The Reader-Response critical school focuses on the participation of the reader with the text and how her participation in the reading process affects a discussion of the text’s meanings. Though critics within the school lie on a spectrum with extremes that define the reader as passive or active, all can agree, the reader is integral to the reading process. The latter see readers as active creators of meaning (Staton 351). David Bleich falls on this end of the spectrum and his work underscores the subjectivity of critical interpretation by discussing that, the “observer is always part of what is being observed” (201). Consequently, he asserts that the study of literature cannot be independent of the study of people involved with it, so literature must be studied as a relationship between either the artist or writer and the work or between the reader and the work (Bleich 203). Because …show more content…
The construction of the text here stems from how the reader is trying to present the knowledge derived from the text, about the text. This concept harkens to Bleich’s discussion of interpretive knowledge as the motivated construction of someone’s mind (200); this is still valuable knowledge but it is dependent on the mind of the reader at the time of the engagement with the text. For example, when one discusses a story with a close friend, one can often use colloquial terminology and be honest with reactions to a text in discussion. A discussion with a friend usually focuses not on asserting a critical point, but rather as a method of sharing one’s positive or negative thoughts, feelings, or reactions to a text. The very act of discussion is allowing the reader to construct the text because she is actively participating within the reading
In Katherine Anne Ackley’s book, “Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Seventh Edition”, chapter one instructed the reader how to read critically. Reading critically is defined as the process of making a rhetorical analysis, or examination, of a piece of work. First, a reader must read a piece of work to understand it, then they must be able to assess, or criticize, it. To do so, the reader should examine the author’s position, and the evidence provided to support that position. They should also be able to discern between logical and illogical pieces of evidence. Reading critically can be used to write summaries, critiques, arguments, synthesis’, and research papers.
Guerin, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Harper & Row,
Joyce Carol Oates' message of life and transitions is best understood when the reader brings his or her interpretation to meet with the author's intention at a middle ground. This type of literary analysis is known as Reader Response. In Reader-Response, the emphasis is placed on "the idea that various readers respond in various ways, and therefore [the] readers as well as authors 'create' meaning" (Barnet, et. al. 1997). In this story of life passages and crucial events, it is imperative that the reader has a solid response to Oates' efforts in order to fully comprehend the message. Literature is a combined meeting between the intentions of the author and the reaction of the reader.
Graff gave an example of the author is directly speaking in the text in Don’t Blame The Eater, by using “I” (189). Another example he showed was in The Cask of Amontillado and in this case when the author used “I” he was not the narrator in this case, but the narrator was a character in the story(189). Graff suggests that one should look carefully at the work to identify the speaker. According to Graff, a tactic that can be used to identify the meaning of a literary work is to look at the conflict in it. Graff writes, “look for the conflict or debate in the literary work itself and then ask what the text is leading us to think about that conflict” (191). Then he suggest asking some questions to help the reader take a position on the meaning of the work. He emphasizes that the meaning of a literary work is always arguable and one should argue for what they thinks it means. He also included some templates to help starts to respond to others
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford, 2011. Print.
For that, Welty needs exemplification. When coupled with the diction, exemplification serves as the main device implemented merging her experiences into a essay the explains the her relationship with fiction, and reading as a whole. Welty is a storyteller and she uses her skill to craft the narrative that describe her relationship with fiction. She describes the near mythological terror of the minotaur of the librarian, Ms. Jackson, who guarded the labyrinthian library of her hometown. She reminisces over the titles countless books she inhaled, two by two, as she rushed, back and forth, day after day, to the library for more. She speaks of her mother, who shared that same joy of reading, and who also enabled her to get her first library card. She illustrates about how books were ever present in her house. It’s through this exemplification and description that Welty is able to justify to the reader why books had such an intense role in her life, and why reading has held such value to her. Books were everywhere, they permeated her childhood. The effect of her vivid descriptions are that the reader and the author's perspective are merged. Rather than reading than reading the text, the reader experience’s it, and it's through the shared viewpoint that reader is able to realize the intensity and value reading brought to Welty’s
Guerin, Wilfred L., et.al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Throughout the next few years, following his first real experience of critical reading and discussion, he came to catch what he calls, “The literary bug” (His own interpretation of understanding the art of critical discussion and reading). Graff eventually chose the profession of teaching. He believed that everyone has the same chance to learn how to unlock the secret world of critical responses and reading. Graff wanted to instill the same process in his students that he once lacked. Many of the students he teaches seemed to have grown up as the same sort of “nonintellectual, non-bookish person I was” (Graff Para. 17), the same type of people who had a fear of books and dread of reading. His main goal as a teacher was to able to share the way he learned to open his mind to literature to the same kind of students that he once was.
Everyone comes from their own background, and has their own opinions about the world around them. They bring those thoughts and prejudices with them into every text they read, meaning they see what they expect to see. The author claims that close reading leads to ethical reading, ethical reading meaning the reader is listening to the author’s voice within the text, truly understanding and listening to that which the author is saying. Close reading forces the reader to temporarily abandon their preconceptions and “by concentrating on the details, we disrupt our projection; we are forced to see what is really there” (Gallop p.11). The author provides some historical context, in relation to the “new criticism” method of teaching. Between the 1950’s and 1970’s new criticism, “allowed students to appreciate the complexity of literary writing, to see the artful work, rather than merely themes and ideas.” (Gallop p.13). The issue with new criticism being that only “great” works or authors were considered “worthy” of analysis in that manner. Unfortunately, most work that was considered “great” within that period were written by men of European descent. Within the past few decades the multicultural movement has made reading lists in schools more diverse, making understanding the voice of authors more important than ever, as to not reinforce stereotypes and
Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading Reacting Writing. 3rd ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1991.
Guerin, Wilford L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1979.
Literary criticism is used as a guideline to help analyze, deconstruct, interpret, or even evaluate literary works. Each type of criticism offers its own methods that help the reader to delve deeper into the text, revealing all of its innermost features. New Criticism portrays how a work is unified, Reader-Response Criticism establishes how the reader reacts to a work, Deconstructive Criticism demonstrates how a work falls apart, Historical Criticism illustrates how the history of the author and the author’s time period influence a text, and last of all, Psychological Criticism expresses how unconscious motivations drive the author in the creation of their work as well as how the reader’s motivations influence their own interpretation of the text (Lynn 139, 191). This creates a deep level of understanding of literature that simply cannot be gained through surface level reading. If not one criticism is beneficial to the reader, then taking all criticisms or a mixture of specific criticisms into consideration might be the best way to approach literary
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Compact 8th. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).