Readers' advisory (RA) librarians use appeal to translate between readers and books, to make connections between readers and myriad other title possibilities based on the effects of the story. Appeal addresses the elements of books that readers respond to, the features that "draw a reader into a book" and help shape a particular reading…

This article considers the role of reader characteristics in processing and learning from informational text, as revealed in think-aloud research. A theoretical framework for relevant aspects of readers' processing and products was developed. These relevant aspects included three attentional foci for processing (comprehension, monitoring, and…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the uses of informational texts within an ethnically diverse, second grade classroom and how the teacher carefully scaffolded students' developing understandings about these texts. A community of practice theoretical framework was employed to better understand the ways in which…

This article discusses a professional development text by Ruby Payne that claims to inform teachers about the lives and minds of children from poor households. We use Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995; Gee, 2005; Rogers, Malancharuvil-Berkes, & Mosley, 2005) to examine how the author enlists readers' participation in deficit…

Claims that Tom is a character eminently suited to the multiplicity and subjectivity arguments of reader response criticism (RRC), that meaning is a relation between an author, a text, and a reader, not an object, as New Criticism held, and not a procedure, as RRC assumes. (RAE)

Argues that teachers of writing are more concerned about good writing than about good writers, and that they should instead strive to improve the experience of writing, even if that means throwing out the piece of writing produced. (JAD)

Examines ways in which visible language works with or against an accompanying image to produce desired effects on a reader or spectator and investigates the role that fiction and myth play in life, using a book cover and comic strip illustrations as examples. (DF)

Through a bilingual reading of Beckett's "Mal vu mal dit," the illusion of painted relief for printed letters is created. Colors manifest themselves through the continual process of translation. The French translation adds color to the black and white English text. (DF)

Presents a teacher's method of staying in touch with his students' cognitive development. Offers his outline of four cognitive levels, with definitions, and types of student responses (from sixth- and eighth-grade students). (SR)

Praises librarians who, with skill and affection, bring readers to books that help them shape and understand their lives. Quotes excerpts from poetry and prose with sometimes surprising images of librarians. (SR)

Contends that the ancient Babylonian epic poem "Gilgamesh" makes room for elements that call into question the very nature of heroic. Notes that the opening passage of the poem informs readers that it is going to foster elements contrary to expectations. Provides examples of such surprises. (PM)

Examines change and variation in the design of non-fiction texts which have a junior-age readership. Argues that different forms of presentation of non-fiction offer different ways of reading non-fiction texts, which as yet are neither fully described nor recognized. Suggests that non-fiction texts can be more or less firmly orientated towards…

Considers how scientific texts are resistant to scrutiny by rhetorical critics because of the recalcitrance of nature, the exegetical equality of scientific communication, and the institutionally driven nature of scientific text production. Argues that none of these differences between scientific and public texts bars a rhetorical reading.…

Uses Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" and other novels to dramatize and highlight the conversations, conflicts, and multiple voices within and around the reader. Challenges readers to listen to all the voices in their minds for the sake of achieving a more communicative form of life. (MG)

Examines how Romantic psychology and subsequent literary theory devalued texts that were ostensibly factual rather than fictional. Argues that nonfiction literature--the literature of fact--is as rich and valuable as fiction. Explores Peter Matthiessen's "The Snow Leopard" to show how a reader can become aesthetically immersed in a…