Since the 1950s, literary study has experienced a major paradigm shift. M. H. Abrams' notion that the author, reader, and the signified world are arranged like satellites around a stable text has been succeeded by one that acknowledges the reader to be a central determinant in any "reading" of a text. Five themes related to reader…

This paper is the beginning of a plea for a reconsideration of the way in which educators teach short stories. It is only the beginning because the paper's main purpose is to draw together literary critical perspectives on the short story and then briefly examine their implications for teaching. It is the convenient yet evasive nature of short…

By focusing on what and how students want to learn, shared inquiry between teachers and students is inherently motivating, supporting students' intrinsic motivation. When students themselves participate as educational theorists, learning experiences become more engaging for both students and teachers. The yearlong inquiry described in this paper…

The act of reading is always interpretation through the lens of an individual's own culture and value system. In a World Literature class the encounter between American readers and a text from a different culture can produce 3 results: reading into it the individual's own world; translating the alien into the familiar; and appreciating its…

Great theoretical debate has occurred in whether a teacher not of the same biological origin of the author of a text can do justice to the literature of another ethnic or racial group in the class. However, mainstream public university students of largely white populations feel themselves "indoctrinated" in classrooms which have the aim…

A study conducted by the copy editor of a small daily newspaper in Porter County, Indiana examines readers' motivations for writing letters to the editor. Analysis was based on letters that appeared in "The Vidette Messenger" September 16-30, 1992. Of 75 letters, 32 were responses to information published in the paper during the last 2…

Over a 2-year period, several teacher book clubs were studied. Teachers' and preservice teachers' responses to a series of texts that focused on multiculturalism in American society were examined. Twelve elementary school teachers, representing four ethnic groups (European American, Asian American, African American, and Hispanic), volunteered to…

Debates as to the critical element in the writing process have usually taken sides as to either the preeminence of the writer or the essential nature of the text. Throughout two separate studies into the instruction of creative writing genres, the key element in every teaching situation is, instead of writer or text, the creation of a tangible…

Exploring the responses of a variety of readers from three-year-old Dominic sharing a picture book with his father to adults reading a poem by Ted Hughes, this book examines the ways in which various readers respond to different texts. The aim of the book is to develop an awareness of the issues involved in readers' responses for primary teachers.…

The current national focus on critical thinking is unnecessarily narrow in its scope, and this mitigates against essential changes being made in the thinking and reasoning activities experienced by students. Two shortcomings, however, restrict the possibilities for change: the first results from taking a generic (versus discipline-based) view of…

A preliminary study set the groundwork for exploring the challenges secondary school teachers and students face in reading texts drawn from their own culture and from cultures quite different from their own. Interviews were conducted with 89 secondary school students, and also with university teachers and secondary school teachers of African…

Noting that it is only within the last decade that schools have begun to identify ways to optimize language use to promote higher level thinking, this ERIC Digest focuses on developing thinking skills in reading. The digest discusses the impetus for critical reading, the use of children's literature as a tool for teaching thinking skills, a…

Intended for use in classes in children's literature at the preservice and graduate levels in education or English departments and in library schools in colleges and universities, this book provides a rationale and suggestions to teachers for planning and evaluating a literature-based curriculum. The three-part organization of the book emphasizes…

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 study compared the literary response and character attribution processes of 40 undergraduate students on the basis of differences in their interpersonal construct repertoire, or "interpersonal cognitive complexity." No studies to date have explored the ways in which cognitive complexity influences readers' overall responses to…