The Reader, the Text, the Interpretation: Using Reader Response to Develop Critical Literacy Skills

Background

The foundation of English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) instruction is built upon the importance of interacting meaningfully with and thinking deeply about texts. Textual interpretation has been a part of the literary experience since ancient times yet it did not formalize into a theory-based discipline until much later. Prior to the 20^th century, biographical criticism was the primary lens for textual analysis, as those who sought to understand a text focused on the relationship of the author’s life to his or her work. Although not formalized into theory until as late as the 1950s, biographical criticism’s main concern was intentionality, the author’s own opinions about the work. For most pre-20th century approaches, the author's intentions were the sole guiding factor and an important determiner of the “correct” interpretation of texts (Lodge & Wood, 2013). An author’s purpose and the meaning he or she wished to convey was considered to be largely influenced by the author’s experiences and the context in which the he or she was composing. Biographical experiences were given primary emphasis in text analysis; consequently, the text itself was almost secondary and the reader’s thoughts, experiences, context, and a reader’s reactions, were given little or no attention (Lodge & Wood, 2013; Searle, 2004; Wellek, 1992).