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
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.
Concession / Benefit ·Can lead to unfair interpretations, but also legitimate new interpretations
Passage Style
Critique or debate
19.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██████████ ███████████████ ███████
Question Type
WSE
This is a Weaken question. We want to weaken the author’s view that the reader-response theory is a beneficial approach to literary criticism that helps develop our understanding of literary works.
a
Reader-response theory is █████████ ██ ███████████████ ████ ████ ████ █████ ██████████ ███████ ███ ████ █████ ██████████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██████
This does not weaken the author’s argument in favor of the reader-response theory because this is a positive aspect of the theory. This claim is in line with the author’s argument that the reader-response theory is a good way to approach literary criticism.
This weakens the author’s argument because it shows how the reader-response theory may fail at its goal goal of understanding literary works. If legitimizing a wide variety of interpretations diminishes our understanding of a work, then the reader-response theory isn’t an effective literary theory.
The reader-response theory doesn’t want to provide a unified view of the meaning of a work, so the fact that it fails to do this doesn’t weaken the author’s argument.
According to the reader-response theory, valid interpretations of a text are not strictly limited to the author’s intended meanings. This doesn’t weaken the author’s argument because, according to the author, this is a strength of the reader-response theory.
Difficulty
86% of people who answer get this correct
This is a moderately difficult question.
It is slightly harder than the average question in this passage.
CURVE
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
25%136
146
75%155
Analysis
WSE
Art
Critique or debate
Answer Popularity
PopularityAvg. score
a
2%
155
b
86%
164
c
3%
153
d
3%
155
e
6%
158
Question history
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