Bibliography: pages 335-343. / Betekenis kom tot stand deurdat die leser aan 'n teken of tekens betekenis toeken. Elke leser word daartoe gelei deur sy kennis van die taal, deur sy kennis van die wereld, deur sy persoonlike ervaringe en vooroordele en bowendien deur sy verwagtinge ten aansien van literere tekste en genres (Van Luxemburg e.a., 1983:113). Hieruit blyk noodwendig dat daar per leser en lesergroepe interpretasieverskille sal wees soos trouens die geval is me die twee lesersgroepe in hierdie studie: enersyds die ervare, ingewyde leser (literator) met sy kennis van die taal en die wereld, teenoor die oningewyde leser (Matriekleerling) wie se kulturele en akademiese agtergrond, ervaringe en taalkennis nie op dieselfde vlak is as die ingewydes nie.

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This essay is a close reading of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: a Biography that focuses on representation of gender in the novel and the possible response it elicits in the reader. The essay argues that the implied reader of Orlando - as manifested in the novel - is a feminist one, as well as it explores the possibility of this implied feminist reader being a female. The reasons as to why this could be are extensively examined by analyzing the main character Orlando as he metamorphoses from an English nobleman into a grown woman. To support the thesis, the essay looks both into reader response criticism and feminist criticism to clarify what an implied reader actually is. The similarities between Orlando and “A Room of One’s Own” are also touched upon as these suggest that the implied reader is a feminist. The essay then takes a closer look at the narrator of the novel and what this narrator suggests about the identity of the implied reader of the novel. In addition to this it is also concluded that s/he controls the reader’s perception of Orlando’s gender in the novel, and that this also echoes the ideals presented in “A Room of One’s Own”. The essay concludes that the implied reader of Orlando indeed is a feminist, but not necessarily a female one.

Dracula was written by Bram Stoker in 1897 but in this thesis I will discuss the different interpretations that can be achieved using reader response theory.  More specifically how gender affects these reader responses.  It is a detail analysis of how a feminine reader with a 21st century perspective can achieve different reactions to the text than that of the previous masculine and patriarchal readings that have been common in the past. This approach to Dracula has shown in more detail how the current representation of vampires in our culture has come to pass.  Dracula was one of the first vampire novels, but it was by no means the last, and the current fascination with vampires is a direct result of ‘reading’ them in a feminine way. It shows how in Dracula demons, victims and heroes, with a new perspective, become tragic, misunderstood and patriarchal oppressors. Also that it is through an integration with the text itself and reading in a feminine way that we are able to see them that way.

國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士在職專班 論文提要 論文名稱 : 透過文學教英語 : 從讀者反應層面探討文學作品在英語教學上之應用 指導教授 : 林茂松 博士 研究生 : 胡碧桃 論文提要內容 : 本論文旨在探討藉由文學教學激發學習者學習英語的動機及對文學的興趣，進而提升其英文閱讀及寫作能力的可能性。 從二十世紀初以來，對於文學教法，學者先後提出各種理論，舉其盈盈大者：如傳統教學法、心理分析法、及新文評主義，對文學教學皆有著墨。近年來，以讀者為中心、重視讀者與文本間的互動、允許不同讀者對同一作品有不同詮釋的讀者反應理論已成為教師們在教授文學時樂於應用的教學法。 本研究採用以Rosenblatt 為首的學者的建議，先引導學生閱讀文學文本，由學生以書面方式，回答老師根據文本提出與學生知識經驗相關的美學問題，最後全班參與討論，分享感受。 受試者為國立三重高中二年級學生。測驗工具為取自全民英檢(1999及2003年)中級閱讀測驗及作文試題、自製英語學習動機問卷以及文學興趣問卷。實驗組於前測後，以六篇文學作品為其教科書外之補充教材；而控制組則給予六篇非文學類文章。實驗時間為時一學期 (自2002年九月至2003年一月) 。 經由問卷調查訪問及前後測實施結果分析，發現實驗組的學生，在接受讀者反應法的文學教學後，可提升其英文學習動機、文學興趣及閱讀能力。至於寫作部分，實驗組的學生使用的字彙量比控制組為多。 本研究結論發現若經過適當設計，文學作品可以做為合適的閱讀教材以提升英語學習動機、激發創造性及批判性思考，甚至培養出終身的文學讀者。 / Abstract This thesis aims to investigate the effects of using literature as supplementary reading material for senior high school students studying English as a foreign language. The study adopts reader response theories, whose critics focus on the reader and the interaction between the reader and the text. An experiment was run for five months on senior high school subjects. Following a pre-test, the experimental group used six literary texts as supplementary reading material and the control group six non-literary ones. After exploring each text, students in the experimental group were assigned to answer reader response questions and those in the control group were asked to answer synthesis /evaluation questions after exploring each text. In addition, a questionnaire was issued to the subjects to investigate whether they liked the texts or not. Oral interviews were also conducted with the subjects to further observe their reactions to each work. After the teaching experiment, a post-test was given to examine the performance differences between the two groups. Throughout the experiment, all class interactions were recorded, then transcribed, and analyzed. The results show that (1) after the experiment, more students in the experimental group liked English than in the control group, (2) literary texts triggerred more interest than non-literary ones, (3) the number of students interested in literature increased after using literary texts as supplementary reading material, and (4) the students given literary texts as supplementary reading material develop better English reading skills and a larger English writing vocabulary than those in the controlled group. In addition, the students in the experimental group were eager to share their ideas about the readings. Key words: reader response, literature instruction, literary text, supplementary reading material.

James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is known as one of the most difficult texts in all of literature. A one-to-one relationship, however, between a decoding reader and a presenting author is something Finnegans Wake does not incorporate in any traditional sense. Because of the ways in which Joyce manipulates language through assonance and multilingual references, his words are essentially freed from their dictionary definitions and rely instead on connotations. This essay looks at the text from the perspective of a first reading, a look that is then compared to a more 'authoritative' stance found in various glossaries, to see if the information found there takes precedence over the reader's imagination, and if self-made meanings remain 'appropriate' in the face of the explanations. The text is shown to become more of a device with which we produce meaning, rather than a story to which we are only passively listening or otherwise trying to understand. Instead, it celebrates obscure, often contradicting sense relations, which correspond to the dream-like nature of its nocturnal theme. Despite the sheer amount of historical references contained within, the first-time reader can proceed without the many glossaries that have been written on the work, and instead rely on a more creative and less disciplined method of examination. This essay is thus tainted with an inherent contradiction—it questions the transcriptive act epitomized by eager textual scholars set on elucidating the text's difficulties while simultaneously committing that act, but only in order to encourage readers that Finnegans Wake otherwise scares away and to suggest an alternate method of reading. Readers are thereby asked to relieve themselves of their domesticated behavior, and get involved. The difficulty of Finnegans Wake only appears when we read it in terms of conventional understanding, and should instead encourage us into becoming creative users.

This study was designed to investigate the question of what goes on in a reader's mind as she transacts with extended text. It was a case study with one respondent, a ten year old girl. She reported, in writing, her thoughts during teacher read aloud, subsequent silent reading of the same text, and group discussions about the text. The findings support and flesh out Rosenblatt.s transactional theory, Vygotsky.s Zone of Proximal Development theory, and Lipman.s Philosophy for Children theory. Conclusions were that there are numerous sociocultural influences on a reader's transaction with text and that these influences must be taken into account in the classroom.