asynchronous post #3: Rosenblatt and Smith

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asynchronous post #3: Rosenblatt and Smith

6/10/2021

OVERVIEW: Louise Rosenblatt and Frank Smith make similar arguments from very different perspectives: Rosenblatt, writing as a teacher for teacher, talks about the conditions surrounding excellent reading and argues for why teaching literacy is important and vital. Smith, writing as a psycholinguist, is interested in explaining what our body (our eye, our brain) is doing when we read, what fluent reading looks like, and why it is good for our bodies.

WHAT TO POST: For this discussion board post, please do two things . . .
1. In your summary and analysis, please identify the ways these two theorists compliment each other in terms of their ideas--in what ways are they similar? Be specific here. Use their terminology as you connect one theorist to the other.

2. Think back to your experience reading Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons. How would Rosenblatt and Smith explain what happened there--both the initial fear and loathing and the ultimate meaning making you experienced during the process. Here again, try to use the terminology of these two writers to explain the experience.

HOW TO RESPOND: Identify one other person that is saying something similar to what you are saying and connect and expand on their thought. Alternatively, if you disagree with someone, identify where you see your ideas about the texts as different.

16 Comments

Alexis Medeiros

6/10/2021 01:03:26 pm

Chapter 2 The Literary Experience: I want to say that I largely agree with this statement, “The teacher’s task is to foster fruitful interactions-- or, more precisely, transactions-- between individual readers and individual literary texts” (Rosenblatt 26). I feel as though the best teachers and the teachers who fostered a desire for me to teach were the teachers that implicated these fruitful interactions. If teachers aren’t allowing a student to build connections between themselves and the text then what is the point of reading. The student will never remember the text unless there was a lasting impact made with the text and themselves. When teachers take a purely practical approach to literature it leads to distortion and confusion. Oftentimes we try to make the text say things that it doesn't, which completely misses the mark because we need to allow the text to speak for itself. We learn from literature and should allow literature to teach us in its most natural form. Personally, this statement captures the purpose of this writing and this current class as a whole, “He must understand the personalities who are to experience this literature” (Rosenblatt 50). Teachers must foster a relationship with their students because if they know their students personally then they will be able to prepare students for the reactions that they may have because of the literature . If teachers don’t know their students how can they choose accurate literature that best suits the needs of their students in order to foster fruitful interactions between the students themselves and the literary texts. I feel as though Mike Rose’s words and Penny Kittle’s words are echoing back after reading this text. Teachers need to foster re;ationships with their students so they will be able to better understand and appreciate the literary texts that they are reading.

Chapter 10: Reading, Writing and Thinking describes how wrong our definition of reading is. Reading is often referred to as, “extracting information from print” (Smith 167). Reading is so much more than that though. Readers in the classroom are expected to regurgitate the teacher’s point of view instead of being allowed the ability to infirm their own. Oftentimes as readers we don’t allow the text to speak for itself because we already come into the reading with our own personal views, opinions and biases instead of putting them aside and allowing the text to speak for itself. As the chapter states we come into the reading with an extreme “global prediction” (Smith 171). We are always trying to conform the text and make it say things that it doesn’t and oftentimes as teachers we want our students to conform to our own viewpoints instead of letting them be able to decide their own. The statement, “Reading is not a matter of identifying letters in order to recognize words in order to get the meaning of a sentence” (Smith 169). There is so much more to reading, yes essentially reading is being able to read actually letters that are printed but doing that does not allow one to understand the full meaning of the text. One can read all that is written but unless one spends time with the print, the sentences and the text itself that's the only way they will be able to understand the text. Students must be able to form connections with the text.

Sarah Egan

6/10/2021 01:07:23 pm

Rosenblatt summarizes how it is important for teachers to recognize that their students need to develop observations for themselves when it comes to reading different works. Teachers should be guiding their students instead of providing them with the experience that they had when reading a text. Literature is diverse which allows for individual experiences to be shaped. An experience should not be forced onto reader because it could be turned into an academic experience instead of an enjoyable one.

