Please read the following materials (“The Reader Response Essay” & “Theodore Roehtke’s ‘My Papa’s Waltz’: A Reader’s Response”) before beginning the reading / writing assignment for O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.
The Reader-Response Essay
As part of this course we will be looking at some alternative approaches to reading, writing and thinking about literature. The first of these is reader-response criticism, which allows the reader to examine and explore his or her own reaction to the text.
Reader-Response criticism originated with Louise Rosenblatt and has evolved a great deal since its conception in the late 1930’s. One of the major tenets of reader-response criticism is that it not only respects, but values the role of the reader as it understands that without a reader or viewer a text or piece of art is not fully realized, which explains why a secret diary will never be considered great literature even if Shakespeare himself were to have written one. In her own words Rosenblatt states, “A poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text” (Murfin and Ray). While this approach relies upon readers to discuss their experience with the piece it also requires, if anything good or important is to be written, a great deal of intellectual investment on the part of the reader. The reader-response approach does not allow for passive reading; the reader must be an active participant who not only works to notice the techniques the author uses to make meaning, but how the prior experiences the reader has had skews how the piece is read by the individual.
As Peter Ellertson of Benedictine University states, “reader response theory frees you up from having to guess at the ‘hidden meaning’ an author may or may not have been thinking about when he or she wrote a story, poem or play.” Instead the reader is reading and writing to find what the piece means to him or her informed by their past reading, experiences and learning.
While this form may appear to be less formal and rigor than the traditional essay because it allows for “I” it is not any less formal than a traditional literary essay. If anything the essay may actually be of increased difficulty as students must resist becoming too informal when using “I.”
Some topics and subtopics to consider when writing the reader-response Essay:
What does this text mean to me?
Does it challenge or confirm your current intellectual and moral make up?
Does the text confirm or contradict any of your own attitudes or perceptions?
What did you see or feel happening in the text?
What images were called to mind while reading?
What word, phrase, image, or idea most intrigued or interested you while reading?
Does the text bring to mind any other works you’ve read or seen? If so what is the connection?
How do the circumstances of your life help to shape your reading?
What connections do you make with the text that help to shape the meaning for you?
One way to organize the essay may look as follows:
The divided sections do not and should not serve as a paragraph for paragraph template. Instead it should be adjusted to allow the content to be presented effectively. At times writers may find that the introduction and background could be part of the same paragraph while at other times both the introduction and background may need to be two paragraphs each.
Introduction: The student author should give information on what the text concerns and the reason the piece has been read. Please avoid writing “because it was assigned.” Instead consider discussing how the work fits within the thematic organization of the course. The author could also set the stage by discussing the conditions under which the piece was encountered (late at night, in a series of short readings, school study hall, in class and the mood of the environment). Make sure to state thesis as a result of the introduction.
Background: What does the piece concern? Make sure to center the discussion on what will be discussed. One way to do this would be to move the discussion from the broad to the narrow that will be the bulk of the analysis. If writing about a poem, for instance, the author would first discuss the poem as a whole in a broad sense and then narrow the topic down to a smaller element or group of elements. The elements could include or be a passage, a technical aspect or point of dispute.
Analysis: The thesis is to be supported here by using the text. While reader-response criticism allows varying ideas to be not only presented, but also considered correct, the ideas and assertions must be based upon what does appear in the text and what a reasonable connection to the text would be. Students must make sure to cite appropriately here and throughout as well as integrate the quotes into their own language.
Conclusion: Move to discuss what is unresolved or may be resolved in the future through further reading and living. Allow the essay and possibly the text to become larger than itself. What will you take with you concerning the lessons or ideas presented? How will the text inform future decisions, ideas and readings?
Review the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke (p. 401 in Sound and Sense) and then read the attached essay by Andrea Kaston of Eastern Michigan University. It provides a fine example of a reader-response essay. The essay can also be obtained at the following address:
Information compiled from:
Ellertson, Peter. “Reader Response Essay.” Springfield College in Illinois, Benedictine University. 12 Jun. 2007 <
Murfin, Ross and Supriva M. Ray. “Definition of Reader-Response Criticism.” The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Bedford Books: 1998. Bedford / St. Martin’s. 12 Jun. 2007. <