgers that were all
we could afford.
III. Subject-verb- Husbands are Too many husbands 10.5%
predicate mice. in this town are mere
nominative mice that fear to ven-
ture out when the cat
is around.
IV. Subject-verb- Helen is Helen, who spends 10.1%
predicate beautiful, almost no time in
adjective beauty parlors, is
nevertheless strik-
ingly beautiful.
V. Expletive-verb a. There are a. Unquestionably 4.3%
(predicate ad- traitors. there are traitors in
jective)-sub- our midst.
ject
b. It is easy b. It is probably easy
to swim. to swim such a nar-
row stream.
Source: J. N. Hook and E. G. Mathews, Modern American Grammar and Usage (New
York: The Ronald Press Co., 1956).
The chart shows five basic patterns and their frequency of
use as sole patterns; of course, these patterns may be com-
bined in compound or complex sentences. As a general starting
point, then, students might study the basic patterns which
account for a large percentage of English sentences. Ultimately,
of course, they will identify the question sentence and the com-
mand sentence and certain inversions and variations in sentences.
After students have identified basic sentence patterns and prac-
ticed with them, they might well deal with the kinds of words
and groups of words which can be used for each element in the
parts of the basic patterns. The next step may be to work with
single words and groups of words which can serve as modifiers
of each basic part. Here, some simple, functional diagramming
may come into use as students put on paper or the blackboard
the basic elements and then list under each the words or groups
of words that go with it. Attention may then be turned to sen-
tences which contain two parts or clauses, each of which may be
constructed in a different basic pattern. This is the time for
special attention to connectives. The use of connectives can be
taught inductively by having students link two ideas or clauses
in different ways and then discuss the different meanings
obtained. Connectives may be words, punctuation marks, or a
combination of the two. The accompanying chart of connectives
devised by Harold Whitehall may be useful.
THE SYSTEM OF
Relation
1. Addition
2. Contrast
3. Comparison
4. Alternation
5. Illation
6. Qualification
CONJUNCTIONS
Example
and
but
yet
while
though
if
as
nor
or
than
else
for
so
consequently
hence
if
though
while
provided
supposing
as
when
where
providing
unless
after
because
before
since
until
7. Incorporation how
that
when
which
if
what
where
who
whence
whether
whither
why
Source: Harold Whitehall, Structural Essentials of English (Harcourt, Brace, 1956).
Working from a type of general logical progression in gram-
mar, such as that just outlined above, faculty groups may be
able to arrive at more specific sequences of grammatical items.
The following is the outline presented in Texas Curriculum
Studies, Report No. 2, July 1959: (Obviously, each school or
county will-need to set up the specific sequence which will serve
its students best.)
Grades 7-9
The student is led by the inductive teaching of concepts to an
understanding of the functions of the grammar of the simple sen-
tence. (He) learns that no word is a part of speech except when
used in a sentence. (He) learns to understand and to use functionally
the grammatical concepts in the following order:
subject
verb
predicate adjective
predicate noun
direct object
simple adjective
simple adverb
prepositional phrases as adjective and adverb modifiers
indirect object
In 9th grade, after review of 7th and 8th grade grammar, (he)
learns the function of the adverbial clause as a modifier, and thus
begins the study of the complicated and mature concept of subor-
dination, in learning about which he meets the concepts of the
conjunction, the compound sentence, the complex sentence, and
appositive.
Grades 10-12
Grades 10-11: Learns to recognize and uses frequently in sen-
tences of his composition the following as means of subordina-
tion; and increases his understanding of the thought relationships
indicated by various subordinating and coordinating words or
structures in simple, complex, compound and compound-complex
sentences:
adjective clause as modifier
noun clause as subject or object
relative pronoun
infinitive phrase
participial phrase
gerund phrase
absolute phrase
Learns to recognize and use parallel structure as an aid to the
communication of complex thought relationships by means of
proper subordination and coordination (prepositional, verbal, abso-
lute phrases, and dependent clauses).
Grade 12: Receives no new instruction in grammar, but has
much practice in using grammatical structures previously learned
to communicate in original compositions wherein he makes a con-
scious attempt to use subordination to indicate exact thought
relationships and thus achieve, as a by-product, variety of sen-
tence structure.
Any grammatical item selected for emphasis at any level
must meet one major test: will it help the student to construct
a more interesting, more effective sentence or help him to avoid
a common fault? If an item has no functional use, there is not
enough time in the English curriculum to bother with it. When
items have been selected which meet this test, teachers need
to plan to teach them so that the student is made aware of the
way in which each item leads to better sentences or helps him
to avoid pitfalls. This means that students need much practice
in putting to use the elements of grammar they learn.
2. Grammar instruction is effective when brought to bear on
actual writing faults. No matter how carefully planned, the system
of relegating various aspects of grammar instruction to the
several grades in the junior and senior high school is insufficient
in taking into account certain facts about how students come to
understand grammar as an aid to constructing sentences. The
human equation remains: students learn at different rates; they
develop insight after differing amounts of practice and instruc-
tion. This means that grammar teaching "takes" at different
points with different students (and never "takes" with some
students!) and that students arrive in a given grade at different
levels of ability to construct sentences. In the ninth grade,
Johnny is still writing sentence fragments (as indeed an older
Johnny may still be doing in college freshman English). Little
use for him to work intensively with the prepositional phrase as
adverb modifier. On the other hand, Mary's trouble is with
parallel structure which perhaps is not to be emphasized, accord-
ing to the English guide, until the eleventh grade.
Thi means that we must deal again with that old demon
"individual differences." Grammar instruction needs to be nai-
vi-duazed and carried on, part of the time at least, in a workshop
or laboratory situation in which pupils work individually or in
small groups. This means, too, that teachers need to analyze stu-
dent writing carefully to determine how effectively grammar can
be used as one aid to improved writing. Dangling modifiers, for
example, is a fault which may be attacked through grammar,
though logical explanation is important, too. However, many
faults in writing lie outside the pale of grammar: problems of
organization; problems rooted in muddy thinking; tendencies to
use vague words and phrases.
It cannot be emphasized too often that every grammatical
element, introduced or reviewed, must be taught in direct rela-
tionship to what it can do in a sentence. This means that at every
point in grammar instruction the student is constructing sen-
tences in which he uses the elements he is learning or reviewing.
A common method for carrying on this application of grammar
principles is the writing of "dummy" sentences. For example, the
students are given some simple formulas based on the sentence
patterns to which they have been introduced. They fill in words
of their own choosing to fit the formula. Or the student, when
working with subordination and connectives, fills in the dummy
sentences:
Because -, Raymond
Spinning ,the car
Through such practice he is helped to develop a "feel" for syntax,
and this is vital in learning to write effectively.6
eSee also the suggestions in Don M. Wolfe, "A Grammatical Autobiography," English
Journal, XLIX (January 1960), pp. 16-21.