Smith explains that teachers should lead their readers into developing a meaning of a text rather than creating one for them. This also helps to make a reading more interesting because it allows a reader to deem what they think is most important, they can determine what they want to learn from the text. Smith states that, “texts exist independently of writers and readers” (6). A writer should leave their works open to interpretation so that different readers can connect with what they are saying.

Thinking back to Tender Buttons, Rosenblatt and Smith would believe the experience we had was a positive one. As readers, we make predictions that influence our journey reading the text. Readers have to approach a text with a purpose and expectations to help guide their perspective; that is something no one can help with. Reading this text was a new experience for the class and we developed our own (and very different) assumptions about what we had just read. Students have to go through their own process of reading a text and discovering the true meaning behind it.

Elizabeth Cheesman

6/10/2021 02:07:50 pm

You are right, literacy should be an experience and journey, not a forced moment. Finding meaning can be difficult for students and therefore, it is an effective practice for teachers to provide guidance. It is also important to define what it means to be a facilitator, though. As teachers, we do not want to leave students hanging, prompting frustration but we also do not want to do all the work for them. Some important questions: Will students truly learn if the entire class does an activity together with no independent work? Or is it better to have a balance?

Alexis Medeiros

6/10/2021 04:18:13 pm

This response and analysis of the two text is great! Teacher’s need to realize that their students need to make their own observations. Often times as teachers we get lost in our own opinions and ideas and often times we forget that our students are people and not just students. They are indeed students but young people who are going to go on and be the next generation. We need them to formula their own opinions because if they are constantly living by someone else’s world views whether it is a teacher, parent or even friend they will never create their own self identity. School is the perfect place to grow and start pieces together the person you are with the person you want to be! You’re definitely spot on with the tender buttons connections! Often times we are scared to try new things but we need to step out of our comfort zone and try new things in order to develop into our own person!

Elizabeth Cheesman

6/10/2021 01:10:47 pm

There are connections made between the brain (intellectual), body (physical) and mind (emotions) or Rosenblatt’s “elements.” Teachers underestimate these connections. It is crucial for them to recognize what happens in a student’s body and mind to then help them use the “equipment” or the intellectual, emotional and experiential needs to be successful. Rosenblatt argues that reading should not be seen as an interaction with a page but as a “constructive” and “selective” process through a critical lens, for example. The teachers’ role is to encourage “transactions” between the reader and texts. Smith agrees with Rosenblatt, as he argues that texts are static, but thinking and responding to reading and writing should not be. Fluent reading involves “making sense of print” or expectations of what may happen in a story. The conventions of reading and writing are determined by the lessons that teachers are trying to accomplish. Rosenblatt says this is a “give and take” when students find meaning and interact with the text in front of them. Both authors complement each other because their arguments encourage readers to evaluate the “why” and see if the connections between texts are being made. If literacy is just about the text, and there is no active interaction with students, this may limit student’s ability to effectively grow as a reader and writer in the long run. Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons is a great example of this. Rosenblatt and Smith would say Stein’s piece is incredibly difficult for readers to make connections to the elements or the brain, body and mind. It was difficult to find the “why” or purpose of the piece due to the unusual words and language that confused the mind and brain. Stein’s piece also caused fear and tension in readers from lack of “transactions” between the reader and texts.

Gabriel El Khoury

6/10/2021 01:22:16 pm

Wholly agree with how you imagine Rosenblatt and Smith would react to our in-class reading of Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons, Elizabeth. Not only is is a highly complex work of writing, but, like you said, it elicits "fear and tension in readers" because it to defies the expectations we as readers have whenever we approach a text: we want to comprehend, to extract meaning, and to leave a work of writing having connected emotionally. Stein's Tender Buttons rejects the transactional relationship between the reader and the words outright. It could be argued that our in-class discussion of this highly disorienting text in some way relieved the "fear and tension" we may have experienced had we read it alone, without the input of others. Regardless, it was a worthwhile experience, and we all managed to extract meaning, meaning derived from our respective standpoints in life.

