David Norris

Reader Response

1. Text Dominant: The text has more control over interpretation than does the reader. Show the difference between a text’s meaning and its significance. “Society is still prejudiced and in need of radical change.”

2. Text and Reader Equal: The text and the reader have equal play play in the interpretation. Fill in the gaps and conjecture about character, motivation, and action. The reader is coauthor. “Huck will be a better person.”

3. Reader Dominant: We see others and ourselves in the text. We respond on a personal level and then find a way to objectify it in order to have its interpretation accepted within our interpretive community. We shape and find our self-identities in the reading process. There are as many valid interpretations as there are readers because the act of interpretation is a subjective experience. “Huck is like George.”

The Steps:

1. A work gives the reader something to do. The reader is not passive.

2. The reader’s response to the text.

We play a part. What part do we play?