One final statement concerning the grammar program seems
important. Research has shown that the effectiveness of grammar
as an approach to better sentences varies greatly with the intelli-
gence level of students. Many high schools in Florida group
students for English instruction according to ability. Grammar
instruction is of very little value to the lower ranges of intelli-
gence. In the familiar "three-track" pattern of many high schools,
for instance, concern in the least able groups might well be
almost entirely with usage rather than with grammar.
Usage
The Problem of Correctness
Grammar deals with the structure of the English sentence,
its morphology and its syntax. Usage, on the other hand, deals
with specific expressions or locutions, their standing in current
speech and writing. Another way to state the distinction is that
grammar deals with the linguistic facts of the English sentence;
usage deals with the sociological facts concerning any given
expression. The teaching of usage involves basically the attack
on specific substandard usages; the aim is to change students'
habits, and the base reference is standard English which is deter-
mined by educated users of English. Students need to develop
an understanding of the basis of "correctness" in English usage.
This basis is not logic-unfortunately, for if it were it would be
much easier to make clear-cut explanations. The weight of logic,
for example, would be on the side of "ain't I" as opposed to
"aren't I," yet "aren't I" is more acceptable than "ain't I." And
there is no logic to explain the difference between "Jim and I
went" and "I and Jim went." Clearness of communication is not
the basis of correctness either. Most people would agree that
"I ain't never been in Key West" is fully as clear in meaning
as "I never have been in Key West."
The basis of correctness in English usage is social, and its
conventions are determined in much the same way as the con-
ventions of dress or dining etiquette. Language scholarship has
established two generalizations that underlie sound teaching of
usage: (1) correctness is based on the usage of educated users
of the English language; generalizations or rules about usage,
then, are descriptive rather than prescriptive; (2) all usage is
relative. In its curriculum volumes, the National Council of
Teachers of English has adopted the following definition of good
English: "that form of speech which is appropriate to the purpose
of the speaker, true to the language as it is, and comfortable to
speaker and listener. It is the product of custom, neither cramped
by rule nor freed from all restraint; it is never fixed, but changes
with the organic life of the language."
An awareness of levels of usage should be part of the student's
knowledge about language. In a dictionary of current American
usage being prepared by the National Council of Teachers of
English, these levels are recognized: non-standard, colloquial,
spoken, written, and edited English. Standard English will be the
standard of the classroom, though occasionally the teacher will
have to draw a distinction between spoken, or less formal, and
written, or more formal, usage. With a clear understanding of
the basis of correctness in language, the student can approach
work in usage as the means by which he can avoid embarrassment
and penalty. Most students respond to this approach.
Principles in Teaching Usage
Though usage rules are descriptive in basis, the teacher natur-
ally has to be prescriptive in teaching; but the prescription
should be based on accurate knowledge of current usage.
Research shows that teachers in general are highly conservative
concerning language usage. No doubt some teachers make their
tasks more difficult by insisting upon distinctions no longer
recognized by the great majority of educated speakers and
writers-distinctions, for example, between shall and will and
between due to and because of. Textbooks, too, vary greatly in
the accuracy with which they present information about usage.
Consideration of standards in English usage is likely to become
emotional because of the confusion of personal tastes with respon-
sibility to students. Teachers, as all individuals, have a right
to their own tastes in language usage; but with the right goes
an obligation to accuracy in presenting information about lan-
guage. Each teacher should have available for his own use a
reliable guide to modern usage such as that by Corbin and
Perrin.7
Since habits in langua are so closely related to
social TVmNen- an stus, it will be necessary or Inividual
7Porte t Tic'iar "orln. Guide to Modern English (Scott, Foresman, 1960).
schools to determine which specific matters of usage will be
attacked at what levels. Some matters, of course, need universal
attention. As a general guide, Robert C. Pooley, one of the best-
known scholars of American usage, suggests the following items
for attention and some items to receive no attention:
Items for Attention
/A. The elimination of all baby-talk and "cute" expressions.
The correct uses in speech and writing of I, me, he, him,
she, her, they, them. (Exception, it's me.)
0 The correct uses of is, are, was, were with respect to num-
ber and tense.
4. Correct past tenses of common irregular verbs such as
saw, gave, took, brought, bought, stuck.
5. Correct use of past participles of the same verbs and sim-
ilar verbs after auxiliaries.
6. elimination of the double negative: we don't have no
apples, etc.
Elimination of analogical forms: ain't, hisn, hern, ourn,
theirselves, etc.
8. Correct use of possessive pronouns: my, mine, his, hers,
theirs, ours.
9. Mastery of the distinction between its, possessive pronoun,
and it's, it is.
10. Placement of have or its phonetic reduction to v between
I and a past participle.
11. Elimination of them as a demonstrative pronoun.
12. Elimination of this here and that there.
13. Mastery of use of a and an as articles.
14. Correct use of personal pronouns in compound construc-
tions: as subject (Mary and I), as object (Mary and me),
as object of preposition (to Mary and me).
15. The use of we before an appositional noun when subject;
us when object.
sRobert C. Pooley, "Dare Schools Set a Standard in English Usage?" English Journal,
XLIX (March 1960), pp. 176-181.
16. Correct number agreement when the phrases there is,
there are, there was, there were are used.
17. Elimination of he don't, she don't, it don't.
18. Elimination of learn for teach, leave for let.
19. Elimination of pleonastic subjects: my brother he; my
mother she; that fellow he.
20. Proper agreement in number with antecedent pronouns
one and anyone, everyone, each, no one. With everybody
and none some tolerance of number seems acceptable now.
21. The use of who and whom as reference to persons (But
note, Who did he give it to? is tolerated in all but very
formal situations. In the latter, To whom did he give it?
is preferable.)
22. Accurate use of said in reporting the words of a speaker
in the past.
23. Correction of lay down to lie down.
24. The distinction of between good as adjective and well as
adverb, e.g., He spoke well.
25. Elimination of can't hardly, all the farther (for as far as)
and Where is he (she, it) at?
No Attention
*s- 1. Any distinction between shall and will.
2. Any reference to the split infinitive.
3. Elimination of like as a conjunction.
4. Objection to He is one of those boys who is.
5. Objection to the reason... is because ....
6. Objection to the phrase "different than."
7. Objection to myself as a polite substitution for I or me
in "I understand you will meet Mrs. Jones and myself at
the station."
8. Insistence upon the possessive case standing before a
gerund.
Research and the experience of successful teachers indicate
two practical principles underlying effective teaching of usage:
1. Each class should be diagnosed carefully to identify actual
substandard expressions. Textbooks and workbooks de-
signed for national distribution are not necessarily reliable
guides for classes in given areas. Students may waste time
on so-called "common errors" or "demons" which are not
common for them, or they may drill on niceties when their
speech is studded with egregious non-standard expressions.
2. Only a few errors should be attacked at a time, those with
the greatest social penalty. Language habits, like most other
habits, change gradually. Not all sub-standard usage can be
wiped out in any one year. Teachers need to assign priori-
ties according to the progress of their own classes. Only by
constant and continuous attention to language faults can
habits be changed.
