The purpose of this research study was to explore the possibilities of using children's and adolescent literature with lower-level students of Spanish. The study investigated second-semester students' perceptions of their experiences reading children's and adolescent literature in Spanish and the relevance of reading this literature on their acquisition of Spanish and their understanding and appreciation of Latino culture. Seventy-eight students enrolled in three second-semester Spanish courses in a large Southwestern university read two children's books in Spanish as part of the course curriculum; sixty-eight of these students agreed to participate in the research study. Quantitative data concerning students' periodic self-ratings of their communicative abilities in Spanish were collected via questionnaires. Qualitative data concerning students' perceptions of their experiences reading the children's books were collected through journal entries, surveys, focus-group interviews, and compositions. Students indicated that their communicative skills in Spanish increased throughout the course of the semester. Students in Classes #1 and #2 believed that their reading abilities in Spanish increased from novice-mid to novice-high. Students in Class #3, however, concluded that their reading abilities in Spanish increased from novice-mid to the intermediate-low. Students affirmed that reading the children's books helped them see Spanish vocabulary and grammar in context and reinforced the vocabulary items and grammatical features of Spanish they previously learned in the course textbook. Many students indicated that reading and discussing the children's books contributed to the development of their reading ability as well as other communicative abilities in Spanish. Students' opinions varied concerning the extent to which curricular engagements supported or impeded their comprehension of the children's books. Additionally, students asserted that the children's books contributed to their understanding and appreciation of Latino culture and that the books supported the development of their intercultural competence. A number of research and pedagogical implications of the study are included along with avenues for further research.

The Batman media franchise (comics, movies, novels, television, and cartoons) is unique because no other form of written or visual texts has as many artists, audiences, and forms of expression. Understanding the various artists and audiences and what Batman means to them is to understand changing trends and thinking in American culture. The character of Batman has developed into a symbol with relevant characteristics that develop and evolve with each new story and new author. The Batman canon has become so large and contains so many different audiences that it has become a franchise that can morph to fit any group of viewers/readers. Our understanding of Batman and the many readings of him gives us insight into ourselves as a culture in our particular place in history.

Η παρούσα εργασία επικεντρώνει το ενδιαφέρον της στην προσέγγιση των ποιημάτων, τα οποία περιέχονται στα Κείμενα Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας της Α΄ τάξης του Γυμνασίου. Η προσέγγιση αυτή επιχειρείται σύμφωνα με τη «ρητορική εκδοχή» της Αναγνωστικής Θεωρίας, τη βάση της οποίας συγκροτούν οι θεωρίες των: Roman Jakobson, Paul de Man και Wayne Booth. Η βασική μας υπόθεση ότι η όλη προσέγγιση των ποιημάτων για την Α΄ τάξη του Γυμνασίου διέπεται και από τη «ρητορική εκδοχή», όχι μόνο από την «ερμηνευτική» που αναφέρει το Διαθεματικό Ενιαίο Πλαίσιο Προγράμματος Σπουδών (2002), επιβεβαιώθηκε. Από την ανάλυση του υλικού μας, το οποίο περιλαμβάνει δεκαεννέα (19) ποιήματα, προέκυψαν ορισμένα ενδιαφέροντα ευρήματα. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η μελέτη μας εντόπισε ότι στα ποιήματα της Α΄ τάξης του Γυμνασίου υπάρχουν αρκετοί ρητορικοί τρόποι, όπως, η μετωνυμία, η προσωποποίηση, η ρητορική ερώτηση, το σύμβολο, η αλληγορία, η ειρωνεία, με κυρίαρχη, ωστόσο, τη μεταφορά. Επίσης, στα ποιήματα καταγράφηκαν οι έννοιες του υπονοούμενου συγγραφέα και του υπονοούμενου αναγνώστη, ενώ αρκετές από τις ερωτήσεις/εργασίες που συνοδεύουν κάθε ποίημα στο σχολικό βιβλίο παραπέμπουν σε μεγάλο βαθμό στις θεωρητικές θέσεις των τριών βασικών εκπροσώπων της «ρητορικής εκδοχής» της Αναγνωστικής Θεωρίας. Το κύριο συμπέρασμά μας είναι ότι η διδασκαλία της Λογοτεχνίας στη Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση, συγκεκριμένα στην Α΄ τάξη του Γυμνασίου, αξιοποιεί εκτός από την «ερμηνευτική εκδοχή» και τη «ρητορική εκδοχή» της Αναγνωστικής Θεωρίας, εφόσον στηρίζεται και χρησιμοποιεί αρκετές από τις θέσεις, τους όρους και τις έννοιες που συναντούμε στις θεωρίες των βασικών εκπροσώπων της «ρητορικής εκδοχής». Η διαπίστωση αυτή μπορεί να διευρύνει και να εμπλουτίσει ουσιαστικά τις διδακτικές προσεγγίσεις της Λογοτεχνίας στη Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση. / This paper focuses on the approach of the poems contained in the Texts of Modern Greek Literature, the A΄ class of the Gymnasium. This approach was attempted in accordance with the «rhetoric version» of Reader-Response Theory, the basis of which, is formed by theories of: Roman Jakobson, Paul de Man and Wayne Booth. Our basic assumption that the whole approach of the poems for the first grade of the High school is governed by the «rhetoric version», not only by the «hermeneutic», as described by the Curriculum (2002), confirmed. From the analysis of the material employed, which includes nineteen (19) poems, there are some interesting findings. More specifically, our study found that the poems of A΄ class of high school there are several rhetorical modes, such as metonymy, personification, rhetorical question, symbol, allegory, irony, principal, however, the metaphor. Also, the poems were recorded concepts of implied author and implied reader, while several of the questions/ tasks that accompany each poem in the text book refer largely to the theoretical positions of the three main representatives of the «rhetoric version» of Reader-Response Theory. The main conclusion is that the teaching of Literature in Secondary School, specifically in the first grade of high school, utilizes the «rhetorical version» of Reader-Response Theory, apart from the «hermeneutic» one, since it is based on and uses many of the views, terms and concepts encountered in the theories of fundamentals representatives of the «rhetorical version». This finding can broaden and enrich substantially the teaching approaches of Literature in Secondary Education.

