Explores adolescent readers' responses to the opening chapters of three African novels written by authors both within and outside the cultures described. Finds students were most satisfied with texts in which the unfamiliar culture was presented as "normal" and not obviously translated for them; students responded positively when differences…

Argues that viewing writing as a social process where writers and readers attempt to make contact is more appropriate than viewing language as information exchange. Also outlines the central assumptions underlying aesthetic reading research. (JC)

Argues that some of the works of major British writers may be read as propounding simple but important views on metaphysics of the self. Contends that the work of the British Empiricists cut the ground out from under the metaphysics of Descartes, and the world subsequently came to be regarded as a flux of impressions. Reflects on the relationship…

Explores the theoretical basis for understanding nonfiction from an aesthetic point of view and discusses some of the pedagogical issues arising from this theoretical framework. (TB)

Examines Louise Rosenblatt's theory of the reading transaction to aid teachers in the dilemma of either encouraging individual responses to literature or expecting literal comprehension of the material. Encourages teachers to look at their teaching purposes for any given text and to match questions and activities to those purposes. (SR)

Shares personal and profound experiences that permitted the emergence of a method of response to literature, circles of meaning, including excerpts of a master's thesis case study of a student making meaning of short stories using the method. Notes some of the learnings that this experience brought into the author's work with education students.…

Discusses reader-based and text-based approaches to teaching literature to high school students and then offers suggestions for questions and activities for the teaching of Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War." (TB)

States that the teacher's ultimate responsibility is to assist individuals to continue to appreciate Shakespeare's plays in later life. Discusses (1) the play as a live process, (2) methods of play appreciation, and (3) the play experience as an integrated whole. (EL)

Explores the possibility that literary theorists and reading researchers are unconscious of each others interests, goals, and assumptions. Seeks to explore how the gaps between these two areas might best be bridged. (EL)

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

Suggests the double-entry journal as an effective method of encouraging the creation and discovery of new information in literature classes. Describes the three processes involved (and the theoretical underpinnings of each), including: (1) activating prior knowledge and present feelings; (2) learning collaboratively; and (3) integrating reading,…

Argues that in the study of literature, the authority of the text is confounded by the authority of the teacher. Suggests that more effective learning takes place when the authority of both text and teacher is set aside. (FL)

Describes one secondary school teacher's experience in experimenting with reader response literary criticism as a teaching tool and how she handles difficulties concerning teacher supervision, student motivation, and student growth. (TB)

Describes two approaches to introducing a novel to elementary students. Maintains that the second approach, which encourages reader response, is more effective than the first, which mandates the learning of 100 new vocabulary words. Describes a discussion technique based on a "discussion web" or map of possibilities that helps students to explore…

Describes the gradual breakthroughs and the classroom procedures in one teacher's efforts to find a pedagogy for poetry that would side-step or eliminate the need for a direct assault on meaning. Discusses the complex first response to poems. Uses visual art to encourage looking and seeing over judging, and reporting over interpretation. (PA)