Aspects of Language Study For Advanced Students
Though English is the most required subject, the English
curriculum is a crowded one; its strands are more diverse than
those of any other academic subject. Teachers quite understand-
ably have been cold toward demands that new items be added
to the English course. Yet beyond the necessary standard con-
cerns with reading and literature, writing, speaking, and listening
are exciting possibilities for enriching the study of English in
advanced classes or by students working with individual honors
programs. Some of the following topics might be explored:
1. History and Development of the English Language
Students would become aware of the origins of English
and its general evolution through Old English, Middle Eng-
lish, and Early Modern English to present-day English. They
might study the present variations in British and American
English, especially the various regional dialects in the United
States.
References:
a. Allen, Harold B. Readings in Applied English Lin-
guistics. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
b. Lloyd, Donald J. and Warfel, Harry R. American
English in its Cultural Setting. Knopf.
c. Baugh, Albert C. History of the English Language.
Appleton-Century-Crofts.
d. Bryant, Margaret. Modern English and Its Heritage.
The Macmillan Company.
2. English Phonology
Students would study the sound-structure of English.
They would learn to analyze and transcribe spoken English
through use of the Trager-Smith system. They would deal
with major aspects of intonation.
References:
a. Hill, Archibald. Introduction to Linguistic Structures.
Harcourt. (Explains the Trager-Smith system.)
b. Francis, Nelson. Structure of American English. Ronald
Press.
3. Semantics
SpipleS .lem ntary.,.ematic.....iw11 figr in to
Much of th1e wrk in expression throughout t hb arius
grades. At an advanced level, students might be concerned
with theja ti gag uchs-
"' a nerriiig"m e dJlpIrs dsfrCtLoIlkr~,e C-flsssdt-.of ic---e
References:
a. Thomas, Cleveland A. Language Power for Youth.
Appleton-Century-Crofts.
b. Hayakawa, S. I. Language in Thought and Action.
CHAPTER 4
Writing
H IGH SCHOOL STUDENTS need eee
inds oc impsition, which may be thought of as (1
.~.pa aa nlaai atlve, (2) utilia (3) critical and
intellectual. While the amount of practice a student will havein
each of these kinds of writing can vary somewhat according to
individual preferences and abilities of both teacher and student,
every student should have some practice every year in each of
the three kinds.
Motivation for Writing
Practice will lead to improvement in writing to the degree
that the student feels the need to improve. Ideally, he will con-
stantly find himself in situations where he has to communicate
through writing in order to accomplish immediate or long-range
goals. If he has a fair amount of competence, he will enjoy using
his skill for the results he can obtain through the use of it. If he
knows that his skill is inadequate to his needs, he has a good
reason for wanting to improve.
Writing practice should therefore always be related to the
experiences of the student's academic and non-academic life.
Before he writes anything, the student must have a valid reason
for writing. He must already know his subject or discover how
to find out about it; and he must then go through the laborious
processes of thinking and arranging, judging, correcting, and
finally letting a reasonably good version of his efforts stand as
the manuscript that will be judged by a reader. The reason for
writing may be to tell a joke that will fill a two-inch space in
the school paper, to answer an essay-test question well enough
to convince the teacher that he knows some of the causes of
the Spanish-American War, or to warn his classmates not to
waste their money on the film being extravagantly advertised
at the local theater. The reason for writing may be to prove to
himself, his teacher, and his classmates that he can develop a
topic sentence by enumeration of details, by analogy, or by illus-
tration. The reason for writing may be to gain the proficiency
that will be demanded f him en e en e'-clge here
master of the mechanics of composition wil t-e eior
granted. What he will be asked to demonstrate is atcrit~cati tti-
tude, a degree of originality, and a consciousness of form. What-
ever the reason, there has to be one, and the more closely it
relates to the routine or extraordinary experiences of the student,
the greater his motivation for writing well. Whether he writes
about his courses in school, his private lessons in piano or
horseback riding, his clubs, his hobby, his sports, his friends, his
family, his trips, his beliefs, his fears, his hopes-he must have a
reason for wanting to express himself so as to be understood by
others.
Preparation for Writing
No responsible teacher calls out to his class over the ringing
of the dismissal bell, "For tomorrow, write a theme." Occasion-
ally, when the bell cuts short a lively discussion, he may ask
his students to put in writing the opinions time did not permit
them to express orally in class. Normally, he prepares carefully,
days ahead, for the written work to be done. Because he knows
writing requires time, thought, and effort heroes not spring
writing shit 2&kj ilent ,of class time to orient his
s dents t.mn to anti" pateiffaulr kely
to be enominte pr anrltn larify hired outc gA(ome.
In connection with the discussion and analysis of literary
selections, he keeps his students on the watch for precise and
connotative words, felicitous phrases, and effective syntax. While
he may on occasion ask his students to try imitating the style or
tone of a selection they have studied, he will always be alert to
point out techniques used by professional writers that can be
used by students learning to write. Papers by former students
or by students in other classes can also serve as models of how
or how not to write Able al.--, l-e B- t-b mrelimlb a
traicing writer, willing to tackle the assignments Jemakse for
his students and eager to pirovehis own writing skill. His
prestige as a competent teacher of composition will rise if he
publishes or is known to have contributed to the department's
course of study or the county guide to instruction.
How Much Writing?
Actually, the high school student writes much more than the
250 words per week which are sometimes cited as the minimum
necessity for practice leading to improvement in composition.
He takes notes in various classes, writes essay tests and examina-
tions, writes reports for classes or clubs, writes announcements
for extracurricular activities, writes personal letters, writes for
the school or church publication. These writing projects are not
always considered to be practice in English composition, but they
all should be so regarded. Every word a student writes, every
sentence he frames, every paragraph he develops, every piece of
writing he completes-for geography, Latin, driver education,
homemaking, the Scouts, the Hi-Tri, or his grandfather-is an
exercise in composition. English teachers have been known to
complain that teachers of other subjects do not care sufficiently
about the manner in which students express themselves in
courses other than English. A fair question is, Do English teachers
pay sufficient attention to the writing students do in other
classes?
Students learn to write by writing, and they establish the
habits they practice. Of course, every teacher ought to seek to
improve the composition habits of his students by evaluating
written work with the same criteria the English teacher uses. But
the English teacher can evaluate the written work done by his
students in other classes, too, without adding to his paper load.
He can make flexible assignments, which will permit the essay
written for history to count as an essay written for English as
well. The English teacher can treat as English composition note-
books and reports written by his students for other teachers. The
report for agriculture class is also a report for English classes; the
weekly column in the local paper is a weekly composition in
English; the personal letter to Aunt Madge in Washington is a
familiar essay-all to be counted as writing lessons in English.
Specific writing assignments in connection with class work in
English are then no different from writing assignments in other
classes. Writing is writing, no matter for whom it is done, and
the more varied the situations in which a student writes, the
better will be his understanding of the psychological and sociolog-
ical aspects of language, the cultural levels and functional varie-
ties of usage, slang, shoptalk, localisms, euphemisms, multiple
meanings, symbols, and the relationship between words and
things.
Evaluating Writing
How can the English teacher possibly evaluate every piece of
writing his students produce every week? The answer is, he
cannot. Even under better conditions than presently prevail, even
if the English teacher had only 100 students in four classes daily,
he still could not evaluate all the writing his students would
produce. Fortunately, no one expects him to do the impossible.
The use of lay readers of student compositions is controversial
but has proved successful in several communities throughout the
nation in recent years. The teacher-reader relationship is
crucial. In communities where competent lay readers are avail-
able, together with funds to pay them, students benefit from
additional comments and conferences on their compositions. See
the NCTE pamphlets by Virginia M. Burke, "The Lay Reader
Program in Action" and "The Lay Reader Program: Backgrounds
and Procedures" (Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English).
The use of dictation machines to record a teacher's comments,
which are then transcribed onto the students' papers, is another
time-saving device. See the article by Robert Lumsden, "Dicta-
tion Machines as Teacher Aids," English Journal, L (November
1961) pp. 555-6.
A teacher can, once each week or two, evaluate a piece of
writing done by each of 100 to 150 students. Evaluate does not
mean proofread, nor does it mean simply assign a letter grade
without comment. Proofreading is the student's responsibility,
not the teacher's. Assigning a grade of some sort may or may
not suit the teacher's purpose, but certainly commenting on
the virtues and faults of the composition is the teacher's respon-
sibility. Instead of wasting time marking every error on a com-
position, the teacher can more profitably read through a paper
without making any marks on it. A single constructive criticism
can then direct the student to correct the imperfections that
are most noticeable.
Suggest Specific Improvements
Here are examples of the kind of comment that is positive
and directive: "You make your point, and I agree with you, but
your punctuation did not help me to follow your reasoning. I
had to work too hard reading this paper. Check your textbook
for comma rules, and next time use commas more helpfully,
especially with non-restrictive elements." Or, "One-sentence par-
agraphs are rare in good writing. You use too many. Read the
section on paragraph development in your textbook, and in your
next paper show me some good longer paragraphs." Or, "An
incomplete statement leaves the reader guessing as to your
intended meaning. Study Section 2b and then rewrite the frag-
mentary sentences I have checked on this paper and resubmit."
Or, "Include a sentence outline with your next paper. This essay
seems unplanned to me."
If the teacher makes a note beside the student's name on
his class roll, such as "Commas-non-restrictive," "Paragraph-
ing," "Fragments," or "Outline," he will be reminded when he
reads the next paper of something specific to look for. Improve-
ment in writing comes by slow degrees, by mastery of first this
principle, then that. If the student finds out that the teacher
remembers his last paper and notices improvements made in his
next, he will be encouraged to continue his efforts to write better.
Frequently, papers need to be rewritten. A first or second draft
may be handed in for criticism but not for a grade. After the
paper has been reworked, polished, and perfected, it is again
submitted, this time to receive a grade.
How to Evaluate a Composition
Among the helpful materials available to teachers are these
recent articles in the English Journal:
Dunn, Frank, "A Weekly Theme with a New Twist," (February 1961),
pp. 109-110.
Dusel, William J., "How Should Student Writing Be Judged?"
(May 1957), pp. 263-268.
Dusel, William J., "Some Semantic Implications of Theme Correc-
tion," (October 1955), pp. 390-397.
Emig, Janet, "We Are Trying Conferences," (April 1960), pp. 223-228.
Gregory, Emily Betts, "Managing Student Writing," (January 1955),
pp. 18-25.
Grose, Lois M., "Teaching Writing in the Junior High School,"
(February, 1960), pp. 89-94.
Roody, Sarah I. and Lyman, Bess, "Managing Student Writing,"
(February, 1955), pp. 75-79.
Van Schaick, Sally, "The Composition-Reading Machine," (April,
1960), pp. 237-241.
West, William W., "How to Avoid Work," (December, 1956), pp.
537-539.
Available from the NCTE are:
Evaluating a Theme (Michigan Council of Teachers of
English) ............................................. ...... $ .25
Evaluating Ninth Grade Themes (Illinois English
B ulletin ) ................................. ...... ........................ $ .25
A Scale for Evaluation of High School Student Essays (California,
Association of Teachers of English) ..................................... $ .50
Suggestions for Evaluating Junior High School Themes (English
Teachers of Western Pennsylvania) ............... ................ $1.00
Writing Portfolio (Twelve four-page leaflets) ......................... $1.00
Principles and Standards in Composition for Kentucky High Schools
and Colleges (Kentucky English Bulletin) ............................. $ .75
Samples of four kinds of marking of student compositions
were provided in a report of a study sponsored by the California
Council of Teachers of English, Determining an Efficient Teach-
ing Load in English. The report by William J. Dusel first
appeared in the Illinois English Bulletin in October, 1955, but
has been repeatedly reprinted, for it clearly illustrates the virtues
and faults of the time-consuming theme-marking activity that
engrosses every teacher of composition.
The samples along with comments about the marking are
reproduced on the pages 66 through 73.
I. MARKING TO INDICATE FAULTS
'One Hectic Day2L
To start this out, I guess I had better back up a
little. Last week end, some friends, my parents, one of
.. my girlfriends, and I, went up to the snow. My parents
-- decided that instead of trying to battle traffic on the way
p. home Sunday we would leave early Monday morning and be home
aU(, by 11 o'clock. So we got up at six in the morning so we
could have breakfast before leaving. We finally got away
L- at 7:15 and hadn't been gone over an hour when I noticed
i- there was quite a bit of blue smoke coming out of the tail
CP. pipe. I mentioned it to myDad, but he just kept on driving.
Cap We passed a Gas Station but he wouldn't stop, so about ten
~.u,. minutes later the car started missing and more exhaust came
out of the tail pipe. Then Dad decided to stop. When he
'. stopped and put the hood up the smoke was so bad that you
wo would have thought there was a miniature bonfire there in
the motor.
Cey My Dad just stood there for a few minutes and shook
Oi. LQ. his head. None of us were interested in saying I told you
s Then he waved a passing car down and asked th if
they would mind, when going into the first town, to get us
,. a tow truck as we were having trouble with our car. They
*f said, "No, they wouldn't mind," so off they went.
-.* There we sat, out in the desilate country with
y nothing around us but fields, with a few scattered cows
A'^ / and chirping birds in the trees.
In about an hour we saw a big tow truck coming down the
C
This teacher is obviously conscientious: he has marked almost
every clear error in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and
has furthermore pointed out every idiom and choice of words
that offends him. Because of the cold, impersonal tone of the
clipped abbreviations and symbols, the writer may wonder
whether his paper has been read by a human being or
processed in a correcting machine.
But note that again the teacher has made no comments to
the writer on the ideas expressed, on what the pupil was trying
to say. The only reasonable inference that could be drawn would
be that the teacher was much more concerned with how the
pupil wrote than with what he wrote.