Storytelling har identifierats som en effektiv marknadsföringsmetod och många företag har bemästrat konsten att berätta historier. Storytelling används för att skapa en emotionell respons hos den tilltänkta målgruppen, och om företag på ett framgångsrikt kan göra detta kan det vara ett sätt att differentiera sig själva. Metoden har länge framhållits som nyckeln till framgång, men är detta hela sanningen? Därav vill vi med studien besvara; hur påverkar storytelling reklameffektiviteten? Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka, beskriva och föra en diskussion gällande storytelling och dess effekter som marknadsföringsmetod. Resultatet av denna studie visar att storytelling är effektivare än traditionell produktbaserad reklam. Dock finns det skillnader i dess effekt på olika produktkategorier. Enligt studien fungerar storytelling bättre när engagemanget för produkten är lågt och när köpet av den har ett transformativt eller känsloförhöjande motiv. Resultatet av studien leder till ökad förståelse för när storytelling som marknadsföringsmetod är effektiv. / Storytelling has been identified as an effective marketing method, and many companies have mastered the art of telling stories. Storytelling is used to create an emotional response among the intended audience, and if companies can successfully do this, it can be a way of differentiating themselves. The method has long been emphasized as the key to success, but is this the whole truth? Therefore, we want to answer; How does storytelling affect advertising effectiveness? The aim of the essay was to investigate, describe and discuss storytelling and its effects as a marketing method. The result of this study shows that storytelling is more efficient than traditional product-based advertising. However, there are differences in its effect on different product categories. According to the study, storytelling works better when the commitment to the product is low and when its purchase has a transformative or emotional enhancement. The result of the study leads to an increased understanding of when storytelling as a marketing method is effective.

Reading and understanding literature does not necessarily have to be an individual act. The aim of this essay is to investigate what happens when six students read a text by Kazuo Ishiguro A Family Supper and then discuss it in a communicative situation. The essay bases its ideas on the sociocultural theory and the reader-response theory. The sociocultural perspective argues that people develop and progress during social interaction, moreover by communicating with other people and by being inspired and subsequently educated through taking part in different social contexts. My idea with this essay is to observe a literary discussion in a group. The observation emphasizes both the individual contribution to the literary discussion and the function of the group. By analyzing the participation of the individual students, I reached the conclusion that the students deal with literature in many different ways. Some focus only on the text and the plot, others discuss social issues in connection to the text and some only respond to the others’ arguments. When studying the group, I looked at the balance in the group, the turn taking between the members and the level of participation. The reader-response theory bases its idea on the reader and the text and the fact that they are connected in a mutual transaction. Every reader brings his or her experiences to the understanding of the text and thereby a text can have multiple alternative interpretations considering the amount of readers. The analysis section in this essay consists of several parts, such as an individual reflection, a group discussion and an individual evaluation.

