Law Meets Literature

Gretchen Oltman, JD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Leadership at Creighton University. She is a lawyer, author, and former high school English teacher.Johnna Graff,JD,is a 2004 graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Law. She is currently an English department chair and teacher at Lincoln Southeast High School and adjunct faculty at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Cynthia Maddux, JD, is a former practicing attorney and non-profit executive director. She is currently an English teacher at Lincoln North Star High School and adjunct faculty at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

• Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Why Law and Literature?Why Law and Literature Works in the ELA ClassroomHow to Use this TextA Note from the AuthorsChapter 2: Case Law in a Literature ClassroomCase Law Through a Literary LensBethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986)Tips for Teaching Literature Using Case LawWhere Do I Find Case Law to Use as Literature?A Note from the AuthorsChapter 3: Standing Up Against InjusticeStanding Up Against Injustice: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: Antigone by SophoclesA Note from the AuthorsChapter 4: Whose Law is it Anyway?Whose Law is it Anyway?: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: The Round House by Louise ErdrichA Note from the AuthorsChapter 5: But That’s Not Fair!But That’s Not Fair!: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeA Note from the AuthorsChapter 6: It’s All in Your HeadIt’s All in Your Head: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins GilmanA Note from the AuthorsChapter 7: Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: Billy Budd Herman MelvilleA Note from the AuthorsChapter 8: Protecting Your FreedomsCrime and Punishment: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: 1984 by George OrwellA Note from the AuthorsChapter 9: Reasonable Is as Reasonable DoesReasonable Is as Reasonable Does: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldA Note from the AuthorsChapter 10: Why’d You Do It?Reasonable Is as Reasonable Does: Essential Questions For This ThemeSuggested Literature SelectionsApplicable Case LawLaw and Literature Lesson in Action with the Featured Literature Selection: “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan GlaspellA Note from the AuthorsBibliographyIndexAbout the Editors

This useful professional resource guides secondary teachers in their English classrooms. It will prove to be quite helpful in engaging students in thoughtful discussion about literature and its reflection in law and society. . . .The inclusion of legal case applications will certainly broaden students’ minds and quite possibly steer many of them toward legal careers.