Toward Maturity in Judging Fiction: An Approach to Schaefer’s Shane

Most teachers would agree that the prospect of teaching the novel to low-ability ninth graders is formidable. How one teacher met the challenge is described here. When this article was written, Mr. Dunning was teaching at the Florida High School, Tallahassee, Florida. After receiving his Ph.D. in English education at the Florida State University last June, he was appointed as an assistant professor of English education at Duke University.