A guidebook for all teachers of English and American literature in higher
education. Drawing on 40 years of international teaching experience, author
Elaine Showalter inspires instructors to make their classroom practice as
intellectually exciting as their research.Teaching Literature is an indispensable guidebook for all teachers of
English and American literature in higher education. Drawing on 40 years of
international teaching experience, author Elaine Showalter inspires instructors
to make their classroom practice as intellectually exciting as their research.
Showalter's wide-ranging reflections address practical, theoretical, and
methodological issues. She starts out by describing the anxieties of teaching
literature and by outlining the major theories and methods circulating in the
field. She then goes on to look separately at teaching drama, fiction, poetry,
and theory, and to explore ways to teach teaching. Finally, she investigates
the moral issues involved in teaching, and the practical ethics of handling
touchy subjects, from sexuality to suicide. Examples from real classes and
careers are cited throughout, generating an unusual degree of authenticity and
immediacy.
