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Extensive reading has long been considered as a potent means for facilitating language acquisition for second language learners, especially in the contexts of primary and secondary schools where students are elementary or intermediate learners. In one of the universities in Hong Kong where English is used as a medium of instruction, the development of reading and writing skills has been designated as one of the major objectives of the curriculum reform. This paper reports a small-scale action research study on implementing guided reading sessions in an independent language learning centre of the university, which aims at helping university students who are second language learners of English develop interest and ability to access extensive reading materials targeted at general first language readers. Students were guided to read a short extract from popular fiction or non-fiction materials and responded to comprehension questions. They then had a short discussion to make use of ideas they gained, and reflected about their learning experience. Results seemed to indicate potential for these reading sessions to develop students' ability and interest in extensive reading, according to the data collected from both student and teacher participants.

Recently some writers and scholars have complained that the academy, particularly American Indian Studies (AIS) programs, gives too much attention to American Indian literature while ignoring scholarly works that focus on the pressing needs of American Indian communities in the areas of economic development, social justice, and sovereignty, among others. For example, in the preface to "Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities", Devon Abbott Mihesuah and Angela Cavender Wilson write: "Awards are seemingly presented to...poets and novelists....Not enough is being written about tribal needs and concerns, but an inordinate amount of attention is focused on fiction." Almost every person teaching in AIS programs probably would agree that attention needs to be focused on tribal needs and concerns. In this article, as a professor of American Indian literature, the author respectfully disagrees with Mihesuah and Wilson's assertion that too much attention is focused on fiction. It seems that quite the opposite is true. The author examines the situation to test the validity of the claim that too much attention is given to American Indian literature to the detriment of writing that emphasizes tribal needs and concerns through three different lenses: (1) coursework offerings in AIS programs and departments and course concentrations chosen by students in AIS programs; (2) the representation of literature and writing about literature versus scholarly writing in the main peer-reviewed journals that publish American Indian articles; and (3) awards given for literature and nonfiction scholarly writing. The author talks about the traditional value of storytelling and discusses American Indian literature as a subversive act. (Contains 23 notes.)

The article presents a list of publications the journal received for spring 2013, including "Dostoevsky's Dialectics and the Problem of Sin" by Ksana Blank, "The Transformative Humanities: A Manifesto" by Mikhail Epstein, and "The Accused" by Vera Gran and translated by Charles Ruas.

Provides three responses from reading professionals concerning a question about students who cannot relate story ideas after reading. Suggests determining the students' reading interests to help them find books which they will find more enjoyable. (MG)

Copyright of Recial is the property of Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Centro de Investigaciones, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper sets out to analyze Kaikō Takeshi's travelogue "Kako to mirai no kuniguni - Chūgoku to Tōō" ("Countries of Past and Future - China and Eastern Europe"), which describes Kaikō's first experience of Eastern Europe and China. As a writer who got to be well-recognized for his reportage writing and novels based on his own experience, Kaikō's initial struggle abroad turned out to be the opportunity that lit his inner desire to continue searching for the truth, leading him towards the exploration of the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, which is the writing he is still most well remembered for today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Doxa Comunicación is the property of Fundacion Universitaria San Pablo - CEU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Disability Studies is the property of Canadian Disability Studies Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Literatura y Lingüística is the property of Universidad Catolica Cardenal Raul Silva Henriquez and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Icono 14 is the property of Grupo Icono 14 and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Bohemistyka is the property of Instytut Filologii Slowianskiej Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Scripta is the property of Scripta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Taking into account In Patagonia (1977) and the critical debate around it, this paper analyses how Bruce Chatwin changed the literary representation of places, undermining the traditional dichotomy between "truth" and "fiction", and why the poetics of "Chatwinesque"--a term coined by his editor Susannah Clapp--became paradigmatic for contemporary non-fiction narrative [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature and journalism are two field of study that has been a never-ending discussion throughout the history. The two fields, regardless of being considered as separate entity, has its association in the course. This paper dwells into the two fields together, that is, on literary journalism and how literary journalism examines the blurring of boundaries between narrative writing and factual reporting through comparison of select works of narrative nonfiction. The text analysed is a novelistic piece, “The Yoga Store Murder” (2013) by Dan Morse. The study confronts the reluctance to acknowledge this form of reportage as authentic and reliable because its literariness is misconstrued as compromising the objectivity of the piece. The authors also examine how literary journalism fits within the rubric of both literature and journalism. The study addresses the following research questions: where do fact and fiction meet in literary journalistic narratives? how do we navigate questions of authenticity, reliability and journalistic integrity in narrative journalism? The questions will be attempted to be answered with a detailed analysis of a text of investigative journalism that is also nonfiction writing, though literary in nature.