Lauren Wrigley

6/10/2021 06:39:26 pm

I like the point you make about the lack of transactions between the reader and the text. When considering our experience with Tender Buttons, I definitely thought about this concept, lacking the "equipment" to work with this text, considering many of us weren't familiar with Stein or her poetry. I also like that you acknowledge the "fear and tension" that difficult texts elicit in readers; This makes me think about the idea of the 'affective filter', where students shut down and further struggle to understand meaning.

Gabriel El Khoury

6/10/2021 01:13:40 pm

In both Louise Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration and Frank Smith’s Understanding Reading, close attention is paid towards the experience of reading, the experience internally and, specifically in Roseblatt’s case, the experience on an individual level. Reading is after all a highly individualistic enterprise, and Rosenblatt keenly expresses this very sentiment at the beginning of a chapter entitled “The Literary Experience”: “There is no such thing as a generic reader” (24). Not unlike Rosenblatt’s interpretation of reading as being a uniquely individualistic, subjective experience, Smith’s Understanding Reading, concentrating heavily on the metaphysics of reading, forwards a not too dissimilar set of assertions. Much of the scholarly literature describing the complexities of the reading experience Smith finds terribly insufficient, fundamentally lacking in what he rightly sees as being “the richness that is reading” (169). In fact, Smith goes as far to say that “no one activity” (169), that “no description” (169) could ever sufficiently capture the fullness of joy that is to be found in the reading experience, that various terms and textbook jargon serve only as criminal reductions of a process as mystifying as it is marvelous. By attempting to over-intellectualize a process as personal and pleasurable as reading, much of what makes reading a profoundly human experience is consequently buried beneath cold, detached scholarship.
Rosenblatt expounds at length upon the “aesthetic experience” (32) associated with reading, which she remarks as happening primarily on a subconscious level (32). Arguably the more intriguing point that Rosenblatt raises is the reciprocal exchange between the reader and the writing being read, the transactional nature of the literary experience (34). A work of writing passively engaged with is a work of writing passingly appreciated, passingly experienced. For one to properly undergo the literary experience, one must read responsively and responsibly. Smith, however, notes that the literary experience is like any other experience: “[i]t has consequences” (179), such as an “increase in specific memories and knowledge” (179). Even more of a reason to read responsibly, for to read carelessly is to imbibe information that cannot be unlearned. Of course, the benefits of reading are well-known, and Smith relates a number of studies to corroborate this.
Both Rosenblatt and Smith understandably sing the praises of reading. Whereas Rosenblatt observes the literary experience more from a philosophical angle, Smith’s approach is by comparison far more empirical, citing studies and including diagrams to support his assertions. However, both arrive at a similar conclusion: the process of reading is an overwhelmingly enriching experience.
Having read Rosenblatt and Smith, recalling to mind Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons perfectly exemplifies the relativity of comprehension to which Smith alludes (170) in Understanding Reading. Stein’s Tender Buttons upon first reading is incomprehensible to many, which demonstrates Smith’s point that reading comprehension, “extracting information from print” (167), is relative. Both Rosenblatt and Smith would regard our in-class reading of Tender Buttons to be a highly informative way of comprehending literature. Seeing as how we all bring our own individual expectations and life experiences to the classroom, it allows for any work of writing to be thoroughly dissected from various angles, providing the class with a holistic interpretation of a work of writing.

Aliyah Pires

6/10/2021 01:38:23 pm

I agree completely with what you say about the reactions Rosenblatt and Smith would have about the reading of Tender Buttons. The text allows for so many different interpretations rather than students being given one purpose or reason why the text was written. Comprehension of a text is not always one straight forward answer and I feel like you discussed that well through the readings of both these authors.

David Golden

6/10/2021 02:49:49 pm

I agree with you Gabriel that Rosenblatt and Smith would find that Stein's Tender Buttons is a matter of comprehension. Every reader is going to find their own meaning in a text. Tender Buttons was written for that purpose. If a teacher tried to force their perspective on their students the piece would be meaningless. I think you are spot on with the individual. It is our own experiences that allow us to look at literature with a different set of eyes. If all teachers mandated a certain perspective then literature would be a lot less interesting.

