Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Reader Response
I am an adamant believer that there is no absolute correct way to interpret a text. Yes, the author did have an intended meaning, and probably separate from that a very personal meaning. However, as we read text ourselves we derive our own personal meaning from it based on our past experiences, our lives, and our culture. "The Dead" can be interpreted multiple ways and as long as the interpretations are backed up by information from the piece, they can all be equally valid. While I may have interpreted something from "The Dead" a particular way, another student can have a completely different opinion and still technically be correct (again, as long as they back up their arguments with textual information).
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I posted a response similar to yours. I think the reader contributes greatly to the text and that each person has a unique perspective in viewing a text, because each person has lived through unique experiences. Certainly, there are themes to each text that most readers would identify to be the same but each reader may also come away from reading a text with a different outlook on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree. In my other post to Hayley, I talked about how everything can be argued. Standardized tests are irritating because there is really no right answer. Or is there. What's the point of being an English major if there is only one meaning to everything?
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