English Language and Literature Commons^™

Helping Students Find That Comfortable Place Within Themselves, Denee Tyler

The Utah English Journal

Just like all English/Language Arts teachers, every August is a new beginning for me. I know I will see room after room of new faces, and my challenge will be to create a class atmosphere where each student will feel accepted, valued, and safe—all while encouraging my students to take risks and grow. It can be a very daunting task, but it is always rewarding. I’ve found that focusing on narrative writing—particularly memoir—during those first few weeks together is the key to building the classroom community I am looking for.

Revisiting Revision: Redefining The Writing Process, Kevin Lemley

The Utah English Journal

If you were to ask one of your students to tell you where to fit revision into the writing process, they would probably tell you it was one of the last steps. “The writing process begins with pre-writing, then drafting, then revising, and last of all proofreading,” they might respond. As teachers, we generally teach some form of this writing process. The problem with this instruction is that students often perceive the writing process as an unflinching standard, a one-way road with a dead end—no U-turns allowed. Revision becomes nothing more than a stop sign, a landmark that must be …

Risks And Rewards: Lessons From Bike Riding And The Central Utah Writing Project, Sarita Rich

The Utah English Journal

Fifteen years after learning to ride a bike, I began my career as an English teacher. I’ve since learned that teaching, like bike riding, involves learning through risk-taking. None of the risks I’ve taken as a teacher to implement new curriculum ideas or classroom management practices have been wasted opportunities. Each attempt at risk-taking has led me to discover what works and what doesn’t. The greatest benefits of risk-taking come only after teachers are willing to try something new.

Learning And Teaching With Graphic Novels, Rob Kirkham

The Utah English Journal

Comic books have faced harsh criticism from the general masses and the academic community since their early beginnings in the late 19th century. However, using visual media such as cartoons, comics, and graphic novels in the classroom provides educators with a number of valuable teaching aids for today’s students. Yet, sadly, these resources remain largely untapped.

The Nine-Month Hypothesis: An English Teacher's First Year, Haylee Frohlich

The Utah English Journal

I never felt any affinity with scientists until I became a teacher, and in my opinion there is an uncanny resemblance between our two professions. As any junior high student can tell you, there are essential steps in the scientific process, namely: a problem or question which warrants a solution, a prediction or hypothesis of the solution, careful observation of the results, and a conclusion based upon those steps. In my first year of teaching I learned a real world application of the term “hypothesis.” I realized that teachers are the scientific method personified. We hypothesize. We experiment. We deduce. …

Finally Taking The Plunge: Literature Circles, Carli Gadd

The Utah English Journal

Ever know something is a good idea, but still not do it? It’s like eating well. I know it pays off, but all I think of driving home are my three favorite people: Wendy, Arby, and McDonald. That’s what literature circles were for me, the carrot stick for lunch instead of the fast, easier option. But how could I make that carrot more appealing? My initial research convinced me to experiment with literature circles, and I was aware that literature circles are employed effectively at the elementary level, but I was concerned how teenagers would receive the practice. I resolved …

Problem Parents In Young Adult Literature: Really A Problem?, Sierra Robinson

The Utah English Journal

The parental role in adolescent literature has been examined recently in ways that some people are calling “The Parent Problem in Adolescent Literature,” suggesting these trends do not accurately depict the average parent-teenager relationship. Yet some readers and scholars passionately defend their rights to read about dysfunctional family situations as well. Ultimately, I argue the dysfunctional, or “bad” parent has a place in adolescent literature and can be used, by teachers especially, as a positive convention that empowers young readers to rise above circumstance in constructive ways.

Future Stars, Sharon Nauta Steele

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Writing Is Dangerous Business, Richard Kempa

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Imagination And Representation In Graphic Novels, Louann Reid

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Graphic narratives are garnering both scholarly and pedagogical attention. These visual texts move readers imaginatively into what Maxine Greene calls “illusioned worlds,” and simultaneously make them conscious of the constructed nature of those worlds through the visual and verbal conventions of comics.

Transforming Text: Finding The Poem Within, Deborah F. Carrington, Chapman Hood Frazier

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay illustrates creative ways for students to re-envision a page of text in order to discover multiple meanings through the integration of visual art and poetry.

Wise Teaching To Students’ Kinesthetic Intelligence: The Teacher As Surrogate, Guru, Foreshadower, Choreographer, Or Expeditionist, Sara K. Schneider

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Based on the degree of the teacher’s perceived skill, engagement, and role play with her students, this model posits six distinct styles of teaching to students’ kinesthetic intelligence and differentiates their effects on learning.

Writing As An Altered State Of Consciousness: Process, Pedagogy, And Spirituality, Julie Kearney

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Defining writing as an altered state of consciousness (ASC), this essay examines parallels between expressivist writing pedagogy and theories of psychologists Csikszentmihalyi and Tart. It further describes the benefits for writers who achieve ASC in terms of their learning potential and creative power.