Aliyah Pires

6/10/2021 01:34:47 pm

In Rosenblatt's reading he discusses how it is important to allow students to make connections from themselves to the text. They need to build observations and ideas for themselves rather than having the teacher conduct the observations for them. Teachers need to understand that students have different connections based on their life experiences and it is helpful to remember text in this way. Students cannot remember as deeply what a text is saying is the teacher is restating an experience for them. Reading provokes so many different ideas based on the students' thoughts which is important for educators to remember. For me I know I remember a readings aspect more when I can find a connection to it from my own experiences.

Smith discusses along the lines the same aspects. Teachers should prompt their students to develop their own meaning of a text instead of providing a meaning for them to go from. Students will be more interested in the reading, like I stated before, if they can form and relate their own opinions to what the reading is trying to get across to them. Literature is all up for interpretations and educators should respect that aspect. Allowing students time to interpret the text from themself will get the students more interested in the context.

Rosenblatt and Smith would find Tender Buttons to be a perfect example for what they are trying to promote. The reading allowed for interpretation of each individual student since it was so interpretational. At first in seems incomprehensible but this aspect of the text leaves room for so much personal interpretation from students individually.

Sarah Egan

6/10/2021 02:25:32 pm

Aliyah, I also discussed how Tender Buttons was a great example of what Rosenblatt and Smith talked about in their works. They wanted us to realize that the interpretation of a reading is left up to the individual reading it, and not the writer or the person teaching it. Literature promotes curiosity and Tender Button demonstrates that. Your statement "For me I know I remember a readings aspect more when I can find a connection to it from my own experiences" is a very relatable one. I find myself remembering texts better that I explored myself.

David Golden

6/10/2021 02:44:43 pm

In Smith's article it discusses how teachers should have students come to their own conclusions when reading a piece of literature. He talks about the definition of reading and how teachers often try to define literature for their students. That is not the case because literature is subjective, you are meant to grasp your own meaning and that is Frank Smith's point. Students should interpret the meaning of the text at their own pace so they can fully grasp their own understanding of it. If they are able to accomplish that then they are more likely to be more involved in future readings.

Rosenblatt's article is fairly similar. The main point that they wanted to make was that students should also be able to observe different works of literature so they can grasp their own understanding. Rosenblatt explains the reluctance of many teachers in allowing students to examine their meaning of the text. The explanation is that "Literature lends little comfort to the teacher who seeks the security of clearly defined body of information" (26). Teachers are often protective of their own interpretation. That is normal behavior, but it is their job for the students to think for themselves. Rosenblatt end point is "The instructor's function is rather, to help students realize that the most important thing is what literature means to them and does for them" (65). I agree with them completely, but I know how difficult that shell is to crack. Literature is a complicated subject, but extremely rewarding once you feel like you understand it.

Smith and Rosenblatt would find that the piece Tender Buttons is exactly what they are advocating for. Literature is up for interpretation and it is up to each individual student to come up with their own meaning. The poem is the perfect example of what language can mean. Smith and Rosenblatt's belief that perspective is what drives reading is exactly what Gertrude Stein does in her piece and they would absolutely love it.

Emma Healy

6/10/2021 06:48:51 pm

David, I agree that Rosenblatt and Smith would enjoy the challenges we faced reading Tender Buttons. It proved that everyone in the class approached it completely differently, which is exactly what the two suggest. There isn't one right way to read or define reading, as it is up to the reader to interpret for themselves. When reading Tender Buttons, we were all trying to determine the meaning while looking at the print, but we struggled. This proves how even experienced readers face difficulties reading, aligning with Smith's argument. Like you stated, perspective and past experiences have a lot to do with how we approach reading.

