Relates a literature class's analysis of a work. Notes student discovery that meaning in a fantasy work resided in a matrix of the author's structuring of the text, the reader's re-creation of that structure internally, and the subsequent development of agreed upon meaning within the group. (MM)

Argues that it is not enough to teach students the techniques of interpreting literature, but that it is necessary to demand that students develop cultural literacy. States that college teachers need to show students that they too read literature for its bearing on the common life. (MM)