Differences in readers' interpretations of a given text illustrate premises of the transactional or reader response theory of literature. The theory holds that: (1) meaning resides in the coming together of reader and text; (2) the reader affects the reading of the text and is affected by the text; and (3) there are potentially as many meanings to a text as there are readers. The reader-text relationship is dynamic, and changes not only from reader to reader but from one reading event to another in the same reader. Visualization activities, such as role playing, dramatization, situation expanding, and rhetorically real writing, serve to engage students in a text. Visualization forces students to consider a literary character's consciousness, motives, behaviors, and values directly and allows students to develop insights about their and others' experiences. It helps them think through characters' behavior to better assess and understand them. Students revise and build their interpretation of a literary work, rather than merely note and organize the teacher's knowledge. (One appendix of classroom activities is attached.) (SG)