But most undesirable in this method of shorthand marking
is the prevalence of unexplained judgment words: "weak
opening sentence," "awkward" sentence, "undeveloped" para-
graph. The writer is told only that he has failed, and that he has
given a clumsy and immature performance of writing, but he is
not shown how to improve. Has any diver or dancer or swimmer
ever been helped by being told merely that he was "awkward"?
Obviously only the mature pupil would be interested in finding
out why he was considered weak and what could be done about
it. The others would be more inclined to give up.
The average time required to mark 250 words of manuscript
in this way was 5.9 minutes. The time required to correct a
week's supply (150) of papers would be 14.8 hours.
II. MARKING TO ASSIGN A GRADE
"One Hectic Day"
To start this out, I guess I had better back up a
little. Last week end, some friends, my parents, one of
my girlfriends, and I, went up to the snow. My parents
decided that instead of trying to battle traffic on the way
home Sunday we would leave early Monday morning and be home
by 11 o'clock. So we got up at six in the morning so we
could have breakfast before leaving. We finally got away
at 7:15 and hadn't been gone over an hour when I noticed
there was quite a bit of blue smoke coming out of the tail
pipe. I mentioned it to my Dad but he just kept on driving.
We passed a Gas Station but he wouldn't stop, so about ten
minutes later the car started missing and more exhaust came
out of the tail pipe. Then Dad decided to stop. When he
stopped and put the hood up the smoke was so bad that you
would have thought there was a minite bonfire there in
the motor.
My Dad just stood there for a few minutes and shook
his head. None of us were interested in saying I told you
so. Then he waved a passing car down and asked them if
they would mind, when going into the first town, to get us
a tow truck as we were having trouble with our car. They
said, "No, they wouldn't mind," so off they went.
There we sat, out in the desilate country with
nothing around us but fields, with a few scattered cows
and chirping birds in the trees.
In about an hour we saw a big tow truck coming down the
68
The teacher marking a student's composition in this way is
obviously interested in doing only one thing: assigning a letter
grade to the work. But the grade is practically worthless, because
it was not based on a careful reading of the paper, as the over-
sights demonstrate. Those errors which are marked are not the
most serious. Note how the misspelled "interest," the ungram-
matical "they would mind. to get us a tow truck," the uncon-
ventional capitalization, the indirect quotation enclosed in quo-
tation marks have all been ignored. And the one comma that the
teacher inserts is possibly the least important one on the page.
Notice the real need for a clarifying comma four lines later after
"put the hood up."
Note also the complete absence of any mark or comment to
suggest to the writer that his "hectic day" was appreciated by
the reader or that his ideas were even heard.
How much improvement in writing can a pupil whose efforts
are supervised in this way be expected to show? What chance
is there that this pupil's next attempts will be any more suc-
cessful, or satisfying, than this one?
The average time required to mark 250 words of manuscript
in this way was 3.5 minutes. The time required to correct a
week's supply of such papers (150 being the mode pupil load
established in the Council survey) would be 8.8 hours.
III. MARKING TO CORRECT
^ >- L/ L 0e. f a
n e H e c t i c I e ea
4ses. Last week enV some friends, my parents, one of
my girlfriends, and went up to the snow. My parent ts .~-
decided that instead of trying to battle traffic one-v. L" ay -, 'L .
eame Sunday we would leave early Monday morning and be home /
by 11 o'clock. %Sa got up at si th morni
Locu breakfast b orelee ."g W fie- all- b ayt
a -7Li hadn't been gone e01 an hour when I noticed
t~+h r -n .L of blue smoke coming out of the 6ti-
pipe I mentioned to my Dad, but he just kept on driving.
We passed a s Statio but he wouldn't stop, e About ten
minutes later the car started missing and more e *m e
out of the tail pipe. nDad decided to stop. When he
stoppe-end- put the hood upe smoke :as-~ c 'bs that y
,etC- C c~ _C ki-* pp urS^
rwv.-.s VU minfture bonfire there in
the motor.
My Dad just stood there for a few minutes and shook
his head. None of us ere intrested in sayingI told you
so. Then he ave passingcar and asked tea if
bf would mind, when going into the first town, us
a tow truck as we were having trouble with our car. they.
said, "No, they wouldn't mind," so off they went.
0
There we sat, out in the des-late country with
nothing around us but a few t cows i
and eb~lrpag birds n .
In about an hour we saw a big tow truck coming down the
70
This teacher corrects the paper, literally: he strikes out irrele-
vant passages, rewrites ineptly expressed sentences, fills in
necessary transitional material, corrects misspellings and faulty
punctuation. There is a positiveness and finality in the marking
that suggests that there is only one right way to say anything,
and the teacher has demonstrated that way-an assumption that
the facts rarely justify. This teacher might be considered to be
a better writer than teacher, however; for although he knows
when a sentence is not quite right, he doesn't seem to know
how to make the writer understand why In effect he attempts
to fPgach-lr itig -1y-lni the class to watch him and ry
imitate what he-does.
There is nothing left for the writer to do with his corrected
paper but look at the grade (presumably for the paper as it
appeared before correction), assume that the composition is now
perfect, and so recopy it in his notebook for display during
"Public School Week." The pupil's continued interest in the act
of writing is essential to his growth in language power; the
effect of such marking on his interest in ideas and in critical
thinking is not hard to imagine.
The average time required to mark 250 words of manuscript
in this way was 5.9 minutes. The time required to correct a
week's supply would be 14.8 hours.
IV. MARKING TO TEACH WRITING AND THINKING
S tbne Hectic Da- /
To start this out, I guess a better back up a
-" ., little. Last week end, so friends, my parents, one of (2
't; my irlfriends, and nt up to the snow. My parents .. g .
decided that instead of trying to battle traffic on the way Xt r
home Sunday we would leave early Monday morning and be home '
by 11 o'clock. S got UP siin the orng oe
could have breakfast before leaving. We finally got away '
AV > [ at 7:15 and hadn't been gone over an hour when I noticed '
there was quite a bit of blue smoke coming out of the tail
,,. uongouo 4 ? l HJ .... .
pipe. I mention it to my Dad, but he just kept on drving...* '
We passed a as station but he wouldn't stop, so about ten l ~ t/ .
minutes later the car started missing and more exhaust came, ,
out of the tail pipe. Then Dad decided to stop. When he ,, -
A stopped and put the hood up the smoke was so bad that you It4
O would have thought there was a miniature Tonfire there in
~ Z1 the motor. .
My Dad just stood there for a few minutes and shook
8-ya.
his head. None of us were interested in saying I told you
so. rben he waved a passing car down and asked them if
they would mind hen going into the first town, et us
S., a tow truck as we were having trouble with our car. They
\gr' said, "No, they wouldn't mind," so off they went.
There we sat, out in the debate country with
J nothing around us but fields, with a few scattered cows
and chirping birds in the trees.
