READING THEORY PECHA KUCHA'S AND YA LIT

TORDA'S SPRING 2023 TEACHING SITE

READING THEORY PECHA KUCHA'S AND YA LIT

3/29/2021

Please watch the Pecha Kucha for the four groups that you were not in. This should take roughly a 1/2 hour of your life (NOTE: Pecha Kucha will appear directly below this note once I've received them. Simply click on the file to dowload and watch).

group_5_pecha_kucha_project.pptx
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group_three.pptx
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pecha_kucha_updated__1_.pptx
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greene-macdonald-roche-grisolia-roemer-ppt.pptx
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aesthetic_experience.pptx
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ONCE YOU'VE WATCHED ALL OF THE PECHA KUCHAS
After you’ve watched the four Pecha Kuchas, post, on the class discussion board, roughly 300 words about what you learned about reading theory, reading as a practice, and how that pertains to understanding what we know about Young Adult Literature based on the four other Pecha Kuchas you watched. You have until next week Tuesday, 6 April 2021 to complete this.

RESPOND
To at least one of your classmates NOT in your group. You can connect what they wrote to another Pecha Kucha moment as evidence of their argument. You can connect what they wrote to another Pecha Kucha moment that you think contradicts the argument they are making. Please do not write "yeah I totally agree" and call it a day. Please respond in no less than 200 words.

34 Comments

Tenneh Sesay

4/4/2021 07:40:22 pm

What I learned about reading theory, reading as a practice, and how that pertains my understanding on what I know about Young Adult Literature based on the article I read about Pecha Kucha is that reading theory just only jump off the page and letting the reader to understand the page and the story. And also reading theory is based on what they person is or how they live. Pecha Kucha wants us to understanding what is readying theory is and how can we use it in our daily lives even though our way of thinking might be different than her but we can take some notes about it.

Demi Riendeau

4/5/2021 05:59:06 am

I like how you brought up how we can use reading theory in our daily lives outside of the classroom. That was not something I considered as I had such tunnel vision in completing an assignment “for school” that was “about school”. Through the presentations, especially the transactional theory and trauma pedagogy, I think this is a great thing to consider. It actually made me begin to think about texts that I had a poor experience with and connection with, (I am mainly thinking about Where the Crawdads Sing) based on my personal experience to the text. It was interesting to think about my personal dislike for the book in terms of transactional theory instead of just me not liking a book. I think your final sentence talking about taking notes about another’s writing was also really important, as it seemed to connect to Roemer’s perspective of both ensuring authentic transaction, but also acknowledging the systems that make students feel as if there is a “proper” transaction. Your connection between the two aspects of personal experience and the text incorporate many of the ideas in the Roemer presentation that acknowledges the double edged sword of the falsehood of unbiased or uninfluenced reader transaction in a classroom setting without consideration of the institutions expectations.

Demi Riendeau

4/5/2021 05:42:49 am

A lot of what I found most interesting in these presentations was the limitations and expectations put on readers about how they should read. In the trauma presentation it was described how a reader putting in their own life experiences might be trivializing, but it made me question what if that student has similar trauma? While this theory makes a solid argument about the importance of honoring other experiences it just left me a little uneasy on wondering how we honor our student’s trauma, through the lens of rhetorical analysis, as this is not rhetorical to some students. My main concerns come from two other presentations, that focused one Rosenblatt’s different work, where she talks about the transactional and reader response theory. Both of these really put an emphasis on the readers experience and own past, which I would consider to be a strong consideration in trauma pedagogy. Outside of the personal experiences students bring, I think the trauma response theory that I watched made a good connection to the importance of honoring the lives of the characters as they are. This connected with the Rosenblatt’s group presentation of timelining Little Women characters as it gives students a way to objectively look at their path, after having the experience of reading the text and interacting with it. I think this brough to light a good in between modality where the text is honored but the reader still has the opportunity to create their own experience with it. I found Roemer’s theory to be the most compelling connection between the other theorists. Through using many different theorists, she acknowledges the obstacles that come along with reader response theory and authentic aesthetic experience. A lot of the flaws that the other theories do not recognize are validated in Roemer’s theory. Our education system is outdated and meant to encourage conformity, so it can be extremely difficult to get students to have authentic experiences with texts without considering this. I also think this contributes to a lot of the difficulty students have with being assigned specific texts. These presentations have taught me most of all to be critical of reading theories and consider blind spots and shining spots so that I can create the best classroom culture possible.