Jaepl, Vol. 16, Winter 2010-2011, Joonna Smitherman Trapp (Editor), Brad Peters (Editor)

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Louann Reid - Imagination and Representation in Graphic Narratives

Deborah F. Carrington & Chapman Hood Frazier - Transforming Tests: Finding the Poem Within

Sara K. Schneider - Teaching to Students’ Kinesthetic Intelligence: The Teacher as Surrogate, Guru, Foreshadower, Choreographer, or Expeditionist

Andrea Greenbaum - Nurturing Difference: The Autistic Student in Professional Writing Programs

Ruth Henderson - The Forgiveness Classroom: Bringing Together Students from Both Sides of the Wall

Julie Kearney - Writing as an Altered State of Consciousness: Process, Pedagogy, and Spirituality

Anthony T. Atkins - It’s Complicated: Using Facebook to Create Emotional Connections in Student-Professor Relationships

JoAnne Katzmarek …

Weaving A Song Of Self, Joanne Katzmarek

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Exploring the effectiveness of narrative as a mode for relationship building as well as a means to sustain and deliver content knowledge, this article explores the instructional settings of an undergraduate English class and an online environment for a teacher preparation course.

Taking The Great Leap Of Being: Finding Happiness And Hope In A Life Of Thought, Bruce Novak

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The Confluence Of Heroism, Sissyhood, And Camp In The Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather, Frank Bramlett

English Faculty Publications

Based on a character from the 1950s, The Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather appeared in 2003 as a five– part serial in which Johnny Bart was reconceived as a gay gunslinger known as the Rawhide Kid.[1] Over the course of the five installments, the narrative arc of Slap Leather establishes the legitimacy of a gay man as both sissy and hero and also creates a safe space for other queers. Even the Sheriff — a straight man with a suspect masculinity — is viable in the Kid's Wild West. As the main character, the Rawhide Kid celebrates a combination of sissy …

Nurturing Difference: The Autistic Student In Professional Writing Programs, Andrea Greenbaum

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

can assist autistic students by providing them with writing opportunities through the classroom, internships, and university publications. Aiding their personal and professional development also serves the university and the community-at-large.

It’S Complicated: Using Facebook To Create Emotional Connections In Student-Professor Relationships, Anthony Atkins

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

How can we use Facebook and other technologies to create emotional and professional connections with students?

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's Message.

Book Reviews, Judy Halden-Sullivan, Ken Delucca, Brad Lucas, Timothy Shea, William Archibald

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Book Reviews

Judy Halden-Sullivan - Practices in Mindfulness

Ken DeLucca - Schoeberlein, Deborah and Suki Sheth. Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness: A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009.

Brad Lucas - MacDonald, Elizabeth, and Dennis Shirley. The Mindful Teacher. New York: Teachers College Press, 2009.

Timothy Shea - VanDeWeghe, Richard. Engaged Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2009.

William Archibald - Cummings, Robert E. Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in the Age of Wikipedia. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt UP, 2009

Connecting, Helen Walker, Grace Feuerverger, Gesa E. Kirsch, Betsy Newmeyer, Anita Voelker, Allison Brimmer, Debbie Axelrod, Margo Wilson, Catherine M. Nelson, Liang Zhao

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Growing Up

Grace Feuerverger - Mandy

Gesa E. Kirsch - A Teaching Success or Failure?

Betsy Newmeyer - My RIF’d Life

Anita Voelker - Will’s Story

Allison Brimmer - Elitist White Lady Who Tries Too Hard

Debbie Axelrod - Dear Professor

Walker Margo Wilson - Burnishing the Bruises

Catherine M. Nelson - Jimmy

Liang Zhao - Lead by Example

Something Rotten: Hamlet's Onto-Ecology, Christopher R. Mckeen

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

Third-Wave Feminism In Select Young Adult Literature, Colleen Mckinney

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

El Veneno Y Los Remedios: Vida Y Muerte En La Narrativa De Mayra Montero, Jesus Castro Gorfti

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the important role that certain elements--namely poison and natural remedies--play in the narrative of Mayra Montero. Poison and natural remedies are an intrinsic part of the Voodoo and Santeria religions, which are the framework for her novels. Within these religions poison serves a dual purpose. Montero's characters employ poison not only for personal gain--and in their struggle against the establishment--but also for more beneficial means, for instance as a way of obtaining food. Natural remedies are part of the magical-medicinal nature of these religions. They maintain the physical and spiritual well-being of …

Beyond "Infinite Jest": Post-Postmodern Solidarity In 9/11 Narratives, Najwa Heather Al-Tabaa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My thesis interrogates the postmodern view of popular culture as being banal and questions Theodore Adorno's view of postmodern consumer culture as ultimately anti- human(istic). My re-reading of postmodern popular culture finds that there is potential for meaningful human interaction through popular culture. My re-reading asserts that popular culture is capable of being a vehicle for solidarity. In my analysis I locate a postmodern paradigm shift in which human solidarity becomes a necessary consideration and focus of postmodern narratives and art forms. I term this shift "post-postmodernism" which is marked by a focus on solidarity.1 While the shift to the …

Aterrizaje, Francisco Alejandro Tedeschi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This work is a novella about Alejandro Tardelli, a character who struggles with life in his adolescence.

Truant Teaching: A Conversation With Isamu Fukui, Sara L. Schwebel

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Achebe's Igbo Poems: Oral Traditional Resources And The Process Of ‘Deschooling’ In Modern African Poetics, Chukwuma Azuonye

Africana Studies Faculty Publication Series

The present paper examines the diction, imagery and other features of language and style in Chinua Achebe's two Igbo poems ("Uno Onwu Okigbo" and "Akuko Kpulu Uwa Iru"). Disposing of charges of plagiarism levied on Achebe on account of his modeling of the poems on well-known Igbo folk songs, the paper argues that what is rather involved in the compositional process is a process of "deschooling" from the strictures of European or Eurocentric conventions of versification. It concludes that a process of "deschooling" of this kind is one way in which African writers can begin their journey back with undivided …