English Journal, Vol. 102, No. 4, March 2013

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Teaching English in the Age of Incarceration

• Call for Manuscripts [FREE ACCESS]

• From the Editor [FREE ACCESS]

  Ken Lindblom

• High School Matters: Breaking Free

  Katie Greene

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  Abstract: Members of the Secondary Section Steering Committee comment on topics of importance to English language arts educators.

• EJ in Focus: Teaching English in the Age of Incarceration [FREE ACCESS]

  Marc Lamont Hill, Guest Editor

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  Abstract: Incarceration rates are increasing at alarming rates, and schools are profoundly affected by the logic and imperatives of mass incarceration. English teachers must take action.

• A World without Prisons: Teaching Confinement Literature and the Promise of Prison Abolition

  Marc Lamont Hill

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  Abstract: Exposing students to canonical and contemporary slave, political, personal, and non-carceral confinement literatures provides space for discussing important issues of social justice.

• Teaching in the Dark: The Promise and Pedagogy of Creative Writing in Prison [FREE ACCESS]

  Deborah Appleman

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  Abstract: Creative writing can unlock creative potential, foster students’ love of language, and offer a powerful outlet for self-expression.

• Songs of the Caged Birds: Literacy and Learning with Incarcerated Youth [FREE ACCESS]

  Peter Williamson, Megan Mercurio, and Constance Walker

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  Abstract: Teachers plan and reflect on practices that can make a difference in the lives and literacy of incarcerated youth.

• Building a Collective Understanding of Prisons

  Larissa Pahomov

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  Abstract: Pairing Night by Elie Wiesel with Finding Freedom by Jarvis Jay Masters, a death-row inmate, encourages a critical examination of the purposes and effects of imprisonment.

• Using To Kill a Mockingbird as a Conduit for Teaching about the School-to-Prison Pipeline

  Steffany Comfort Maher

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  Abstract: Using a response-based cultural studies approach, the author engages students in contemporary issues of incarceration: single-parent homes, lynching and racial discrimination, the criminal justice system, and poverty.

• Incarceration, Identity Formation, and Race in Young Adult Literature: The Case of Monster versus Hole in My Life

  Tim Engles and Fern Kory

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  Abstract: Contrastive readings of YA novels can help students understand the role of race in culture and contribute to students’ process of identity formation.

• Politely Disregarded: Street Fiction, Mass Incarceration, and Critical Praxis [FREE ACCESS]

  Karin Van Orman and Jamila Lyiscott

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  Abstract: Street fiction is risky to teach, but it offers opportunities for meaningful, critical thinking about important voices that resonate with many students and populations that have been historically marginalized.

• “I’m a reader”: Transforming Incarcerated Girls’ Lives in the English Classroom

  Kristine E. Pytash

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  Abstract: Unproductive tensions are evident between a young incarcerated woman’s in-class practices and her literary life outside the classroom.

• An Online Writing Partnership: Transforming Classroom Writing Instruction

  Jane S. Townsend, Allan Nail, Jennifer Cheveallier, and Angela Browning

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  Abstract: Witness the evolution of a successful, innovative program in which preservice English teachers serve as writing consultants for eleventh-grade English students.

• International Quidditch: Using Cultural Translation Exercises to Teach Word Choice and Audience

  Donelle Ruwe

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  Abstract: Focusing students on British-to-American cultural translation problems in the Harry Potter series encourages students to understand connotation, denotation, and other important characteristics of English language.

• Changing the Lens: The Necessity of Visual Literacy in the ELA Classroom

  Chris Gilbert

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  Abstract: An analysis of Ebony and GQ magazine covers exposes race and class narratives and encourages students to become more aware of the ways in which other images connote cultural information.

• Poem: Saturday Visitation

  Janet Atkins

• Three Poems

  Jennifer Case

• Adventures with Text and Beyond: Education for Empowerment: The Link between Multiple Literacies and Critical Consciousness

  Scott Hubbard

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  Abstract: "Adventures with Text and Beyond" explores various ways of teaching literary theory to high school and middle school students.

• Mentoring Matters: Mentoring in Community

  Rachel Malchow Lloyd

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  Abstract: "Mentoring Matters" focuses on effective ways to support new English teachers and student teachers.

• Professional Writing in the English Classroom: Professional Collaborative Writing: Teaching, Writing, and Learning—Together

  Jonathan Bush and Leah Zuidema

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  Abstract: "Professional Writing in the English Classroom" publishes articles about teaching students to write effectively in the genres, conventions, and visual designs required for professional contexts and related rhetorical situations.

• Research for the Classroom: To Read or Not to Read: Five Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare

  Brandon Shoemaker

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  Abstract: "Research for the Classroom" publishes mini-studies of ELA classroom practices and suggests ways in which high school and middle school English teachers may study the effectiveness of their pedagogy.

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