This book addresses the vexed status of literary value. Unlike other approaches, it pursues neither an apologetic thesis about literature's defining values nor, conversely, a demystifying account of those values' ideological uses. Instead, arguing that the category of literary value is inescapable, it focuses pragmatically on everyday scholarly and pedagogical activities, proposing how we may reconcile that category's inevitability with our understandable wariness of its uncertainties and complicities. Toward these ends, it offers a preliminary theory of literary valuing and explores the problem of literary value in respect to the literary edition, canonicity and interpretation. Much of this exploration occurs within Chaucer studies, which, because of Chaucer's simultaneous canonicity and marginality, provides fertile ground for thinking through the problem's challenges. Using this subfield as a synecdoche, the book seeks to forge a viable rationale for literary studies generally. -- .

A spectacular variety of life flourishes between the ebb and flow of high and low tide. Anemones talk to each other through chemical signaling, clingfish grip rocks and resist the surging tide, and bioluminescent dinoflagellates-single-celled algae-light up disturbances in the shallow water like glowing fingerprints. This guidebook helps readers uncover the hidden workings of the natural world of the shoreline. Richly illustrated and accessibly written, Between the Tides in Washington and Oregon illuminates the scientific forces that shape the diversity of life at each beach and tidepool-perfect for beachgoers who want to know why. Features include * profiles of popular and off-the-beaten-track sites to visit along the Greater Salish Sea, Puget Sound, and Washington and Oregon coasts * the fascinating stories behind both common and less familiar species * a lively introduction to how coastal ecosystems work and why no two beaches are ever alike

"What are the implications of teaching phonics via a systematic direct intense program that mandates all children to experience the same scripted lesson at the same time?"
This book addresses the question through an in-depth play-by-play description of a phonics lesson as it occurred in a real classroom, followed by chapters that look at it from different angles by "zooming in" on one facet to analyze it closely:
*Reading. What is reading? What definition of reading is presented (implicitly) in the phonics lesson? What do competing definitions from the reading research literature say about how important phonics rules are and how they are used by readers and teachers of reading?
*Teacher knowledge. What is the role and the place of teacher knowledge as it relates to the lesson? What are the skills a teacher has and needs to use in a lesson that is completely scripted ?
*The children. What are their roles and positions during the lesson? What are they learning?
*Curriculum. Where does the phonics curriculum come from? Curriculum in general? Who does it serve and how? What is its purpose?
* Culture. What is the role of culture in the lesson? How do cultural differences and culturally relevant pedagogy relate to the scripted phonics lesson?
*Politics and ideology. Why and how is everything that happens in schools political? How are scripted lessons and resistance to them, forms of political action?
*Teacher professionalism. How can teachers act in order to maintain academic freedom expressed as professional decision making in classrooms?
The author of this book is not neutral. He presents the difficulties a teacher encounters in implementing mandated systematic, direct, intense phonics instruction and children who are confused and frustrated by it. But at the same time he constantly presents hope in the form of smart teachers, curious children, and possibilities for taking action that can lead to change. His direct, accessible writing style stimulates thought and discussion.

Supporting Transgender and Gender-Creative Youth brings together cutting-edge research, social action methods, and theory on the topic of transgender youth and gender creative kids. The chapters included specifically address issues in education, social work, medicine, and counseling as well as challenges and recommendations for families and parents. It is well researched and accessible to a broad audience of individuals invested in improving the social worlds of gender diverse children and youth.

First published in 1937, Of Mice and Men has been a staple of American literature ever since. Divided by decade, The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men provides an overview of criticism over the 70 years the book has been in print. Michael J. Meyer has assembled significant articles and book excerpts from critics and reviewers, citing the early book reviews and highlighting some of the most significant essays. While not all critical studies are included, those assessments not present in the text are evaluated by summaries and their bibliographic citations are given. The essays express various critical approaches, including those that criticize the book and examine what some consider the book's flaws. Ideal for research work at all levels, this volume collects in one place the most significant contributions to the study of the novel, making it a welcome addition to the canon of Steinbeck criticism.

