Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

Multimedia hypertext materials have instructional advantages when used as adjuncts in traditional classes and as the primary means of instruction, as illustrated in this case study of college-level Shakespeare classes. Plays become more accessible through use of audio and video resources, including video clips from play productions. Student work can be included as models, and updating or expansion of texts is as easy as changing HTML files. With over 40 hours of instruction per play module, assignments can be individualized to student needs and used repeatedly--for instruction, clarification, make-up on missed classes, or review for exams. Materials for each play include three lectures and seven topics for exploration (issues, character, plotting, genre, critics, staging, and background); instructional aids on cast, story line, literary terms, and references, as well as access to a searchable text of Shakespeare's works, are included. Results over 5 years of development and revision are reported. Topics discussed include: structure of the Shakespeare Hypertext Guides (SHGs); pedagogical advantages of hypertextual instructional materials; and the development process from theory to prototype to evaluation to revision. One figure illustrates a sample page of the SHG, and a table presents data on the logistics and evaluation of Shakespeare courses using SHGs. (Author/DLS)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert