Critical Literacy in English Literature argues for the inclusive practice of studying, implementing, and interpreting alternative texts and other materials using innovative pedagogies such as critical pedagogy and critical literacy when teaching high school English literature. Approaching the teaching of English literature from a critical perspective opens the door to expand the traditional canon through the incorporation of alternative and subjugated texts, ideas, and knowledge. This approach will prompt students to draw multiple meanings and interpretations based on their own personal histories and experiences. The book is not another pre-packaged, standardized literacy program for teachers to passively integrate into their curriculum. Instead, the authors provide pedagogical suggestions, activities, and ideas that teachers can take and adapt to their own unique classroom dynamics. The authors also provide sample lesson plans in which a critical literacy lens is applied to novels commonly taught in the high school English classroom while also introducing the reader to non-mainstream and alternative texts.

Priya Parmar, PhD, is Associate Professor of Secondary Education and Program Head of English Education at Brooklyn College ¿ CUNY. Her most recently published scholarly works include Knowledge Reigns Supreme: The Critical Pedagogy of Hip Hop Artist KRS-ONE and «Towards New Epistemological Possibilities: The Critical Complex Epistemology of Hip Hop Culture» in Teaching Joe Kincheloe.
Hindi Krinsky, EdD, is a former secondary English Language Arts teacher and current college instructor of Secondary Education at Brooklyn College ¿ CUNY. Her most recently published scholarly works include contributions to The Internet and Higher Education, Sequential Art Narrative Journal, and the forthcoming books Plants and Literature: Essays in Critical Plant Studies and More Pie: Essays on Entering Academia.

Contents: The War on Public Schools and Literacy ¿ Counter-War Approach: Critical Literacy ¿ The War on Youth Culture ¿ A Guide to Using the Unit Plans ¿ Class Wars: Lord of the Flies Meets Precious ¿ Race Wars: A Step from Heaven with a Part-Time Indian ¿ Gender Wars: Persepolis at the House on Mango Street ¿ Power Wars: A Maus at Fahrenheit 451.