One of the great American authors of the 20th century, John Steinbeck (1902-1968) continues to be a focus of academic study and the source of interest to readers around the globe. All of the Nobel-prize winner's major works remain in print, as new generations discover the power of such novels as Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Grapes of Wrath, as well as nonfiction works like Travels with Charley, The Log from the Sea of Cortez and America and Americans. In addition to reissued works by Steinbeck, each year new articles and books are written about him, examining the themes of his works and his impact on literature. With such a prolific output, bibliographic resources have become a necessity, and in 1967, Scarecrow Press published the first Steinbeck bibliography, with subsequent volumes following in 1974, 1981, and 1998. In the latest volume, Steinbeck scholar and historian Michael J. Meyer has compiled Steinbeck material written or published between 1996 and 2006. The John Steinbeck Bibliography: 1996-2006 includes thousands of citations that cover a broad range of publications, including newspaper articles, full length critical studies, dissertations, theses, book reviews in English, and missed work from previous volumes, as well as websites and other media. The bibliography also cites foreign language translations of Steinbeck's works as well as foreign language books, journals and reviews. The comprehensive index will help scholars determine which entries are related to various novels, themes and historical events that are part of the Steinbeck canon. As a resource for literature scholars and researchers, The John Steinbeck Bibliography: 1996-2006 will prove to be as invaluable as the previous volumes.

Ethnodrama: An Anthology of Reality Theatre contains seven carefully-selected ethnodramas that best illustrate this emerging genre of arts-based research, a burgeoning but evident trend in the field of theatre production itself. In his introduction to ethnodrama and to the plays themselves, Salda-a emphasizes how a credible, vivid, and persuasive rendering of a research participant's story as a theatrical performance creates insights for both researcher and audience not possible through conventional qualitative data analysis. With their focus on the personal, immediate and contextual, these plays about marginalized identities, abortion, street life and oppression manage a unique balance between theoretical research and everyday realism.

With passion, clarity, and rich examples, Reclaiming Writing is dedicated to reawakening the journeys that writers take as they make sense of, think about, and speak back to their worlds in this era of high-stakes testing and mandated curricula. Classrooms and out-of-school settings are described and analyzed in exciting and groundbreaking narratives that provide insights into the many possibilities for writing that support writers' searches for voice, identity, and agency. Offering pedagogical strategies and the knowledge base in which they are grounded, the book looks at writing within various areas of the curriculum and across modes of writing from traditional text-based forums to digital formats. Thematically based sections present the pillars of the volume's critical transactive theory: learning, teaching, curriculum, language, and sociocultural contexts. Each chapter is complemented by an extension that offers application possibilities for teachers in various settings. Reclaiming Writing emphasizes literacy as a vehicle for exploring, interrogating, challenging, finding self, talking back to power, creating a space in the world, reflecting upon the past, and thinking forward to a more joyful and democratic future.

With passion, clarity, and rich examples, Reclaiming Writing is dedicated to reawakening the journeys that writers take as they make sense of, think about, and speak back to their worlds in this era of high-stakes testing and mandated curricula. Classrooms and out-of-school settings are described and analyzed in exciting and groundbreaking narratives that provide insights into the many possibilities for writing that support writers' searches for voice, identity, and agency. Offering pedagogical strategies and the knowledge base in which they are grounded, the book looks at writing within various areas of the curriculum and across modes of writing from traditional text-based forums to digital formats. Thematically based sections present the pillars of the volume's critical transactive theory: learning, teaching, curriculum, language, and sociocultural contexts. Each chapter is complemented by an extension that offers application possibilities for teachers in various settings. Reclaiming Writing emphasizes literacy as a vehicle for exploring, interrogating, challenging, finding self, talking back to power, creating a space in the world, reflecting upon the past, and thinking forward to a more joyful and democratic future.

Inviting teachers back to the role of reflective advocates for thoughtful reading instruction, this book presents theory and pedagogical possibilities to reclaim and build upon the knowledge base that was growing when government mandates, scripted commercial programs, and high stakes tests took over as the dominant agenda for reading instruction in U.S. public schools. Focusing on literacy learners and their teachers lives as literate souls, it examines how the teaching of reading can be reclaimed via an intensive reconsideration of five pillars as central to the teaching and learning of reading: learning, teaching, curriculum, language, and sociocultural contexts.

Reclaiming Reading articulates the knowledge base that was marginalized or disrupted by legislated and policy intrusions into classrooms and provides practical examples for taking good reading instruction out of the cracks and moving it back to the center of the classroom. Explaining what happens in readers minds as they read and how teachers can design practices to support that process, this book encourages teachers to initiate pedagogy that will help them begin or return to the stance of reflective, knowledgeable, professional decision-makers.