Lindsay Everson

4/5/2021 08:12:22 am

Hi Demi,
I find it very important for students to interpret texts on their own terms instead of what is expected of them. Students often feel pressured to be “right” when interpreting texts in a classroom but as we learn through reader response theory, such pressure can lead to unauthentic experiences with a text. This leads to negative outcomes and conformity instead of expanding a reader’s thoughts and worldview. It is impossible for all readers to have the same reading experience because their lives are not the same. They have different personal experiences and cultural views which lead to various interpretations of a text. That is why it is important to select literature that has the ability to reach all readers in a classroom so they can grow through different reading experiences. When I think back to my reading experiences in high school, I specifically remember the pains that poetry could bring, and getting the “right” interpretation of a text. One of the pecha kucha groups brings up how great discussions can be and their benefits in exploring all different types of reader’s interpretations. Another group brought up the statement “emotions first, context second” which I found to be a great way to explain how students should be engaging with texts in the classroom.

Lindsay Everson

4/5/2021 07:19:51 am

Reading theory allows for educators to become informed on how literature can affect students in a classroom. Narrative Empathy considers literature in the classroom as a way to evoke empathy in a reader. Empathetic responses to a given a text have the power to change a reader’s worldview, and help them learn what is morally right. Empathy in a reader allows for an eye opening experience in which the reader is exposed to a world that is possibly completely different from their own. Through empathetic responses, students/ readers are revealed to real world topics and issues that may have never concerned them before their reading experience. Texts that concern trauma often lead to empathetic responses through allowing reader’s to see the experience the character is going through first hand. Reading as a practice allows for awareness of topics such as systemic racism in the community, and historical and ongoing trauma concerning marginalized groups that are often left untaught in history class. Through revealing the real world in young adult literature, a reader may find more relatability to characters their age, even if their experiences in life are completely different. Certain novels may lead to right decision making and good morals in a reader, since stories allow for personal emotional responses which can help future generations learn and grow. It is also important to understand that not all reading experiences and responses are the same. The circumstances surrounding the reading such as different life experiences effect the ways a reader makes meaning of a text. Personal or cultural lenses allow for different interpretations of a given text in the classroom. I learned it is important to recognize that there are institutionalized pressures places on student readers which can lead to a lack of student beliefs and opinions. It is important to allow readers to take their life experiences to foster creative thinking and their own interpretations of a text in order to stop forcing them to conform to the present system. Silencing students does not make them aware of the real world, it holds them back and gives them false truths to conform to the current system instead of allowing them to use their interpretations of literature as a way to transform their worldview. Young adult literature is written for a young audience, but that does not mean certain topics are easy to teach. YA lit opens up new truths to readers, whether they have had the same experiences or not and it has the ability to make readers aware of ongoing topics and issues through the first hand experiences of the character’s.

Ashley Munoz

4/5/2021 09:58:39 am

Before this class, while I knew of reading theory, I had never really applied it to any of the texts I had previously read. Now I am able to actively make the connections between the experiences I have and relating them to text which I can now teach my students to apply to their reading as well. Keeping the open mind that the personal experiences of the students affecting their interpretations of the text and therefor their responses is going to become a constant reminder in order to not streamline their thinking. All in all, I believe that we both had a similar learning experience with how we received the Pecha Kucha projects.

Tenneh Sesay

4/5/2021 06:33:01 pm

Hi LINDSAY,

First of all I like how you describe the different between personal cultural lens. I feel that catch my attention, while I was reading others respond I noticed that they didn't include personal and cultural in their writing.

Cora A Roche

4/6/2021 08:45:29 am

I love your point: "Through revealing the real world in young adult literature, a reader may find more relatability to characters their age, even if their experiences in life are completely different". It is very important for the author to create and emphasize common ground with the character and the reader or the story that you are supposed to be empathetic towards will be ineffective. Common ground helps make the reader more susceptible to hearing other world views and experiences.

