Experiments with Themes: Reports on the Thematic Approach to Literature Teaching.

This is the second publication of the Literature Study Group using the thematic approach to literature for third through fifth year students in Scottish schools. Eight programs are presented which are a collection of literary texts grouped round a central theme. The programs are the work of different teachers who set out to discover in the classroom how successfully the thematic approach might be used in the later stages of the secondary schools. Presented are teacher's records of the experiment as well as frank discussions of the pitfalls and problems encountered and identified. The programs listed are: (1) The gap between aspirations and the reality of human behavior (Class V); (2) The Class System (Class V); (3) War--and its Aftermath (Class V); (4) Loyalty (Class IV); (5) Childhood (Class IV); (6) Work (Class IV); (7) Family Relationships (Class III); and (8) School Life (Class III). An appendix consists of samples taken from thematic programs produced by graduate students. Teachers using the thematic approach have found (a) discussion in the classroom becomes a very worthwhile activity and that (b) the quality of the writing both in the essays on the literature studied and in the more personal writings on the theme itself improves appreciably in content and style. (Author/LS)