Lauren Wrigley

6/10/2021 06:28:01 pm

Both Louise Rosenblatt and Frank Smith would argue that reading is an experience in which an interaction occurs between the reader and the text. The latter theorist focused on the idea of predictions and intentions that played a role in the relationship between the author of the text, providing the intentions, and the reader that predicts these expectations. From a psycholinguist perspective, Smith focuses on how readers comprehend what they’ve read, by interacting with the text and their past experiences with reading to formulate focal and global predictions. Therefore, due to the uniqueness of humans and their individual histories, these predictions, and even the comprehension of the text, have no limit, as they are unique to the person doing the reading. Rosenblatt compliments Smith’s theory in her pedagogical belief that the interpretation of literature can’t be limited and is developed based on the reader’s past experiences. Just as past experiences guide the expectations readers have for the text, the ability to make these predictions functions on the need to encounter these experiences with literature. She also believes that these experiences have to be developed on their own; Essentially, the teacher must facilitate the interaction between and the text to influence a meaning-making process rather than deposit the information into the student’s mind and leave them ignorant of the experience.
Rosenblatt and Smith would look at our experience with Tender Buttons as a natural and positive reading scenario. The way in which we were exposed to the text-- with no background knowledge, and worked individually, and then in groups to attempt to make meaning of the poem-- mirrors Rosenblatt’s idea of the teacher’s role, “to foster fruitful interactions.” Because many of us had little experience with Stein and her poetry, I personally felt like Smith’s description of the experience reader reading an unfamiliar text like a beginner.

Emma Healy

6/10/2021 06:40:20 pm

Louise Rosenblatt views reading as a skill that requires intellectual, physical, and emotional capabilities. Reading isn’t just pronouncing words but finding meaning in them. To discover meaning, students must draw on their past experiences. The reader approaches a text with a particular purpose in mind while looking at the signs on the pages. There needs to be a clear distinction between the text and literary work as well. The text is the, “sequence of printed or voiced signs” while the literary text is the meaning behind it. The teacher’s role in this is to help communicate the relationship between the reader and the literary text at hand. Reading is an emotional outlet that gives readers out of body experiences that wouldn’t necessarily happen in real life, an escape really. We want to gain knowledge but also seek ourselves out (identification) and sympathize with characters in texts. In classrooms today, there is a gap what the student may think about a certain text and what the teacher thinks the student should get out of the text. Because of this notion, students are often afraid to voice their beliefs in a classroom. Teachers need to encourage students to approach literature personally without the fear of failing. Students should feel secure in a classroom, in themselves, and in their teacher.

Frank Smith believes reading always has a purpose through processes like prior experiences, knowledge, and feelings. There is not one way to read or to define reading, it is up to the reader on how to interpret it. Print is visual information where readers find meaning in letters and symbols, as finding meaning in texts usually comes from questions being asked. To do so, readers need to have fluent reading abilities. Fluent reading involves making predictions, like global and focal. Global predictions influence a large group of people with an intended goal while focal predictions are intended for shorter periods of time. Reading begins with global predictions, anticipating what the topic or theme of the text will be about. Focal predictions are on the smaller scale, like predicting the next word or sentence. The more we read, the better we are; therefore, experience increases our reading abilities. Difficult reading can also occur for experienced readers too. Experience transitions to knowledge and learning. This article claims reading does in fact make people smarter as reading facilitates deeper levels of thinking.

In a lot of ways, Rosenblatt and Smith are similar in their beliefs on reading and literacy. They both claim reading is a skill that needs a set purpose. Students access their past experiences and prior knowledge to connect meaning to texts. Rosenblatt looks if a reader is predominantly authentic, where they delve into their feelings about a text and Smith highlights the importance of making predictions, either global or focal to engage a reader. Both of these concepts help readers find meaning that the author is trying to convey. They both emphasize how reading capabilities grow stronger by reading more often. Reading is an experience where knowledge is continuously gained. Looking back at Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons, it was initially a challenging task at hand. Rosenblatt would argue we were looking for identification while reading what seemed like utter nonsense. We were looking for a way to connect to the reading and find meaning, but we could not. Rosenblatt suggests a lot of students are afraid to speak up in class in the fear of being wrong in the teacher’s eye. I think that was similar to our experience reading Tender Buttons as we didn’t exactly know how to answer what the text was even saying. Smith would enjoy this as well because as experienced readers, we still struggled significantly with the text. There is a misconception that difficult reading only happens with beginning readers, but Tender Buttons parallels Smith’s ideas. Both Rosenblatt and Smith would encourage the reading of Tender Buttons.

asynchronous post #3: Rosenblatt and Smith

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asynchronous post #3: Rosenblatt and Smith

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