Say/Do 1: (Re)Introducing Reader Response

Say

Robert E. Probst - Response & Analysis
Milner, Milner, and Mitchell - Bridging English 
Deborah Appleman - "The Lens of Reader Response: The Promise and Peril of Response Based Pedagogy" 
Susan Henneberg - "Dimensions of Failure in Reader Response"

Reading another 100 odd pages on Rosenblatt was riveting and beneficial, but not really.  Probst gives some insights on other reader response theorists and I enjoyed reading about their ideas far more, even though I align most with Rosenblatt's theories, I am just over saturated in that area.  Rosenblatt's Transactional Theory fits somewhere between diametrically opposed New Criticism and Subjective Criticism, leaning on the side of Bleich's theories.

Bleich's Subjective Criticism aggressively rejects New Criticism, which has dominated American schools for nearly a century.  His theories emphasize the reader's experience as completely subjective, the text has no conversation or transaction with the reader as the reader provides all insights.  Subjective Criticism ignores that while readers are unique, their experience with a given work of literature has basis in sociolinguistic realities that shape the way in which the text is read.  Readers are unique, but their readings and relationship with a text are not necessarily unique.  Probst aptly points out that response takes place within not only an interpretative community, but internally as well for readers. 

 Much of the literature on Reader Response focuses on the success the theory in the classroom, but not on the potential for failure.  Probst includes 5 conditions for Reader Response: receptivity, tentativeness, rigor, cooperation, and suitable literature.  These conditions are intuitive, although I likely would not have considered tentativeness as necessary for Reader Response.  Reading is highly tentative, as a reader can change their opinion of a text from chapter to chapter and as the reader assimilates new information.

Appleman and Henneberg's articles extend this discussion on the potential for failure with Reader Response. Both cite lack of engagement and lack of relevance as major causes for students have negative experiences with response based approaches.  Having an open and inviting learning environment is also vital.  Henneberg recalls of issues with inappropriate remark by attention-seeking students shutting down class discussion completely.  I thankfully have not witnessed class environment issues like the ones she and Appleman write of.  Having effective classroom management is not only crucial for keeping students out of detention, but also for maintaining a safe learning space that students can feel comfortable sharing in.

Do

List of texts connecting to the idea of Perfectionism in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I compiled a list of texts that may be useful for engaging students into a discussion of Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues.  The texts tackle the issues of perfection and idolization on a societal scale rather than the more personal level that Franklin's Virtues emphasize.  I would suggest working in Plato's "Theory of Forms" to take things up a step.

1. Logan's Run (film) by Michael Anderson
   
2. "Harrison Bergeron" (short story) by Kurt Vonnegut 
   
3. Uglies (novel) by Scott Westerfeld 
   
4. The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes (picture book) by Gary Rubinstein
   
5. "No More Heroes" (song) by The Stranglers