Ashley Munoz

4/5/2021 09:26:05 am

After watching the other Pecha Kuchas I would say I learned some interesting insights to reading theory, reading as a practice, and the understanding of what I know of Young Adult Literature. I have always felt that if one does not have a strong connection with the text, either emotionally or through interest that it was always more difficult to get through. Which was something I only ever experienced in school when reading text like “Beowulf” (for example). The theory that an emotional connection is needed was only reinforced by these Pecha Kuchas. Our reactions to the text can mean everything and if there is no reaction, is reading the text even worth it? I wholly agree with Roemer on the fact that if we cannot get a true response from the reader, we are not connecting with and teaching texts the right way. Because that is what is young adult literature if not an emotional connection to the text, a response based on our own interests that makes it a worthwhile experience. With the Pecha Kucha about Roemer, I found many similarities between theirs and the one my own group did on Rosenblatt. However, the point they made on Rosenblatt not identifying institutionalized pressure of academia was very interesting to me as I had not thought of it before. But it makes sense, that students will respond in that expected way regardless of their own thoughts because of school and what has become normalized. So those individuals are being snuffed out by trying to “fit in” so to speak. I also wanted to note, that the generational differences that were mentioned by group three, I believe, are important to think of as those life experiences vary greatly from generation to generation.

Maryan

4/6/2021 10:24:13 am

Hi Ashley,

You raise a great point about the importance of having an emotional connection to a text. It is true that not having that connection can make reading a text extremely difficult. I have experienced the same thing, and it was one of the main reasons I hated English class growing up. I knew that if it weren't for the state education department mandating that we read these texts (that they deemed important to our educational experience) that we probably would not be reading them at all. It was due to the need for us to pass the yearly MCAS that those texts were pushed for us to read in class.

To add to your point about the reader's response theory, and the connection it has to the ideological generational gap in the context of education and what they deem is of importance and should be pushed in the curriculum. I focused on the reading theory in my response, and mentioned this generational gap as well, so it's great to see that others were analyzing the reading in a similar way.

Brittany Ann Oppenheimer

4/6/2021 01:56:32 pm

I was think about the same thing actually. The idea that "why should we teach these novels at all if the students don't connect to them in any way." It's hard to say for myself as someone who is not going into teaching, but from my own school experience, I know that some teachers will force a novel people students don't wait to read down there throats and say they they have to teach it because every school teaches it or whatever the case may be. Of course I had to read "The Catcher and the Rye" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" because every school was teaching them. I didn't enjoy those books, but it was something that I was forced to read because "it meant something." Though I could never understand what those text meant to me because I wasn't interested in them.
I think there is just a fine line of what we should teach to our students. Sometimes, it might just be a guessing game to figure out what the students would like and relate to what what they might not. Would I teach "To Kill a Mockingbird" for every 9th grade class. No. I think it would get boring after a while. I feel that changing things up and trying something new goes a long way into figuring out what students might relate to and what they might not relate to in the end.

Lauren Grisolia

4/6/2021 07:40:25 am

Reader Response Theory is something very relevant and schools, or just in anyone's reading today. Young Adult literature is somewhere where connections make all the difference. Being a young adult or teen, drama is something that can be blown out of proportion. Reading stories with teen drama or high school situations may suck the reader in as something that can be entertaining to them. Also, recognizing something a character is going through in their reading as something that they can connect with in their own lives makes reading more meaningful to them. Teachers can be very strict when it comes to interpreting texts and sticking to one meaning and one meaning only and not being open to students' opinions because "they know best." Discouraging young people's opinions can be damaging to not only their love of learning, but their self esteem as well. If students don't learn to speak up and share their trauma/experiences, they may never feel understood or connected in any way. All of the presentations did a great job at summarizing their articles and creating arguments or agreements in connection with them. Picking apart these articles is something that they give teachers a different insight. Also, if students feel comfortable in the classroom, it will translate into their daily lives and they can use that acceptance to share more in the real world. Reading seems like something that is just using literature and writing to pass a class or write an essay, but it's much more than that. Reading a book or poem can really open the eyes of someone and create a love of the impact it has on them, even if it means something else to a friend or classmate. Responding to everyone's opinions will make sure that they feel seen in not only school, but society as well.

Samantha Yidiaris

4/6/2021 08:41:05 am

Hi Lauren,

I agree with you and I feel teachers need to be more open minded about their students responses. It can be hard for a student when they think they interpreted a text correctly and a teacher tells them that it's not correct. As a young person, it may make you not want to participate again. Reading YA is important for students/ teenagers, because it can give a student something to relate to in their own lives that they may have not been able to relate to anything or anybody else. This is why readers response theory should be encouraged in a classroom, and used by teachers while reading and discussing texts.

