THE FIRST UNIT OF THE STUDENT PACKET FOR GRADE NINE OF THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM IS A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS WHICH EXIST BETWEEN AUTHOR AND AUDIENCE, AND AN EXAMINATION OF THE EPIGRAM, LIMERICK, PARABLE, FABLE, AND ODE. WITH THIS BACKGROUND, STUDENTS CONSIDER "ON AVARICE" AND "ANIMAL FARM" AS EXAMPLES OF FORMAL AND MENIPPEAN SATIRE, ANTICIPATING LATER STUDY OF AUGUSTAN SATIRE. TO UNDERSTAND "THE IDEA OF A PLAY," STUDENTS EXAMINE "THE FROGS,""THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE," AND "OUR TOWN," REPRESENTING GREEK, RENAISSANCE, AND MODERN DRAMA RESPECTIVELY. THE "COMEDY" UNIT, INCLUDING "ARMS AND THE MAN,""TWELFTH NIGHT," AND "THE GREEN PASTURES," EXTENDS THIS STUDY OF DRAMA. "THE ODYSSEY," EXEMPLIFYING THE EPIC, AND TWO MOCK EPICS--"THE OWL" AND "THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS"--RELATE TO THE "EPIC HERO" AND "SATIRE" UNITS STUDIED PREVIOUSLY. LANGUAGE-COMPOSITION UNITS INCLUDE (1) "DIALECT," (2) "PHONOLOGY," INTRODUCING THE CONCEPTS OF STRESS, PITCH, AND JUNCTURE, (3) "SYNTAX AND THE RHETORIC OF THE SENTENCE," CONCERNED PRIMARILY WITH STUDENTS' REVISION OF THEIR WRITING, AND (4) "THE USES OF LANGUAGE"--IMAGINATIVE, EXPRESSIVE, DIRECTIVE, COHESIVE, INFORMATIVE, AND CONTRACTIVE. ALL UNITS CONTAIN OVERVIEWS, STUDY AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, COMPOSITION TOPICS, AND TEXTS OF LITERARY WORKS NOT IN CORE TEXTS USED WITH THE PACKET. THIS MANUAL IS AVAILABLE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA CURRICULUM CENTER, 231 ANDREWS HALL, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68508. THE RELATED TEACHER PACKET FOR GRADE NINE IS TE 000 063. (RD)