Alternatives to the Critical Paper: Teaching against the Text in the Introductory Literature Class.

Examines the writing assignments and instruction in 30 introductory literature textbooks. Finds three types of writing assignments: the "ever popular" critical paper, the expressive paper, and the literary paper. Presents excerpts of student papers to demonstrate that writing on expressive and literary topics can help students see the relevance of literature to their lives and the lives of others. (RS)