James Gimler

4/6/2021 11:16:43 am

lauren,
I agree with you thoughts and I believe that teachers need to see that each one of their students are different and not numbers on a spreadsheet or names on a roster board. when students read, they make their own interpretations about what they read so the conclusions they make on their own. when they are told that their opinions are incorrect, it makes them feel as if they are dumb and they wont want to participate in class anymore.

Samantha Yidiaris

4/6/2021 08:35:33 am

While watching the Pecha Kucha’s, I learned more about reader response theory and how it relates to young adult literature. It is important to make outside connections to texts when you are reading to ensure that you understand the true meaning of it. This is helpful in a classroom because it is easier for students to understand a text if they are able to relate something from their personal lives to what they are reading. That is why if students are reading young adult literature, they are able to understand and connect to the texts more because YA can be more relatable to them if the novel deals with issues that young adults and teenagers face while they are growing up. While my group focused heavily on reader response theory and Rosenblatt, it was interesting to compare that reading to the Marjori Godlin Roemer one. I liked this theory more because it discussed reader response theory, but also mentioned its flaws that it doesn’t quite grasp the institutionalized pressure that students deal with. She explains that the only way true reader response theory can be achieved in a classroom is if teachers recognize how the education system is designed to control students' answers. I would have to agree with this theory more. Often, I feel teachers expect one certain answer out of students and it has to be how the teacher interprets the text. While it is probably correct, I feel there can be multiple different interpretations of a text, and encouraging multiple interpretations that students have should be more accepted. Student’s should be relating their experiences in life and bringing that into the classroom. This is all something that I hadn’t thought about before and was interested to learn while watching this specific Pecha Kucha. Overall, I believe I learned more about reader response theory while watching the other Pecha Kucha’s, and felt I was able to connect it more to YA literature.

Grace

4/6/2021 11:59:51 am

The other missing piece in Rosenblatt’s theory that Roemer corrects is how reading connects to writing. Good writing is good communicating, and writing has to be a blend of the technical and the imagination and creativity. Students who focus on the “right” answer may write poorly, because they will not explore surrounding ideas, the points and counterpoints to the argument they’re making. Rhetorical analysis to break down a text fosters great technical writers, and excellent analyzers, but does it foster great thinkers?
Obviously, some student’s answers will be more on the nose than others, and conversations on the text’s intended audience, tone, time period, and other factors are important. But there is never one, single answer—especially in fiction. Like Rosenblatt said, “books happen to the readers, and readers happen to the books.”
It would be interesting to carefully expose students to some ideas of literary theory, and how our worldview, demographic, and even place of residence can change how we read text.
It’s important to understand the pressures of the classroom, where students lay their reading and writing over a rubric to ensure it will score highly. This environment doesn’t foster that creativity, that next generation of literary theorists, and authors of YA fiction.

Cora A Roche

4/6/2021 08:38:38 am

Group 5 did a great job discussing how to more sensitively teach literature that covers topics about violence and trauma. I really liked that they included other videos to reference before discussing "Long Way Down". This presentation also touched on the difficult task of teaching morality in a classroom as objectively as possible. They also discussed ally-ship and how to teach the importance of ally-ship.
Group 3 discussed the importance of perspective and life experience in Reader Response Theory, and that the reader is the life of the text not the other way around. Their article focuses on Rosenblat and her book. Teaching texts about race and gang violence in a classroom in the city versus a more rural setting brings different challenges. Other challenges include discussing these topics with different generations. This group discussed "Little Women" and "Long Way Down" in an effective way that does not neglect either text. They applied reader response theory to both texts to explore how it can be applied in different contexts. Group 1 discussed narrative empathy and how this empathy complicates the reading experience. Narrative empathy often is more readily given by the reader for negative emotions. They also include how to incorporate lessons into teaching texts like "Long Way Down" like asking how the author is appealing for empathy and why.
Reading Response Theory is only as effective as the facilitating teacher. Reading and teaching literature is driven by everyone's personal experience and is affected by everyone's personal empathy. Reading with their personal experiences and their empathy is important, because if they try to read it objectively, they miss out on an opportunity to learn about the different experiences of people around them.

