Writing about Literature (Theory and Research Into Practice (TRIP) series)

As an undergraduate English education major in the mid-1980s, I used the first edition of this book to help me learn how to develop my own pedagogy for teaching secondary students how to comprehend and write about works of literature. Now, as a teacher educator, I’m using the second edition of this text to teach my English education students how to develop their own pedagogy for teaching their future students.Johannessen, Kahn, and Walter’s methodology and approach to teaching writing has been updated and fortified in the new edition. They draw upon relevant research to support their practical suggestions for scaffolding instruction and utilizing small group collaboration and a variety of graphic organizers to help students learn the Toulmin model for argument. In addition, they situate their approach within Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development and demonstrate how their methodology assists students in achieving the skills they need to effectively write about literature. This is still a key text for English education majors.