Reader Response CT

focuses on the information contained in the text, as if it were a storehouse of facts and ideas that we could carry away with us

what might be called the facts of the text, certain events in the plot or physical descriptions clearly provided by the words on the page

“gaps” in the text such as actions that are not clearly explained or that seem to have multiple explanations which allow, or even invite readers to create their own interpretations

thinking back to what we’ve read earlier in the text; anticipation of what will come next; fulfillment or disappointment of our anticipation; revision of our understanding of characters and events

the printed words on the page

the literary work produced by the text and the reader together

used to correct the interpretation when we realize it has traveled too far afield of what it was written on the page

experience a personal relationship to the text that focuses our attention on the emotional subtleties of its language and encourages us to make judgments

physical objects

occur, not in the physical world but in the conceptual world (mind of the reader)

the conceptual or symbolic world created by perception and identification of the reading experience

the experience of the text that produces in us a desire for explanation

(in producing knowledge, the response statement must be __); contribute to the group's production of knowledge about the experience of reading

substitute talk about oneself for talk about one's reading experience

substitute talk about issues in the world for talk about one's reading experience

reader's reaction to the text, describing exactly how specific passages made the reader feel, think, or associate

pattern of our psychological conflicts and coping strategies

psychological defenses are raised by the text

find a way to interpret the text that will tranquilize those defenses and thus fulfill our desire to be protected from threats to our psychological equilibrium

transform defense mode and fantasy mode into an abstract interpretation so that we can get the psychological satisfaction we desire without acknowledging to ourselves the anxiety-producing defenses and guilt-producing fantasies that underlie our assessment of the text

those who share the interpretative strategies we bring to texts when we read

the reader who has attained the literary competency necessary to experience the text in the fullness of its linguistic and literary complexity and who conscientiously tries to suppress the personal or idiosyncratic dimension of his or her response

the reader that the text seems to be addressing

what the text acts as, conjuring feelings, associations, and memories as we read

response to literary text, which is often then analyzed itself