Inviting teachers back to the role of reflective advocates for thoughtful reading instruction, this book presents theory and pedagogical possibilities to reclaim and build upon the knowledge base that was growing when government mandates, scripted commercial programs, and high stakes tests took over as the dominant agenda for reading instruction in U.S. public schools. Focusing on literacy learners? and their teachers? lives as literate souls, it examines how the teaching of reading can be reclaimed via an intensive reconsideration of five pillars as central to the teaching and learning of reading: learning, teaching, curriculum, language, and sociocultural contexts.

Reclaiming Reading articulates the knowledge base that was marginalized or disrupted by legislated and policy intrusions into classrooms and provides practical examples for taking good reading instruction out of the cracks and moving it back to the center of the classroom. Explaining what happens in readers? minds as they read and how teachers can design practices to support that process, this book encourages teachers to initiate pedagogy that will help them begin or return to the stance of reflective, knowledgeable, professional decision-makers.

This book chronicles 5th and 6th grade writers - children of gang members, drug users, poor people, and non-documented and documented immigrants - in a rural school in the southwest US coming into their voices, cultivating those voices, and using those voices in a variety of venues, beginning with the classroom community and spreading outward.

At the heart of this book is the cultivation of tension between official and unofficial portraits of these students. Official portraits are composed of demographic data, socioeconomic data, and test results. Unofficial counterportraits offer different views of children, schools, and communities. The big ideas of official and unofficial portraits are presented, then each chapter offers data (the children's and teachers' processes and products) and facets of the theoretical construct of counterportraits, as a response to official portraits. The counterportraits are built slowly in order to base them in evidence and to articulate their complexity.

Many teachers and soon-to-be teachers facing the dilemmas and complexities of teaching in diverse classrooms have serious questions about how to honor students' lives outside of school, making school more relevant. This book offers evidence to present to the public, legislators, and the press as a way of talking back to official portraits, demonstrating that officially failing schools are not really failing - evidence that is crucial for the survival of public schools.

Ethnodrama: An Anthology of Reality Theatre contains seven carefully-selected ethnodramas that best illustrate this emerging genre of arts-based research, a burgeoning but evident trend in the field of theatre production itself. In his introduction to ethnodrama and to the plays themselves, Saldana emphasizes how a credible, vivid, and persuasive rendering of a research participant's story as a theatrical performance creates insights for both researcher and audience not possible through conventional qualitative data analysis. With their focus on the personal, immediate and contextual, these plays about marginalized identities, abortion, street life and oppression manage a unique balance between theoretical research and everyday realism.

"What are the implications of teaching phonics via a systematic direct intense program that mandates all children to experience the same scripted lesson at the same time?"
This book addresses the question through an in-depth play-by-play description of a phonics lesson as it occurred in a real classroom, followed by chapters that look at it from different angles by zooming in on one facet to analyze it closely:
*Reading. What is reading? What definition of reading is presented (implicitly) in the phonics lesson? What do competing definitions from the reading research literature say about how important phonics rules are and how they are used by readers and teachers of reading?
*Teacher knowledge. What is the role and the place of teacher knowledge as it relates to the lesson? What are the skills a teacher has and needs to use in a lesson that is completely scripted ?
*The children. What are their roles and positions during the lesson? What are they learning?
*Curriculum. Where does the phonics curriculum come from? Curriculum in general? Who does it serve and how? What is its purpose?
* Culture. What is the role of culture in the lesson? How do cultural differences and culturally relevant pedagogy relate to the scripted phonics lesson?
*Politics and ideology. Why and how is everything that happens in schools political? How are scripted lessons and resistance to them, forms of political action?
*Teacher professionalism. How can teachers act in order to maintain academic freedom expressed as professional decision making in classrooms?
The author of this book is not neutral. He presents the difficulties a teacher encounters in implementing mandated systematic, direct, intense phonics instruction and children who are confused and frustrated by it. But at the same time he constantly presents hope in the form of smart teachers, curious children, and possibilities for taking action that can lead to change. His direct, accessible writing style stimulates thought and discussion.