In about an hour we saw a big to truck coming down
~ 3Pft^ In about an hour we saw a big tow truck coming down the
This teacher has read the composition carefully enough to
discover the writer's purpose and plan, to appraise his successes
and failures, and to determine what this particular learner is
ready to try next. Then he has formulated comments designed
to communicate this information to the writer.
The teacher's concern for the writer's ideas is shown in his
respectful response to them and in his requests for more infor-
mation. Often a question is posed to point out the writer's
failure to make himself clear.
The teacher manages to find something good in the paper:
he shows his appreciation of the occasional efforts of the pupil
to create a mood or convey an image. Suggestions for improve-
ment are offered, not dogmatically, but reasonably. The teacher
gives the writer problems to think through in order to correct
or improve his own work, so that the reasons for recommended
changes are understood.
Finally he attempts to direct the energies of the pupil by
giving him a few basic points to keep in mind on his next
exercise.
This kind of individualized instruction obviously stimulates
interest in writing and in thinking. The teacher is as much con-
cerned with the pupil's thoughts as with the mechanics of his
writing, and attempts to guide the development of both.
The average amount of time required to mark papers so as
to show concern for ideas and to teach writing and thinking
was 8.6 minutes per 250 words. The total time required to mark
a week's supply of 250-word compositions in this way would be
at least 21.5 hours.
Cumulative Records
The student, as well as the teacher, should keep a record of
errors made and corrected. Papers should be kept on file and
assed alone from yeatgoiar o that at th-e nd of grade 12
there is an accumulation showing the quantity and quality of
writing done by every student during his high school years.
These papers may be returned to the writer when he is gradu-
ated. They may show a good deal of improvement over the
years, or they may offer incontrovertible evidence that the
student is ill equipped to go on to college.
A vast amount of time and effort on the part of student and
teacher can be saved if there is a clear understanding by both
that the intention behind writing practice is improvement. It is
as useless for the teacher to continue to mark the same imper-
fections in a student's writing as it is for the student to continue
to make the same blunders on paper after paper. Once a problem
that needs solution is discovered, the sensible procedure is to
work towards solving it. When one problem has been solved to
the satisfaction of both teacher and student, it is time to move
toward the solution of the next one. Even if it takes six weeks
for the correction of a single error, the student has the oppor-
tunity to correct 36 errors, one after the other, during the six
years of his junior and senior high school attendance. Careful
attention to one problem at a time will result in far greater
improvement in a student's writing than repetitious marking and
correcting of a multitude of variable errors.
Conferences
Ideally, the teacher confers privately with a student over
every paper the student writes. Practically, he talks to individ-
uals or small groups about their individual or common writing
problems as often as time permits. If the student has a chance
to defend a questionable construction or piece of reasoning, to
go into detail in analyzing his problems, or while he is in the
process of writing, to seek advice from the teacher or from his
fellow students, he is likely to profit more from the oral exchange
of ideas than from the brief comments which the teacher can
write on a finished composition. If writing is regularly done in
class, most of the conferring between student and teacher can
be done during class time. Really difficult problems may necessi-
tate after-school solution.
Elementary Principles of Composition
While every composition book gives advice about writing,
some texts provide better than others for the many individual
differences that make for originality in any writer. There is cer-
tainly no one way to write well; there are, however, a few basic
principles that any writer does well to observe. A list of these
principles forms the outline for William Strunk's useful little
book, The Elements of Style, made famous by E. B. White, who
revised the text and added a list of reminders about style (The
Macmillan Company, 1959). The admonitions of these two writers
cover most of the serious problems of composition.
1. Choose a cuithblin dein nnd hnld tn it
2. Make the nararanh the unit of enmnition.
3.
4. X t Latements in
5. I sfiific t anguae.
6. Omit needless words.
7. Avoi& sJ s losentec.
8. Express coordinate ideas insimilarjorm.
9. Keep related words together.
10. )n summaries. keenp.t -o-
11. Place the emphatic words of a sentenceatthe end.
12. Place yourself in the background.
13. Write in a way that comes naturally.
14. Write with nouns an bs.
15. Revise an rerite.
16. Do not overwrite.
17. Do not overstate.
18. Avoid the use of qualifiers.
19. o not affect a breezy manner.
20. Use orthdXsein.
21.CDo not explain too much
22. Do not construct awkward adverbs.
23. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking.
24. Avoid fancy words.
25. r" ........L.r a.o g" d.
2 Be r.
27. Do not inject opinion.
28. Use figures of speech sparingly.
29. Do not take- s- utsj.q_( thaar' ty.
.30. AvoidforeidLangLaes.
31. Prefer the standard to the offh
Mechanics
In all the writing a high school student does, the strictest
standards of accuracy, neatness, propriety, and form should be
upheld. Proofreading, copyreading, manuscript form, penmanship
-all these matters are the student's responsibility. Of course,
some instruction is needed. Once given, it should be followed
meticulously. Manuscripts which are illegible, untidy, inappro-
priate, or late need not be accepted. A writing assignment is
acceptable only when it is neat, legible, proofread, and finished
within the practical limitations of the situation. Teachers can
save themselves much useless labor if they will start each term
with a firm understanding that all written work is to be sub-
mitted in the best form the student knows how to produce, that
compositions will be judged as sincere efforts of the writer to do
his best, and that all efforts will be treated respectfully-the
intention being to develop in each individual the highest degree
of proficiency of which he is capable at his age.
Some drill in current usage of punctuation, capitalization,
and spelling is necessary. Rules must be taught and learned, but
once taught, they need not be taught again and again. A course
of study should cover the rules of punctuation and capitalization
thoroughly once during the high school years. From then on,
the rules should be applied; only when a large number of students
shows the need for review should class time be taken for
instruction and drill. Normally, such review will be a matter of
individual attention.
Thg~.uiant of capitalization andnunctuation is, of course,
to mjlqk&ta mungi~g ar. It is impossible, therefore, to lay down
rules that cover all possibilities, and there are many variations
in practices used by the best newspapers and magazines. Some
matters of punctuation and capitalization must remain matters
of individual judgment, but naturally students need to become
familiar with the major conventions. Because punctuation and
capitalization cannot be divorced from expression of meaning in
writing, it is probably futile to outline a grade-by-grade sequence
for dealing with the various uses of punctuation marks and
capital letters.
In punctuation, uses of the period and comma should receive
the major stress, since studies show that more than half of all
errors in punctuation involve these marks. Rachel Salisbury, in
a well-known article,' identifies three very basic punctuation
rules:
Separate sentences from each other by a period. If the
meaning requires, use a question mark or an exclamation
point.
2. Use a comma or the word and to connect items that are
working together in lists of two or more things. But, yet, or,
nor may take the place of and if the meaning requires it.
se a comma, or a pair of commas, to warn the reader of
turn in thought.
A guide published by the Oakland, California, Public Schools
indicate that eight studies analyzing difficulties in the use of
punctuation marks agree upon the following as being important
in rank order of difficulty.2
1 Omit comma when clauses are very short.
2Use apostrophe in contractions and possessives, but teach
contractions before possessives. Be sure that the student
understands the concept of possession before he uses the
apostrophe in a possessive form.
