Self-study
P1
Reader-response theory, a type of literary theory that arose in reaction to formalist literary criticism, has endeavored to shift the emphasis in the interpretation of literature from the text itself to the contributions of readers to the meaning of a text. ███
Reader-response theory ·
Emphasizes what readers bring to meaning of a literary work
Proponents of reader-response theory ·
Text alone doesn't have meaning
It gets meaning from what readers bring to the text (assumptions, ways of reading). This makes multiple interpretations of a text likely.
Formalists ·
Focus on the text alone
Reader-response theory leads to fragmented views of a text.
Author's perspective ·
Formalists' view is too narrow
P2
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Formalists' argument ·
Formalism is objective
Reader-response theory has no standards and leads to multiple meanings of a text. Authors in fact intend one meaning and critics should try to find it.
Author's critique ·
Literary works can have multiple meanings
Meanings are created by interaction between texts and readers.
P3
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Benefit of reader-response theory ·
Emphasizing readers can uncover new meanings of a work
We've always had multiple interpretations of important works.
Concession / Benefit ·
Can lead to unfair interpretations, but also legitimate new interpretations
Passage Style
Critique or debate
20.
The author's reference to
a
stress the intricacy ███ ██████████ ██ ████ ██████████
This passage is all about effective forms of literary criticism; this portion of the text does not tell us what makes good literature.
b
grant that a ██████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████ ██████
This is the author’s purpose here. This line says that the signs and symbols must be translated in order to understand and appreciate a work of literature. This tells us that, even though the text alone has
c
imply that no ██████ █████ ███ █████ ███████ █ ████ ██ ██████████
This is not the purpose of this line. The author isn’t saying that no single theory can fully explain a work of literature; the author is just saying that even the reader-response theory is informed by the text.
d
illustrate how a ████████ ████ ███████ ████ █ ███
The purpose of this line isn’t to show how books are different from maps. Instead, this line shows that the reader-response theory isn’t completely disconnected from the text.
e
show that an ██████████ ████████ ██ ██████████████ ████████ ████████ ████████
The purpose of this line isn’t to show that inflexible interpretations provide constant accuracy. Instead, this line shows that the more subjective reader-response theory is still rooted in the text, while also supporting a wide range of literary interpretations.