This column shares innovative lesson ideas grounded in current literature or action research. Two books are discussed: Lesley Atwater Kahle's book "Cut Word Story," which allows students to become individually engrossed in words and grammar within stories that they create; and Anete Vasquez's "Literary Analysis 101", which gives teachers a simple,…

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)

Summarizes the history of, and theory and research in, reader response approaches to teaching literature. Proposes an instructional process employing response-based teaching. (MM)

Provides an update on the progress being made at the National Research Center on Literature Teaching and Learning. Discusses research-in-progress with teachers struggling to adapt their instruction to a response-based approach to reading literature. Presents a framework of optional strategies for teachers. (RS)

Reviews research on (1) reader response theories; (2) innovative approaches to literature-based reading instruction; and (3) literary experiences and literary analysis presentations. Discusses teachers' concerns and success as they implement literature-based programs. Discusses challenges facing the literature-based reading revolution. (RS)

Louise Rosenblatt's reader response theory can be applied effectively to film study in the classroom. Although there are differences between film and literature, the processes that one uses to make sense of literature and film are similar, and Rosenblatt's theory provides not only a valuable addition to film theory, but teachers of film study will…

Argues that, in their roles as responding audiences for student writers, teachers need to be clear as to whether they are taking the perspective of writer or reader. (FL)

Traces the epistemic trend in rhetorical theory through the literature of four disciplines: new physics, reader response criticism, history of classical rhetoric, and composition theory. Sheds light on the philosophical and pedagogical implications of the epistemic trend for teaching scientific writing as a subjective and social process. (SKC)

Describes the basic components of Iser's theory, then suggests ways to get students to interact with texts. (FL)

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…

Argues that the teaching method instructors use to present poetry--direct/indirect, analytic/subjective, or reader focused/text focused--is influenced by the kind of relationship they wish to establish with the students. (MM)

Discusses how the active meaning-making process of 10 sixth-grade students was reflected in the written responses in literature journals. Analyzes the responses to determine response styles. Suggests how complex response to literature is for elementary and middle school students. (HB)

Argues that different kinds of response statements, focusing on issues from cultural, historical, phenomenological, and structuralist approaches to reading texts, can be assigned to help students learn about more demanding kinds of information and, hence, can make students stronger, more informed, and more self-conscious readers of literature. (EL)

To help students develop a broadly generative approach to reading and writing about literature, teachers of literature should employ not only systematic procedures, but also the eclectic and utilitarian spirit of rhetorical invention. A semiotic perspective offers the most solid theoretical foundation for establishing a genuinely heuristic…

This book offers teachers a convenient means of broadening their understanding of reader response theory and criticism and applying this theory to the teaching of literature in high school and college classrooms. The book is designed to arouse individual teachers' interest in reader response theory and encourage them to apply it to their teaching.…