3. se a period at the end of a declarative sentence.
Use a comma with a dependent clause which is out of
order.
5. Use a comma with non-restrictive (or non-essential)
clauses.
6. Omit commas if they are not necessary.
x"The Psychology of Punctuation," English Journal, XXVIII (December 1959), pp.
794-806.
2The Language Arts Guide: Fourth Progress Report. Oakland Public Schools, 1957,
pp. 163-164.
7. Use commas with an appositive.
8. Use commas with a parenthetical expression.
9. Use quotation marks to enclose exact words of a speaker.
10. Use commas in a series.
11. Use periods with abbreviations.
12. Use comma after introduction to quotation.
13. Use comma before and after broken quotations.
14. Use comma before city and state.
15. Use comma with direct address.
The California guide also indicates that error studies have
identified the following three "demons" in capitalization: (a)
first word of each quotation; (b) proper adjectives; (c) proper
nouns.
Naturally each writing assignment gives an opportunity to
teach punctuation and capitalization functionally. Short periods
of drill on punctuation and capitalization problems may be part
of the follow-up on writing assignments.
Spelling
A solid foundation in spelling will be laid, of course, in the
elementary grades, but pupils will enter the junior high school
misspelling, on the average, some three per cent of all words
they write. Systematic attention must be given to spelling
throughout the junior and senior high school grades, though in
advanced senior high school classes spelling problems will be
few and can be handled incidentally in connection with general
instruction in writing.
Words for spelling work in the junior and senior high school
will be drawn from the same sources as in the elementary
grades: errors pupils make in writing; words that will be needed
in the work of the class; words, chosen from graded lists, that
students in a given grade might be expected to spell.
It is of the utmost importance that teachers of all subjects
give attention to the correct spelling of words used in their
subjects. For example, the mathematics teacher, not the English
teacher, will be responsible for teaching the spelling of graph
or hypotenuse. Attention to spelling by all teachers represents a
far more effective approach than do separate spelling classes in
secondary grades.
The English class, of course, will spearhead the spelling attack,
though the English teacher by no means has full responsibility.
A few general principles underlying an effective spelling program
may be identified:
1. Work in spelling is part of the broad program in word
recognition essential to reading and writing, to language
competency generally. Spelling, then, is one function of
vocabulary. A word is not really in the vocabulary of the
student until he can pronounce and spell it correctly and
use it accurately in spelling and writing. Spelling drill is
one aspect of word study.
2. Students need to be given a definite plan for attacking a
word in order to learn to spell it. A simple plan is outlined
by J. A. Fitzgerald:3
a. Pronounce the word and use it orally in a sentence.
b. Look at the word carefully, syllable by syllable, then
spell it slowly.
c. Look at the word, then spell it with your eyes closed,
repeating steps one and two if you are wrong.
d. Write the word, check it.
e. Write the word, cover it, and write it correctly twice
more.
3. Work with certain families of words that give difficulty
may be effective: for example, the words that end in "ible"
and "able" or those that end with "ant" and "ent." The
attempt to spell phonetically accounts for the largest cate-
gory of misspelled words. Sound gives no clue to distin-
guishing the endings of the words in the families just
mentioned.
4. The use of the apostrophe can be approached as a spelling
problem.
'J. A. Fitzgerald, The Teaching of Spelling, (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co.,
1951).
5. Sound, simple spelling rules may help. One research study
showed that only the old "ie-ei" rule functioned effectively
with high school students.4
A recent compilation of five such lists contains these 231
words, which might be considered real "demons" for high school
students: 6
absence busy definition
accept cafeteria describe
accidentally calendar description
accommodate campaign desert
acquaintance cancel desirable
across capital despair
advise captain dessert
affect cemetery develop
all right certain development
already changeable different
amateur chauffeur disappear
analyze choose disappoint
answer clothes disapprove
anxious coarse disastrous
apparatus column discipline
appearance coming divine
appreciate committee doesn't
Arctic competent effect
argument completely embarrass
arrangement conceive emphasize
athletics conscience equipped
awkward conscientious especially
beginning consistent exaggerated
belief convenience excellent
believe corporation except
beneficial course experience
benefit courtesy extremely
benefited criticism familiar
brilliant deceive February
Britain decided finally
bureau definite foreign
business definitely forty
'Dwight L. Burton, "High School Students Can Be Taught Spelling, Too," School
Review, LXI (March 1953), pp. 163-167.
5Edna L. Furness and Gertrude A. Boyd, "231 Real Spelling Demons for High School
Students," English Journal, XLVII (May 1958), pp. 267-270.
fourth
freight
friend
fundamental
generally
genius
government
governor
grammar
guarantee
handsome
height
humorous
hungry
immediately
independent
interested
interesting
interfere
it's
its
knew
knowledge
laboratory
laid
leisure
library
loose
lose
losing
magazine
maintenance
marriage
mathematics
meant
minute
mischievous
misspell
mortgage
naturally
necessary
nickel
niece
ninety
noticeable
nuisance
occasion
occurred
occurring
omitted
opinion
opportunity
original
paid
pamphlet
parallel
parliament
pastime
peculiar
perhaps
permanent
persuade
physician
piece
planned
pleasant
possess
principal
principle
privilege
probably
professor
pronunciation
psychology
quiet
quite
realize
really
receipt
receive
received
recognize
recommend
recommendation
reference
referred
relieve
religious
repetition
respectfully
restaurant
sandwich
schedule
secretary
seize
separate
shining
similar
sincerely
sophomore
speech
straight
studying
succeed
success
sufficient
superintendent
surely
surprise
tariff
their
there
they're
thoroughly
to
together
too
tragedy
tried
tries
truly
Tuesday
two
typical vegetable whose
until weather woman
usually Wednesday writing
valuable whether written
Personal and Creative Writing in Grades 7-9
Junior high school students like to have fun and enjoy expe-
riences in sports, amusements, and clubs. They are interested
in animals, adventure, mystery, collections, and explorations.
Girls show interest in sentiment and romance. Seventh, eighth,
and ninth graders are capable of writing anecdotes and short
narratives of personal experience which relate the excitement of
the last minute of a close basketball game, the thrill of a trip to
a state park, or the difficulty of earning a merit badge in map-
making. They enjoy describing their pet rabbits, explaining their
shell collection, or recounting the events of a day spent at the
beach. The reason for writing about these pleasurable experi-
ences is partly to relive the experience itself, partly to share it
with others. This kind of writing should be shared by being read
aloud by the author or by being passed around the class or
printed in the class or school paper. The writer's effort will be
to gain and hold attention by recreating experience accurately
and with some feeling for mood and to focus the material so
that a single impression is made on the reader.
Autobiography
The autobiography can give excellent practice in limiting
and focusing a topic if the life story is concentrated under a
heading such as "Places I Have Lived," "My Best Friends
Through the Years," or "My Favorite Books." The biographical
or character sketch of a friend or relative can also teach concen-
tration on singleness of impression.
