Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reader response has been widely accepted as a means of resisting the hegemony of New Criticism. This article argues that Rosenblatt and the New Critics were pioneers of parallel, rather than opposing, pedagogical traditions, shaped by the shared influence of I. A. Richards and John Dewey. The article…

Considers how the recent rise of "theory"--literary, cultural, feminist, poststructuralist, postcolonialist, and critical--has shaped the way teachers teach literature in the secondary school classroom. Reviews teacher perspectives through citations of studies and through interviews. (TB)

Studies 53 undergraduate preservice English teachers to determine their critical orientation to the teaching of literary analysis in the classroom prior to their taking methods courses. Finds that these future teachers were already convinced of the necessity of multiple interpretations. (TB)