There has been a flurry of writing about teachers as inquirers and researchers as well as books about children as inquirers. This volume brings these two areas together -- teachers and students are inquiring at Ridgeway Elementary School. It demonstrates the importance of thought collectives as forums for student and teacher learning. The children in the primary classrooms in this book are working to understand the world around them and their place in it as literate individuals. Their teachers are studying themselves and the students. No other book describes the way this work affects children, teachers, and the ethos of the school in which the work occurs. In that sense, this book is groundbreaking in that it is an honest portrayal of the joys and sorrows, the successes and the stumbling blocks, the clear vision, and the obfuscating that teachers live as they enact a life of asking questions, being curious, wandering, and wondering.
Acknowledging and honoring the many faces of inquiry in schools, this book demonstrates the children's inquiry, their teachers' inquiry, and the place of that inquiry in schools. It lays out the ways in which inquiry is fundamental to teaching and learning in a democracy in which all of the members of the community have a voice in deciding curricular directions and ways of presenting learning. Teachers are presented as thinkers and learners, not merely as technicians enacting others' views of what is to be learned and when. Readers will find teachers dealing with the real issues of life in schools; they will see how teachers can use their existing situations as points of departure for their growth and their students' learning.

"Stories from the Heart" is for, by, and about prospective and practicing teachers understanding themselves as curious and literate beings, making connections with colleagues, and researching their own literacy and the literacy lives of their students. It demonstrates the power and importance of story in our own lives as literate individuals. Readers are encouraged to: tell, write, or re-create the stories of their literacy lives in order to understand how they learn and teach; begin the journey into writing the stories of others' literacy lives; find support in their researching endeavors; and examine the idea of framing stories by using the work of other teachers and researchers.

William W. Woodbridge originally wrote That Something as a means of bringing success and "performing miracles" in the lives of many men and women, and it became one of his most popular titles.

William Woodbridge's life-changing short stories gained widespread recognition from many of the prominent leaders and dignitaries of his time. Thomas Edison remarked, "I have read That Something. It tells the whole story." And Emerson Harrington said, "It is a message that ought to go out to all men everywhere."

Paul J. Meyer, the author and pioneer of the self-improvement industry whose programs have sold more than two billion dollars worldwide, attributes much of his success to his ability to harness William Woodbridge's That Something and make it work for him.

That Something is real power as truly as the electric current. It is the power of the inner being, the fuel of the soul machine. It is the one thing necessary.

The success of people everywhere depends alone on awakening That

Text and facing translation of an important medieval German Arthurian romance. Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet, dating from the end of the twelfth century, is a verse translation into Middle High German of what was probably an Anglo-Norman romance, now lost. It presents the story of Lanzelet (Lancelot), but in quite a different version from Chretien de Troyes' Chevalier de la charrette. The first half of the tale concerns Lanzelet's knightly and romantic exploits on his way to discovering his true identity, while at the same time winning the beautiful Iblis as his wife. The second half revolves around Lanzelet's efforts to defend the honor of the Arthurian court and reestablish his own and his wife's kingdoms. As in much literature of the time, sex, violence and magic abound. This volume presents the first full translation into English, with a new, facing edition of the Middle High German text. It is accompanied by an introduction, variant readings and notes to the translation. Kathleen J. Meyer teaches in the Department of Languages and Ethnic Studies, Bemidji State University.

Essays studying the relationship between literariness and form in medieval texts. The twenty-first century has witnessed the re-emergence of various kinds of literary formalism, and one project that characterizes most of these diverse formalisms is the effort to distinguish what is precisely literary about their objects of study. The presumed relation between form and the literary that this project presupposes, however, raises questions that still need to be addressed. What is it about form that produces the category of the literary? What precisely is literary about literary form? Can the literary be defined beyond form? This volume explores these questions in the historical and geographical frame of late medieval Britain, across vaunted literary works such as the Franklin's Tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Towneley Shepherds' Plays, and presumed "non-literary" texts, such as books of hours. By studying texts from a period long priorto literary formalism - indeed, before any fully articulated theory of the literary - the essays gathered here aim to rethink the relationship between form and the literary. Robert J. Meyer-Lee is Margaret W. PepperdeneDistinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Agnes Scott College; Catherine Sanok is an Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan. Contributors: Anke Bernau, Jessica Brantley, Seeta Chaganti, Shannon Gayk, Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Andrew Klein, Robert J. Meyer-Lee, Ingrid Nelson, Maura Nolan, Sarah Elliott Novacich, Catherine Sanok, Emily Steiner, Claire M. Waters.