Alex Mitchell

4/6/2021 10:14:32 am

Hi Cora,

Reading your discussion post was honestly insightful; you managed to touch upon the key ideas of each Pecha Kucha project. My only question for you is: what reading practice aligns most with your own? Is it a combination of multiple theories? I know at the end of your post you write "if they try to read it objectively, they miss out on an opportunity to learn about the different experiences of people around them" I agree with this to a certain extent, but part of me wonders if reading objectively is also a way to learn about the different experiences of others. If you read purely subjectively, is there really room for learning? Or are there certain text that should be read subjectively and certain texts read objectively? In my opinion, YA literature is much more complex than I originally thought and the way we read or teach different YA texts calls for different reading practices.

Alex Mitchell

4/6/2021 09:59:50 am

After watching the other groups’ projects, I’m left with a lot to think about in regards to reading theory and especially the reader response theory. I agree thoroughly with the idea that the reader is responsible for bringing their own meaning to a text, but there’s one particular Rosenblatt quote I saw on reading theory that stuck with me. That quote is: “Text is just ink on a page until a reader comes along and gives it life.” A reader’s interaction with a text is incredibly meaningful and unique to that individual. These interactions are what makes reading purposeful to students and I’ve learned that while books are powerful, they get some of their power from the reader. The meaning of a text depends on not only the text itself, but also the reader's response and the situation in which the text is being read. As a future teacher, watching these projects has reinforced my awareness of how to “teach” texts in the classroom. Teachers are also graders and I think that makes it very easy to believe there’s a right way to read something and a wrong way to read something. That’s just not the case really. Interpretation and comprehension are two different things when it comes to literature. Reader response theory takes into account that each reader has a different life experience or perspective to bring to the table when interacting with a text. What I find most interesting is the similarities shared between the other 4 groups’ articles and how they differ from my own group’s article. The article I was assigned cautions against injecting too much of our own lives onto a text that deals with trauma or disturbing historical events. I’m curious as to what extent reader response theory is appropriate and I think that heavily depends on the content of the text. While it makes sense to steer clear of comparing my own life experiences to the Holocaust, I’m a bit unsure of the ethical implications when it comes to students who have experienced trauma comparable to the traumas of a text. Meaningful transactions between the reader and a text are incredibly important, but I’m left wondering: are there boundaries to reader response theory?

Adlai Greene

4/6/2021 11:26:22 am

Hi Alex, I love that you asked about the boundaries with reader-response theory because that is something I have also been wondering. On one hand, it is critical that the reader's interpretation is valued and used in analyzing a text, but on the other hand, students (all humans really) aren't objective individuals and this could cause us to grossly misinterpret a text. There has to be a balance and I'm not completely sure where that is. I did feel like the article my group read, by Roemer, tried to answer this a little bit. She argues that it is important for students to have the opportunity to share their culture, background, and emotions with a text, especially without the teacher oppressing the conversation and insisting that students interpret the text a certain way, but she doesn't toss out literary analysis techniques that we've been using for years. I guess I felt like she was suggesting you can do both. As a teacher, you can instruct your students in ways that help the reader interpret use of symbols, word choice, setting, character, etc., to understand the intended meaning of the text. However, as a teacher, it's important to make sure that those analysis techniques don't dictate the students' interpretations. I think this means that we can analyze a text with certain procedures while still allowing for the flexibility of seeing the text in other ways. It seems like a tricky balance between the two that I'm not really sure how I would teach, but I know I would want an environment that gave them the tools to analyze a text while giving them the freedom to bring in their own experiences too.

Maryan

4/6/2021 10:13:33 am

I learned the importance of allowing students to express their ideas and opinions about content they learn in class. I learned about how literary theory is the idea that the way a reader interprets a text varies based on their life experiences. No two students will interpret a text the same way, and if they do, it’s most likely through the lens of their personal life experiences. I agree with this theory as that is the way I interpret everything I read and learn about in my courses. My life experiences shape my learning style and the way I interact in a classroom. Additionally, the readers response theory and the discussion surrounding it was interesting. I especially resonated with the criticism posed by Romer that the theory is faulty because it does not recognize the pressure placed on students from institutions. It validated the thoughts I had as a child when I would criticize the idea of standardized tests and how unfair it was on us as students to be given the same test (which, by the way, was probably developed by people who have been out of school for way longer than they’ve been in school) when our learning styles and level of understanding varied. I was never a fan of standardized tests because I felt like they forced me to mold my answers to fit what I thought would be deemed good enough by the grading committee, and this is the same thing Romer mentions as being one of the problems with readers' responses. The idea of having open response questions on a standardized test that is being graded for accuracy or understanding is contradictory. It is no longer an “open response” if someone who may hold a different view to your interpretation of the text is grading it. People have preconceived biases, and grading methods differ from person to person, so students should not be pressured by being given a timed test that forces them to mold their opinion to be one that pleases the authorities. Overall, it stifles their creativity which in my opinion is never a good thing.

