The reader is a component part of the only form of a text which can be discussed meaningfully as a message. As readers with different linguistic backgrounds experience texts in fusions with their own personalities and their own social and cultural backgrounds, these dynamic texts differ in different languages. Accordingly, intranslatability exists…

To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Louise M. Rosenblatt's book "Literature as Exploration," this book offers 12 essays that demonstrate the extraordinary influence of Rosenblatt's work on the teaching of literature, on literary theory, and on educational research in all English-speaking countries. Further, it evinces…

Describes a reader response heuristic which approaches expository texts on a feeling and experiential level. Focuses on the work of one student writer to show how the student's interpretations of a text on Arab-Israeli relations was mediated by the student's feelings and experiences. (MM)

Describes a discussion model based on the reader-response approach which thrives on controversy and encourages students to become an active, responsible "community of interpreters." (MM)

Presents the thoughts of an author who participates in and espouses the "Writers in Education" project in Great Britain, and notes that she enjoys speaking with younger students because they see her as a fellow writer and are less deferential than older students. (JC)

Records the attempts of a very young child to construct his own understanding of what it means to die and of the social impact of death within his own culture. Includes transcripts in which the child uses narrative to frame his first, tentative ideas about death and responds to literature to further extend his understanding. (JD)

Reviews various methods of teaching literature and proposes that response to literature be an element in the teaching of literature. Considers the role of the teacher in a response-centered classroom and how to create a classroom environment that will encourage interpretation and response to literature. (SRT)

Taking off from the perception that the current critical climate blurs most meaningful distinctions between fiction and nonfiction, this book examines what happens when writers and readers encounter texts presented as nonfiction--texts that make some truth claim on outside experience, texts whose characters and events have at least some tangible…

Describes seven different written response formats (which all use reading response strategies) used with seventh graders. Discusses how the formats improve the quality of thinking put forth in students' responses to their self-selected adolescent novels. Discusses which response formats illicit more higher-level thinking. (SR)

Determines if students' aesthetic involvement would be influenced by the ethnicity of the student or the culture portrayed in short stories. Finds that the level of aesthetic involvement was not significantly influenced by the ethnicity of the student or culture portrayed in the story. Supports the integration of multicultural literature into the…

Argues that as reading is taught increasingly as a tool, the delight that comes from personal literacy is becoming obscured. Argues that bringing personal values and experiences to poetry is an important way for students to discover the meaning of a poem. Describes how students can "map" their reading journey. (RS)

Tests a new model of the child's meaning-making process in response to literary text. Finds that the model is not disproved and serves as a valid means for adults to share information and ideas about young peoples' transactions with literary texts. (MG)

Drawing from personal experiences of catharsis in the reading of literary works, presents a new and broader theory of reader response. Considers the classical distinctions that have been made about the nature of response, arguing that the disturbing trends in contemporary world events must set the context of current readings. (DMM)

Investigates the effects of reader perspective and cognitive style on encoding, storage, and retrieval processes. Finds that structural characteristics of the text itself may affect storage and retrieval processes but not encoding processes, and that reader perspective shows no effect on a delayed recognition test. (RS)

Uses reading responses of a ninth grade class and a teachers' study group to examine the social memberships and constituencies that reading and discussion disclose through the response process. Maintains that teachers should base reading lists on an understanding of their own and students' memberships rather than on some abstract notion of…