In India there has been a debate about whether the two primary epics of Hindu mythology - Ramayana and Mahabharata - are facts or fiction. In parallel, a body of nonfiction seeking inspiration from mythology has emerged from India and a new trend of drawing management lessons from Indian myths has become very popular. An author, who has resorted to this practice in his writing is Devdutt Pattanaik who has produced works in this genre for the past 20 years. By analysing Pattanaik's five management related books and varied articles, this paper examines the feasibility of applying mythology to deriving management lessons, thus determining whether this has added value to the texts and the genre, or rather resulted in their devaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life-long reading has positive effects on our lives and health. This study examines the ways in which adult library patrons read today. Using circulation statistics from four public libraries in the north suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, we explore the differences in reader preferences between traditional print reading (print book checkouts) and e-reading (eBook downloads). This data analysis provides insights on adult patrons' use of public libraries today (i.e. the most likely genre to be checked out are fiction and the preferred reading method is print). This paper also offers some practical suggestion on libraries' collection development, as well as readers' engagement and retention as they relate to technological advancements on book format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to examine school-aged children’s story comprehension skills according to text type and story modalities. Methods: A total of 348 elementary school children from grades 1 to 6 participated in this study. Participants answered the story comprehension questions after performing the story comprehension task according to the three- story modalities. One child read two fictional and one nonfictional texts, or two nonfictional and one fictional texts, and were randomly assigned according to text type and story modality. Story comprehension questions consisted of both factual and inference questions. Results: A significant difference was found in story comprehension performance according to the grade, text type, and story modality. As children get older, the performance of a story comprehension task increased significantly. Regarding the text type, the comprehension of fiction was significantly higher than the nonfiction comprehension. Comparing the story comprehension performance task according to the story modality, the performance was high in the order of reading-while-listening, listening, and reading. In fiction, there was a significant difference between listening and reading modality, whereas no significant difference was found between text modalities in nonfiction. Conclusion: The findings suggest that presenting text as a complex form of listening and reading to schoolaged children can aid in information processing and help children improve their story comprehension. Also, children’s age and text type need to be considerd for assessment and interventions aimed at children’s successful story comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent and growing discussion in philosophy addresses the construction of models and their use in scientific reasoning by comparison with fiction. This comparison helps to explore the problem of mediated observation and, hence, the lack of an unambiguous reference of representations. Examining the usefulness of the concept of fiction for a comparison with non-denoting elements in science, the aim of this paper is to present reasonable grounds for drawing a distinction between these two kinds of representation. In particular, my account will suggest a demarcation between fictional and non-fictional discourse as involving two different ways of interpreting representations. This demarcation, leading me to distinguish between fictional and non-fictional forms of enquiry, will provide a useful tool to explore to what extent the descriptions given by a model can be justified as making claims about the world and to what degree they are a consequence of the model's particular construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his work of non-fiction The Great Derangement (2016), Amitav Ghosh examines the inability of the present generation to grasp the scale of climate change in the spheres of Literature, History and Politics. The central premise in this work of non-fiction is based on the statement that literature will one day be accused of its complicity with the great derangement and of blind acceptance of the climate crisis. This paper will study how Ghosh’s fictional and non-fictional enterprise voices a call for more imaginative and cultural forms of fiction that articulate resistance against materialism that can destroy our planet. We shall see how Ghosh’s fictional enterprise falls within the sphere of postcolonial eco-criticism that considers the phenomenon of “material eco-criticism”. I shall also reveal Ghosh’s environmental advocacy in his works of fiction, The Ibis Trilogy and The Hungry Tide. This paper will analyze how the Ibis Trilogy is not just an exploration of the particularly heinous operation of imperial power leading up to the Opium Wars but is also an eco-critical narrative that articulates resistance against the violence of climate change. A study of The Hungry Tide will also reveal how this hybrid literary text is both a historical account of the Marichjhapi massacre and a plea to preserve the eco-system of our time. I shall thus consider the challenges that climate change poses for the postcolonial writer and the evolving grid of literary forms that shape the narrative imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented wherein the editor discusses various reports in the issue on topics including John D'Agata's controversial stance on the line between fiction and nonfiction, a history of Iowa Writers' Workshop and a look at the work of Morten Sabroe.

