An exploratory study used stimulated recall to elicit a retrospective account from two alternative school students who choreographed a dance to depict their understanding of the relationship between the two central characters in a short story. Their account indicates that in composing their text they: (1) initiated their interpretation by empathizing with the characters; (2) represented the characters' relationship through spatial images and configurations; and (3) used the psychological tool of dance to both represent and influence their thinking about the story. The students' thought and activity were further mediated by the social context of learning, including the communication genres of the classroom, their own interaction, their teachers' intervention, and the stimulated recall interview itself. Their account illustrates the way in which reader, text, and context participate in a complex transaction when readers construct meaning for literature. Contains 38 references. (Author/RS)