La narrativa de Silvina Ocampo (1903-1993) no goza del lugar que merece en la ficción argentina y latinoamericana como obra de la principal cuentista del siglo XX. Hace relativamente poco que su obra comenzó a despertar el interés de la crítica, atención que se evidencia en la cantidad de artículos y disertaciones recientes. Mediante una disección de la narrativa ocampeana a partir de las grandes coordenadas que la intersectan se pueden caracterizar los aspectos peculiares y distintivos de su estilo. Desarrollada tras la consolidación del psicoanálisis y su influencia en la estética surrealista, la narrativa de Ocampo incorpora algunos de esos elementos. El género fantástico también se articula aunque mediante una selección de rasgos configurados a su modo. Si bien Ocampo rechaza la etiqueta de feminista, ciertos aspectos de su estilo sólo pueden explicarse a partir de la visión particular de una mujer escritora y su representación de la identidad y las relaciones. La lectura pormenorizada de varios cuentos recogidos en “Cuentos completos” I y II (1999), once volúmenes publicados durante su vida, pertenecientes a distintos períodos de su producción permiten realizar un análisis diacrónico que ofrece una caracterización redonda de su estilo y evolución. El análisis sincrónico de estos textos incorpora datos históricos acerca del contexto de producción; a la vez que otras obras literarias del período ofrecen un punto de comparación para identificar influencias y contribuciones. Este análisis, realizado desde el marco teórico de la crítica literaria, da cuenta de la presencia de constituyentes narrativos (narrador, ironía, ambigüedad) que configuran espacios de indeterminación, noción postulada por las teorías de la recepción. Éstos explican las peculiares características de la obra ocampeana: su habilidad para inquietar, intrigar, sorprender y, en suma, desestabilizar al lector y sus expectativas. Es más, sirven para explicar la idiosincrática representación de la realidad que emana de su obra, su interés en lo fantástico y la articulación de lo anti-convencional, como mecanismo subversivo para escapar del orden social dominante, lo cual revela sensibilidades protofeministas. La narrativa de Silvina Ocampo se resiste al reduccionismo y construye una visión peculiar y multifacética de la artista y su obra.

This essay aims to examine the applicability and relevance of subjective reader response in relation to second language (L2) motivation within literature education in the classroom of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). With support from previous research within the field of reader response theory (RRT), this essay argues that a subjective reader response approach contributes to increasing students’ motivation in relation to literature education Thus, this essay answers the following questions: 1) Does subjective reader response contribute to creating motivation among students in EFL (literature) teaching, and if so, how can this theory be implemented? 2) Does subjective reader response support students’ construction of what Zoltán Dörnyei refers to as “Ideal L2 self”? 3) What are the main benefits of using a reader response approach? The results support the hypothesis that a subjective reader response approach contributes to increasing students’ motivation in relation to literature education. Additionally, the study shows that the self-explorative nature of subjective reader response enables students to construct their “Ideal L2 self”.

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The purpose of the essay is to discuss the power narration has over our gender roles. John Fiske and Pierre Bourdieu´s theoretical texts have been used to discuss the connection between power and culture in A.S. Byatt’s novel Possession: A Romance. Possession demonstrates how male academics take part in shaping knowledge about the past and the present from their perspective. Byatt uses allusions to myth and folktales to emphasise both the romance theme of the novel and how the past has formed us and continues to affect us in our relationships and social roles. The novel reveals how women are trapped by cultural myths about women’s roles in society. The female characters’ fates demonstrate the complexity of heterosexual relationships for independent women in a society where women are supposed to be taken care of by men. The roles imposed on women in romance stories in particular can be seen as a reductionist patriarchal view of women. Byatt emphasizes how women who at varying levels do not collaborate with men are punished for their chosen lifestyles and how some, like homosexual women, have been removed or have chosen to remove themselves from society in different ways. Byatt attempts to demythologize social myths concerning women and men by rewriting traditional myths and fairy tales. Still, Possession does not ultimately challenge the importance of the heterosexual relationship or the male and female characters’ gender roles.

This dissertation brings together aspects of writing-in-the-disciplines research, reader-response theory, and empirical reading research in an investigation of literary scholars reading poems and constructing arguments. I begin with a review of literary criticism published over the past 70 years on Donne's "The Flea," Milton's "Song: On May Morning," Hopkins' "God's Grandeur," and Eliot's "Conversation Galante." This review suggests that certain New Critical interpretive conventions persist in scholarship. In particular, literary scholars continue to read lyrics as dramatic utterances and as organic wholes. I then present findings from a think-aloud study in which English professors read the aforementioned poems and planned a hypothetical conference talk about them for the MLA conference. Reader-response theorists have argued that readers activate certain text-making conventions in order to read literature as literature. In my study, participants' disciplinary reading conventions were so deeply ingrained that their initial processing of the four poems mirrored the interpretive patterns in published criticism of those poems. Next I analyze the think-aloud data and follow-up interviews from the perspective of writing-in-the-disciplines research. Previous researchers found that scholarly literary argument relies on a limited set of special topoi and is not always directed toward the accumulation of new knowledge. The scholars in my study relied more heavily on some topoi during initial interpretation of the poems, while other topoi were used more often during argument planning. The picture of literary argument that emerges is a hybrid of ceremonial rhetoric and communal knowledge building. Finally, I analyze the think-aloud data from the vantage-point of expert/novice research in cognitive psychology. Previous researchers have used the term "generic expertise" to describe expert knowledge that all members of an academic discipline possess. Despite the belief of some within literary studies that their discipline lacks a core, participants in my study demonstrated generic expertise both in their interpretations of poems and in their argument planning. I conclude by arguing that previous descriptions of scholarly literary argument need to be revised. Literary scholars relate to their objects of study in a unique way that ensures the distinctness of literary argument. / text