Versifying
Youngsters enjoy rhyming and should be encouraged to
experiment with the kind of concentration poetry employs. The
subjects enumerated above and others like them can be written
about in either prose or verse, and the attempt to use both forms
on a given subject will reveal the special province of each. Dur-
ing the junior high school years is a good time to show students
that poetry employs normal word order and does not resort to
filler words to complete meter. Rather, every single word is
extremely important, and one word may contract into its small
compass associations and connotations that prose takes much
more space to explain.
Letters
Inasmuch as personal letters to relatives and friends often
combine many of the kinds of writing mentioned above, they
are especially useful for writing practice during the junior high
school years, when students are emerging as personalities that
interest their relatives and friends. Letter writing might well be
timed for the weeks before and after Christmas, when notes of
greeting and thank-you letters are in order. Letters written in
class or for class should normally be mailed.
ping Journ
Another form of personal and creative writing that often
proves habit forming is the keeping of a journal. If the student
in seventh grade will begin a journal in which he makes a daily
attempt), if he will force himself to write in his journal every
day, he will soon find that he not only has a notebook of ideas
to use for written assignments that have to be handed in but
also that writing comes easier, the more regularly he writes.
trie be reactions ended each day or re ec-
tioris-T f 1_"-*~-= t- '" Not "I saw a stupid movie
tonight," but "The worst part of the movie I saw tonight was
the acting." Not "I had a haircut today," but "How many times
in a man's lifetime does he pay for a haircut, and why?" Height-
ened powers of observation, judgment, and esthetic appreciation
can result from the systematic keeping of a journal during the
years of school and college.
Writing for the Mass Media
Preparation of dramatic skits for radio, television, or class
presentation can involve a group of students in collaboration
that invites mutual criticism and approbation. Producing a class
or school newspaper provides the same kind of opportunity for
group activity and exchange of opinion and gives students the
satisfaction of seeing what they have written appear in print.
Since the writer must take responsibility for what he writes to
be widely circulated, writing for even limited circulation is
excellent motivation for observing and reporting accurately.
Furthermore, learning the fundamentals of newspaper style will
improve the student's ability to focus his writing, state his theme
or central idea early in his composition, use sources that are
reliable, and perhaps write with some liveliness of style.
Reasonable Limits
Junior high school s1tdcsb.chi nT, lL d to do what
very few of them can do; that is, write ltted stories 'r ng
resee -pape i 'gT'T -l-g assignments are best kept short-
mSflTiFtlequently paragraph length, occasionally as long as 500
words.
Personal and Creative Writing in Grades 10-12
Senior high school studen i t- a aPtrPmev sensitive to the
op nr.lss willingthan younger
&I-tharethenpe tal-feeinga-nd-opiions. They expe-
rience emotions and sensory impressions intensely, however, and
desire insight into themselves. They may prefer to objectify their
feelings and questioning by writing anecdotes and narratives
based on their own experience, but written in the third person
or from a point of view not identified as their own. As their
acquaintance with literature widens, they become capable of i;i-
tating the style, tone, or form of selections they have read.
Becoming increasingly interested in human' relationships and
issues, they are capable of writing short dramatic scenes or simply
plotted stories which make use of conflicts they know exist
between individuals, groups, ideologies, races, and generations.
Events in history, in the community, or in the family provide
material students enjoy using for writing practice in narrative
and dramatic forms.
Enlarged in their capacity for enjoyment of the beautiful in
nature, literature, and human beings, senior high school students
find the form of the familiar essay appealing. They like to
write character sketches, vignettes of unforgettable people and
places, and mood pieces recreating a memorable moment of expe-
rience. They are capable of trying their hand at serious poetry,
the sonnet being a limited form suitable for practice. They
enjoy parody, burlesque, and satire-take-offs on the literary
works they study in class.
Even more so than in the junior high school years, the keeping
of a journal is invaluable to older students as a means to improv-
ing skills of observation, reflection, and recording.
One Autobiography
I Once during the senior high school years-no oftener-the
autobiography may be used. With a cumulative file of written
work or with a course of study, the teacher knows what auto-
biographical writing has already been done. Students should
never be asked to repeat exactly a writing assignment already
accomplished. Students in grades 10-12 ask themselves, "What
am I like as an individual? Why am I as I am? Why do I do as
I do?" To try to answer these questions may prove beneficial
as an assignment in autobiographical writing in the senior high
school years. Graduating seniors, especially, need to take stock
of themselves before entering the new area of experiences that
follows high school.
Publication
Creative writing by senior high school students can and often
should be published. The school newspaper, the yearbook, the
collection of original short stories, essays, and poems by stu-
dents-these are recognized outlets for student writing. An
outlet not always fully utilized is the community newspaper.
Students are capable of improving community-school relations,
if arrangements are made between the local newspaper and the
English department, whereby school news is written by students
for community circulation. One approach is the weekly column
of high school news, written by students. A better one is the daily
communique, with student reporters taking every day a news
item or feature story involving the school to the local paper,
for printing not as "School News" but as a regular item, com-
peting with the items written by the professional journalists.
Utilitarian Writing in Grades 7-9
Learning by Doing
Junior high school students need practice in employing the
principles of grammar and mechanics which they have learned
or are learning. They profit from writing paragraphs of 50 to
250 words in which sentences vary in pattern-simple, com-
pound, complex-when they have learned to distinguish these
patterns. They need to practice using connectives like "indeed,"
"moreover," and "consequently." They need practice in writing
dialogue, in following through with a figure of speech, in casting
parallel thoughts in parallel structure, in using nouns and verbs
specifically.
Students can write announcements to be circulated to clubs,
the student body, or parents. They can report school events for
the school or community newspaper. They need practice in giv-
ing directions accurately and economically and in explaining a
process in an orderly and logical fashion. They need practice in
outlining the material they study, as well as in outlining the
compositions they write. They need practice in writing essay
examinations so that they give a question a definite answer,
couched in certain terms, and supported with ample evidence.
They need much practice in note-taking and in writing up notes
in reports that convey information accurately, succinctly, and in
unmistakably clear language.
The skills learned in doing these utilitarian writing projects
will be repeatedly employed in studying most academic subjects,
as well as in many out-of-school activities. Whatever a student
needs to write-a report for a science or social studies class, an
announcement of a meeting of the Future Farmers of America,
a letter thanking the local newspaper publisher for permitting
a class to tour his plant-should be written clearly, concisely,
and in form and language appropriate to the occasion. The occa-
sion or the subjects written about may sometimes seem to be
remote from the subject matter of an English class. No subject
is. Any situation which needs to be written about is appropriate
for the English class, and writing skills learned primarily in the
English class need to be applied in all writing situations.
Utilitarian Writing in Grades 10-12
Since senior high school students have begun to see remote
goals and are willing to go through experiences and practices
in language even though tedious, because of the values anticipat-
ed in successful accomplishments, they are willing to practice
writing topic sentences and developing them in paragraphs by
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