A notation system for the representation of interacting plans of action is presented in this paper and applied in the analysis of a portion of "Hansel and Gretel." The notation system explicates interactions among plans: how cooperation takes place, how conflicts arise and are resolved, how beliefs about plans determine actions, and how…

A model for the levels of social interaction between author and reader provides a framework for examining the devices through which the author engages the reader. An important aspect of this model is the creation of additional levels of social interaction involving, for example, an "implied author" and an "implied reader."…

A complete analysis of a story's structure must rely on more than a simple grammar of story components; it requires a consideration of the characters' plans as they are stated or implied in the story. Furthermore, these plans are recognized as the characters' beliefs, and beliefs about interactions among plans are crucial determinants of a story's…

Presenting an overview of the theoretical perspective underlying work on text analysis in progress at the Center for the Study of Reading (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois), this report emphasizes the work that group has undertaken on stories for children in grades one through five. The report discusses three factors, drawn from a theoretical model,…

This paper explores the process of writing from several perspectives, as a first step toward a more comprehensive theory. The first perspective sees writing as a communicative act. The observation that to write is to communicate, though commonplace, has major and sometimes surprising implications for a theory of writing. It forces a focus on the…

Traditional surveys of children's literature have examined features such as text structure and topic, but have failed to take into account rhetorical elements such as author/reader distance, commentary, point of view, and inside view (insight into characters' minds). Similarly, they have glossed over aspects of character to character interaction,…

Some of the aspects of the author/reader relationship that make communication possible are discussed in this paper. The paper begins by describing the most important components of that relationship. Next, through an analysis of two readings of one of Aesop's fables, it illustrates the way the author and the reader must depend on these components.…

People in interaction with others organize their perceptions of a social situation in terms of plans even when the others' plans are poorly formulated. They use their models of others' plans in formulating their own. Much of what occurs in discourse centers on a continual communication about and reformulation of one's own plans and one's own…

A computer natural language system called HWIM (Hear What I Mean) is described in this report. Noting that the system accepts either typed or spoken inputs and produces both typed and spoken responses, the report proposes HWIM as an example of a relatively complete language system illustrating how the many components of language processing…

Noting that viewing reading as a communicative act can heighten educators' awareness of the ways in which one story can be embedded within another, this report presents and discusses several examples of stories within stories. The report discusses the various participants communicating in a story within a story--the real and implied authors and…

Using the "top-down" view of reading as a communication act, this article describes how "stories within stories," stories with real and implied authors and narrators, create a very complex communication situation. (HTH)