At a time when literacy has become more of a political issue than a research or pedagogical one, this volume refocuses attention on work with young children that places them at the center of their literacy worlds. Drawing on robust and growing knowledge which is often marginalized because of political and legislative forces, it explores young children's literacies as inclusive, redefined, and broadened-encompassing technologies, the arts, multiple modalities, and teaching and learning for democracy, cultural sustainability and social justice. Highlighted themes include children's rights to grow through playful engagements with multiple literacies to interrogate their worlds; adults who expand and inspire children's consciousness and awareness of others and the world around them; the centrality of meaning making in all aspects of language and literacy development; a deep respect for diversities, including languages, cultures, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and more; and an expansive understanding of the nature of texts.

Whether man-made or naturally occurring, large-scale disasters can cause fatalities and injuries, devastate property and communities, savage the environment, impose significant financial burdens on individuals and firms, and test political leadership. Moreover, global challenges such as climate change and terrorism reveal the interdependent and interconnected nature of our current moment: what occurs in one nation or geographical region is likely to have effects across the globe. Our information age creates new and more integrated forms of communication that incur risks that are difficult to evaluate, let alone anticipate. All of this makes clear that innovative approaches to assessing and managing risk are urgently required. When catastrophic risk management was in its inception thirty years ago, scientists and engineers would provide estimates of the probability of specific types of accidents and their potential consequences. Economists would then propose risk management policies based on those experts' estimates with little thought as to how this data would be used by interested parties. Today, however, the disciplines of finance, geography, history, insurance, marketing, political science, sociology, and the decision sciences combine scientific knowledge on risk assessment with a better appreciation for the importance of improving individual and collective decision-making processes. The essays in this volume highlight past research, recent discoveries, and open questions written by leading thinkers in risk management and behavioral sciences. The Future of Risk Management provides scholars, businesses, civil servants, and the concerned public tools for making more informed decisions and developing long-term strategies for reducing future losses from potentially catastrophic events. Contributors: Mona Ahmadiani, Joshua D. Baker, W. J. Wouter Botzen, Cary Coglianese, Gregory Colson, Jeffrey Czajkowski, Nate Dieckmann, Robin Dillon, Baruch Fischhoff, Jeffrey A. Friedman, Robin Gregory, Robert W. Klein, Carolyn Kousky, Howard Kunreuther, Craig E. Landry, Barbara Mellers, Robert J. Meyer, Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Robert Muir-Wood, Mark Pauly, Lisa Robinson, Adam Rose, Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Paul Slovic, Phil Tetlock, Daniel Vastfjall, W. Kip Viscusi, Elke U. Weber, Richard Zeckhauser.

This book contains the manuscripts of the majority of the papers given during the symposium 'Improvement of Myocardial Perfusion' which was held from Sep tember 27-29,1984 in Mainz/Germany. It has been the purpose of this meeting to focus the interest of scientifically and clinically interested cardiologists on the new developments in this field. We therefore chose the subtitle 'Medical-Mechanical -Surgical Approach'. The medical improvements in myocardial perfusion have been brought about by the application of streptokinase, urokinase and tissue-type plasminogen ac tivator in the first hours after the onset of an acute myocardial infarction. The different modes of application and the possibilities to evaluate and eventually to quantify the results of these treatments were addressed during the first part of the meeting. The mechanical way to improve perfusion nowadays mainly consists of the application of intracoronary balloon angioplasty. Although since 1977 the treat ment has become a routine method, several questions are still open such as the exact mode of action, the reaction of the vessel wall, the optimal pressure and balloon size as well as the long term results and the prevention of restenosis.

Through his work as a literary biographer, Jeffrey Meyers met Murdoch in 1978. Over the next 17 years the two continued to correspond, completing an interview for the Paris Review "Writers at Work" series and becoming friends. In her letters, published for the first time in this volume, Murdoch discusses literature; her unprovoked quarrel with Rebecca West; production of her play The Black Prince; her political views; and her laments at the difficulty writing at the onset of Alzheimer's. This book also includes a memoir of Iris, two interviews with her (with important deleted passages), and a discussion of memoirs by A. N. Wilson and John Bayley. This lively and interesting book, which makes a significant contribution to our understanding of a major modern novelist, will be warmly welcomed by both scholars and readers.