University–industry interaction has many supporters and some detractors in the scholarly literature. Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy frameworks emphasise interactions between universities and stakeholders other than industry, and the contribution made by these interactions to a range of goals such as environmental sustainability. Given the significance of discourse to shape public opinion, it is important that academic and policy actors convey positive views of university interaction. We investigate whether this is happening by examining representations of university interactions in popular culture. Since public opinion can shape science, our investigation could also suggest new research questions. Our sample includes science fiction novels that won prestigious awards (Hugo, Nebula and Locus) for the genre, from the 1970s to the 2010s. The use of an objective corpus of the literature increases external validity, a methodological novelty in representations of science studies. We show how science fiction, predominantly, is critical of university interactions, reflecting a lack of convincing institutional narratives on their benefits. The apprehensions expressed about interactions with industry or other stakeholders are equivalent. We offer some recommendations for research on STI policy frameworks to incorporate critical views of university–society interaction, including threats to sustainability, and new research questions related to defence of non-disclosure of information for political reasons and conflicts of equity due to the lack of career progression for 'disengaged' academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in the number of godmen is due to the support they received from people, the devotees and followers, in the society. Naturally, godmen as a theme attracted writers and scholars, leading to the increasing number of fiction and non-fiction. In addition, the godmen themselves showed great interest in promoting a saintly image themselves through media. The present project attempts to study these different modes of representations of godmen - Nonfiction, Fiction, and in the Spiritual Discourse - which form a good corpus of Indian writing. The introduction talks about the increase in the emergence of god men, the devotion to godmen, a trend that can be linked to the increasing need for spiritual guidance. This chapter tries to read "The Grand Inquisitor", a section of the novel, The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Doestoevsky and use it as a method of approaching the function of these different modes of godmen in Indian Writing. Chapter II analyses two nonfiction works, namely Richard Dawkins' God Delusion and Khushwant Singh's Gods and Godmen of India to highlight the nonfictional mode which allows a direct and critical depictions wherein the writers could afford to completely denounce religion and godmen. Richard Dawkins goes to an extent of debunking the very basis of devotion and Faith. Khushwant Singh confronts issues related to religion, faith, blind faith and the rise of new cults in India. Chapter III focuses on the fictions of R.K. Narayan and G. V. Desani, who while condemning godmen, implicitly discuss the faith of the devotees and their continuous support. R. K Narayan adopts a passive approach to highlight the blind faith of devotees despite the controversies. Desani brilliantly posits his attack in an indirect manner and takes a jab at the spiritual gurus. Chapter IV discusses godmen's selfrepresentation through their spiritual discourse and the impact it creates on the devotees. A focus on the performative nature of these discourses reveals the godmen's conscious creation of their self-image. The Conclusion sums up the arguments of the previous chapters. It will also show how Dostoevsky's "Grand Inquisitor" acts as a cornerstone to understand the rampant rise in the number of godmen in the Indian society. It also shows how the modes of representation decide the image of godmen in fiction, non-fiction and in spiritual discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented which compares the novels "Two Suspicious Characters" by Gunnar Larsen and "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. It offers a background on Norwegian author Larsen and his publication of the book in 1933 which was based on his 1926 news article for the "Dagbladet" newspaper about the murder of two policemen. The author provides evidence that Larsen is preeminent in the genre of nonfictional novel contrary to Capote's claim when "In Cold Blood" was published in 1966.

