Attempts to represent the complexity of the web of literary relationships and their transformational space using fragmentary texts that circle around the novel "The English Patient": self as relationship and the dialogic engagement with a book by the patient himself; and the relationship and engagement with this book and with each other of a group…

Presents an overview of critical theory to show how the method of Reader Response evolved. Discusses theories of reading and the reader; variations within reader response; and implementing reader response in literacy programs. Includes a brief response by Robert E. Probst. (RS)

This paper is the introduction to an inquiry into the relationship of post-structural reader theories to cognitive theories in the study of educational media. Basic concepts in reader and cognitive theories are defined, including the notions of "meaning" and "learners." Similarities and differences in the theories are…

Reading is best understood as a dialectic process where the influence of reader and text are constantly merging to create a jointly produced and evolving understanding. What occurs as the reader and text come together during reading is similar in form to a dialogue, a model for the reader-text relationship that has not been explored in the reader…

Attempts to show in detail how the human literary activity called literary interpretation consists of personal selection and use of communal tools. (CRH)

Examines the role of readers' subjectivity or personal responses in story interpretation, specifically in the formation of thematic generalizations. (MG)

Examines whether "social reading" can facilitate literary engagement. Indicates that social readers made a greater attempt to convey meaning than did nonsocial readers, but were less engaged with the text as literary discourse. (SKC)

Discusses some concrete examples of the kinds of conflicts that can surface when reader-response theory is actually practiced in the classroom, and considers some of the implications. Urges instructors to make room for contesting views and to facilitate serious, committed, personal interchanges. (MS)

Studies profoundly deaf children's responses to picture book reading in a preschool environment as compared to responses of hearing children. Finds that in spite of a severe delay in learning language, deaf children's responses to the picture books were similar to those of hearing children. Concludes that deaf children learned a great deal about…

Studies the ways readers create meaning initially from literary texts. Analyzes the data collected via think-aloud protocols and interviews. Compares reading tactics of first-year college students and graduate students. (HB)

Examines the relationships between what intermediate-grade children ask, how their questions come about, and the purpose for asking questions in reading. Finds that only with much effort did children succeed in raising questions for discussion. (RS)

Explores the mystery of why readers choose to read texts. Considers the psychology of reading for pleasure and the figures of speech linking reading with love. Discusses a wide array of books and the reasons that readers have felt such a strong attachment to them. (HB)

Argues that a fresh look at some aspects of reader response theories could have a revitalizing effect on classroom practices. Suggests that for students to respond to texts, they will have to make more use of what happens while they read. Exemplifies some reader response strategies through the author's own responses to a short story. Suggests…

An exercise in ghostwriting--a process where the reader completes a section of the text in the reader's head based on clues in the text--was used in freshman composition and upper-level composition classes to get students to concentrate on their reading processes. In this assignment, a short story was chosen from which different portions of the…

A pilot case study addressed how a reader engages aesthetically with text. The main thrust theoretically is from the notion that "there are possible worlds other than the one we inhabit." Four subjects were chosen out of a total of 63 subjects in grades four through six in an elementary school in Western Canada. Out of the four subjects,…