Envisioning Literature

Book excerpt: Based on a series of studies of the ways in which literary imagination can be used to explore options, solve problems, and understand others, this book is about reading literature, thinking about it, and teaching it. The book, focusing on literature instruction, offers a way to rethink the contribution of literature to intelligent thinking as well as its role in schooling. Chapters in the book are: (1) Literary Thought and Literate Mind; (2) Building Envisionments; (3) The Nature of Literary Experience; (4) The Classroom as a Social Setting for Envisionment Building; (5) A Practical Pedagogy; (6) Strategies for Teaching; (7) Literature for Students the System Has Failed; (8) Learning Literary Concepts and Vocabulary; (9) Literature across the Curriculum; and (10) Closing Thoughts: Literature in School and Life. An afterword (Reflections of Teachers and Students) is attached. Contains 114 references. (RS)