I critically examine some recent work on the philosophy of scientific fictions, focusing on the work of Winsberg. By considering two case studies in fracture mechanics, the strip yield model and the imaginary crack method, I argue that his reliance upon the social norms associated with an element of a model forces him to remain silent whenever those norms fail to clearly match the characteristic of fictions or non-fictions. In its place, I propose a normative epistemology of fictions which clarifies a model's ontological commitments when the community of scientists lack any clear, shared norms of use. Specifically, I will introduce a variational account of fictions as an extension of Laymon's monotonic improvability account of idealizations. I will conclude by connecting this variational account of fictions to didactic fictions in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated whether fiction experiences change empathy of the reader. Based on transportation theory, it was predicted that when people read fiction, and they are emotionally transported into the story, they become more empathic. Two experiments showed that empathy was influenced over a period of one week for people who read a fictional story, but only when they were emotionally transported into the story. No transportation led to lower empathy in both studies, while study 1 showed that high transportation led to higher empathy among fiction readers. These effects were not found for people in the control condition where people read non-fiction. The study showed that fiction influences empathy of the reader, but only under the condition of low or high emotional transportation into the story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years, American literary scholars have mined the vast archives of nineteenth-century eriodicals on microfilm for secondary resources to supplement their reading of novels. Nineteenth-century periodicals often included either serialized full texts of popular novels or excerpts included in book reviews of said novels. Many of these newspapers also included correspondence or editorial commentary regarding the reception of popular novels. Researchers have relied upon these periodicals as contemporaneous sources to support reception theories, as well as historical context for nineteenth-century novels. However, because of the difficulty in using microfilm, very few teachers have ventured into using periodicals as primary texts in the classroom. Fortunately, today teachers have much more accessibility to nineteenth-century periodicals through web resources. In this essay, I describe how I implemented an assignment using online resources for nineteenth-century periodicals to introduce students to several types of women's periodicals. The assignment allowed me to show students the breadth of women's voices during this time period and the importance of closely reading fiction and non-fiction in the traditional media of the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents examples of comics and graphic novels for readers from kindergarten through high school. It notes that these books demonstrate the changes in literature over the past 50 years ending in 2011. It outlines the genre of these literature from comic books to novels and non-fiction research. It projects that readers will find books which are interesting to read and enjoy through their visual images.

To explore whether different balances of fiction/non-fiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on 45,670 pupils who independently read over 3 million books were analysed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but non-fiction read was generally more challenging than fiction. Non-fiction reading was negatively correlated with successful comprehension and reading achievement gain. Overall, boys appeared to read less than girls, and proportionately more non-fiction, but this less carefully—especially in the higher grades—and had lower reading achievement. Differences between classrooms in promoting successful comprehension of non-fiction were evident, suggesting intervention could improve achievement. Implications for research and practice are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the "A Time Elsewhere," by J. P. Das is presented. Topics include the different concepts between historical fictions and facts through the creation and reinvention of nonfiction, the objective of communicate information, and the book "Writing Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Techniques for Crafting Great Nonfiction," by Theodore A. Rees Cheney.

The article offers information on the narrative pattern of the Sanskrit epic "The Mahabharata" and its nonfictional and fictional elements. Topics discussed include the nonfiction, Vedanta, and the narrative technique. Among the examples of nonfiction in the epic are the Bhisma teachings, anecdote of Yaksha, and Srimadbhagbadgita.

The article reviews several books including "Paul Lauterbur and the Invention of MRI" by M. Joan Dawson, "The Compatibility Gene" by Daniel M. Davis, and "A Guide for the Perplexed: A Novel" by Dara Horn.

The Notable Books Council, a group of readers' advisory experts within the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, has announced its selections for [...]

RUSA Notable Books Council This list has been compiled for use by the general reader and by librarians who work with adults. The Notable Books Council, ALA Reference and User [...]