Teaching Literature

"It is to Showalter's great credit that she has written a book that exemplifies many of the virtues she associates with literature: curiosity, empathy, compassion. It is also a deeply personal work. People say that reading literature does not make you a better person. True. But reading this book will make you a better teacher. And maybe make you think better of literature too." Times Higher Education Supplement "Grounded equally in narrative anecdotes and in published scholarship, Teaching Literature is admirably accessible and reader-friendly... I'd recommend it to anyone looking to enliven his or her classroom". Literature and History

Elaine Showalter is Professor of English at Princeton University. She has been a teacher of English and American Literature for 40 years and has taught high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and other adults in the United States, Canada, Britain and Europe. She has also directed a teaching seminar for graduate students. During 1998 she was President of the Modern Language Association of America. The author's publications include A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Bront to Lessing (1982), The Female Malady: Women, Madness and Society 1830-1980 (1987), Sexual Anarchy (1991), Sister's Choice: Tradition and Change in American Women's Writing (1991) and Inventing Herself (2001).

Preface and Acknowledgements. 1. The Anxiety of Teaching. 2. Theories of Teaching Literature. 3. Methods of Teaching Literature. 4. Teaching Poetry. 5. Teaching Drama. 6. Teaching Fiction. 7. Teaching Theory. 8. Teaching Teachers. 9. Teaching Dangerous Subjects. 10. Teaching Literature in Dark Times. Conclusion: The Joy of Teaching Literature. Notes. Index.