Noting that the new literary and rhetorical theories are concerned with revealing the constructive nature of productive and interpretive processes, this paper examines the cognitive processes in reading and writing which make them constructive and intentional acts, and how reader and writer "negotiate" meaning in light of context, reader goals, and knowledge of the author's intention. The first part of the paper presents the idea of negotiated meaning and diagrams the relationship between reader and writer and outside forces in such a discourse construction, going on to note some of the implications of seeing reading and writing as acts of cognition. The first subsection discusses cognition and discourse knowledge, while the second subsection examines forces that govern a reader's response. The third subsection discusses goals of the reader, including deriving a suitable paraphrase from a written work, coming away with a meaningful reading, and looking for a meaning which fits with the author's intention. A final subsection on readers' goals and texts concludes the first part of the paper. The second part of the paper analyzes the protocols of two readers as they verbalize while reading an article and "negotiate" the meaning of what they read. Twenty-two references are included. (JC)