Originally published by Australia's Chalkface Press, the eight books in this exciting series have been contextualized for a North American audience. Focusing on specific texts and subtly interweaving theory and practice, these contemporary, student-friendly books are a rich resource that teachers and students can use together. Grades 9–12.
Discounts are available when ordering the series (one each of the eight titles); as well as quantity discounts for classroom sets. Contact NCTE Customer Service (toll-free 1-877-369-6283) for more information.
Titles in Series:
Martino, Wayne with Bronwyn Mellor. Gendered Fictions. 2000. No. 18259. Gendered Fictions helps students explore how fiction and nonfiction texts construct gender by encouraging readers to take up "gendered" reading positions that support or challenge particular versions of masculinity and femininity. Students are invited to gain leverage on this process by using text-based discussions and activities to consider such factors as generic characters and intertextuality in order to assess the readings they (or others) produce, as well as to generate resistant or alternative readings when they so choose.
Mellor, Bronwyn. Reading Hamlet. 1999. No. 38705. Reading Hamlet contains a wealth of ideas and practical activities for studying Shakespeare's play. The first section provides background material to help prepare your students to read Hamlet. Section two, "Reading the Play," features notes on each scene of the play, accompanied by activities and suggestions for further study. Additional sections focus on the construction of reading of character and invite different ways of reading Hamlet. This book will enrich your students' study of Shakespeare's challenging classic.
Mellor, Bronwyn, and Annette Patterson. Investigating Texts: Analyzing Fiction and Nonfiction in High School. 2001. No. 23783. Investigating Texts offers activities to help students explore what it means to behave like a reader, how ways of reading can change, and how a given text can be read in different ways. Activities set the stage for writing and discussion through prediction, chart building, comparative analysis, and manipulation of conventional fiction and nonfiction "ingredients." These activities are keyed to fiction and nonfiction texts reprinted in the book, including advertising and newspaper copy, an encyclopedia entry, and fiction by authors as diverse as Guy de Maupassant and Roald Dahl.
Mellor, Bronwyn, Annette Patterson, and Marnie O'Neill. Reading Fictions: Applying Literary Theory to Short Stories. 2000. No. 38691. Reading Fictions uses text-based discussion and activities to help students explore the notion that a text does not simply "have" a definitive meaning but invites readers to construct meanings from a range of possibilities. Each chapter begins with an overview of key concepts and moves on to stories—reprinted in the book—by authors including Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Brautigan, and Bessie Head.
Mellor, Bronwyn, Annette Patterson, and Marnie O'Neill. Reading Stories: Activities and Texts for Critical Readings. 2000. 39116. The five chapters in Reading Stories begin with what students know about stories and then move through crucial topics such as readers' expectations; authors' intentions; how and why readings change; reading in terms of gender, race, and class; and what is at stake in disagreements about readings. These and other issues are brought into sharp relief by consideration of 11 short stories—included in the book and selected for their appeal to students—by a range of authors. These stories form the basis of concrete activities for talk and writing in which students work to think critically about the content and implications of what they read—and to consider issues that, until now, they may have taken for granted.
Moon, Brian. Literary Terms: A Practical Glossary. 1999. No. 30089. Literary Terms: A Practical Glossary provides up-to-date definitions, drawing on recent developments in literary theory, and emphasizes the role of reading practices in the reproduction of literary meanings. Unlike other glossaries, it includes brief activities to help students develop a working knowledge of the concepts. With examples drawn from classic literary sources as well as from popular books, films, and television shows, Literary Terms is an excellent resource for high school teachers interested in strengthening their own as well as their students' appreciation and understanding of the complexities of literary study.
Moon, Brian. Studying Literature: New Approaches to Poetry and Fiction. 2000. No. 48719.
Studying Literature provides a powerful way for high school teachers and students to explore the question of what makes a piece of writing "literature." The book includes a variety of literary texts, along with accessible discussions and stimulating exercises to help students investigate the values, assumptions, and practices that underlie literary activity. Individual and group activities are based on poems, short stories, and prose extracts—all included in the book.
Moon,Brian. Studying Poetry: Activities, Resrouces, and Texts. 2001. No. 48506.
Studying Poetry uses text-based activities to help students approach poetry as a form of "discourse" that can be relevant to their daily lives. Activities are tied to more than 75 reprinted poems—including sonnets, limericks, haiku, free verse, and other forms. Activities move from the experience approach, including poetry performance, into exploration of poetry as discourse. Step-by-step guidelines for writing about poetry are accompanied by annotated examples of student writing and sample teacher comments.