Nicholas A Ceniseroz

4/6/2021 08:21:47 pm

Definitely I think addressing the standardization and forceful molding of student answers is especially important to consider (I myself have also experienced the matter of having nonstandard interpretations being shut down and eventually just giving up and writing what I thought teachers wanted me to write). I think Reader Response Theory, or what my group's pecha kucha referred to as Empathetic Inaccuracy is an important factor to consider. Considering and validating different interpretations of works. That being said, I do still feel that there should be some measure of establishing a common ground so as to avoid a situation where everyone has a different theory with no one actually knowing what the author's intent was. As such, I think a happy middle ground would be to have a system where we have students study the interpretations intended by the author (which would work as a standardized understanding), but also still giving students the opportunity to put their personal interpretations out there and validate their interpretations, and subsequently study how the author tried to get their message across, how effective or ineffective their strategies were, and why these discrepancies between author's intent and reader reactions might exist

Adlai Greene

4/6/2021 10:23:12 am

After viewing the other Pecha Kucha’s, I was struck by the repeated emphasis on reading as a tool for something greater. Whether this be evoking empathy, exploring different perspectives, creating well-rounded and ethical individuals, discussing trauma, etc. Although we can enjoy reading simply for the words or feelings it evokes, the truth is, reading a text is an avenue to critical thinking and worldview forming. I’ve been told repeatedly how important reading is, but I appreciated how each of the groups articulated why it is important. I was also fascinated by the discourse between reading theories. Reading theories can promote the text by itself, the text with author and historical connections, or the text with reader connections. On one hand, there is the desire to preserve the text and the original intent of the author; however, on the other end, there is the desire to bring in reader and the valid experiences and backgrounds that make the text impactful for each individual. I think this conflict between theories was most present between the article on trauma and the Pecha Kucha’s on Rosenblatt, specifically in their interpretations on how to approach Long Way Down. The Rosenblatt and Suzanne Keen Pecha Kucha’s talked about allowing readers to use their life experiences and connection to the emotions in the text to interpret the meaning of the text. In doing so, readers are given an avenue to consider gun violence in marginalized communities and the conflicting emotions of pain, revenge, and loss that Will experience. Readers can focus on these emotions and the way they relate to Will as a way of creating understanding and meaning. The trauma Pecha Kucha warns the reader of going too far, however. In order to honor the trauma that the individual might have gone through, the trauma article suggests that readers should not insert themselves into the story too deeply as it could make the real trauma trivial. This Pecha Kucha instead talked about bringing in historical sources to contextualize the article and demonstrate the real trauma that occurred. I found this conflict intriguing because I think Romer ties these two aspects together. Yes, it is important for the reader to be included when considering a text as it works towards creating meaning and understanding the world, but it is also important to validate the trauma within a text and that comes from contextualizing the text. I believe there needs to be a combination of honoring the real trauma individuals experience and considering the reader’s experience and emotions as well. This is especially critical for our students reading YA Lit as it encourage them to enter the conversation, but helps them do that in a way that is still respectful of real trauma they might not have experienced. I think all of these Pecha Kuchas held valuable information about teaching YA Lit as a window into the individual as well as source to be analyzed simply as writing.

James Gimler

4/6/2021 11:09:43 am

after watching all of the other projects, what I’ve learned about reading theory is that it has a different meaning to different people. A theory is not something that is set in stone and nobody can come up with a set-in-stone theory that becomes a reading Law. Rosenblatt, for instance, had a differing opinion about how important the reader is to a text being that the individual’s experiences affect how they interpret the text. Some theorists didn’t agree with her theory; but that is the glory of reading theory, there is no right or wrong answer to the question of reading theory. Everybody’s opinion is valid and until reading theory becomes a specific reading law, every theorists theories are equally valid in the grand scheme of reading theory. However, reading the article on Rosenblatt, I agree that the reader’s personal experiences have a tremendous impact on what they are reading. Every person has different experiences and those experiences dictate how the person will internalize the text that they are reading. For instance, when we read “little women”; personally I did not fully connect to the story beacause this story was about young girls growing up and my experiences do not let me connect to this because they are different than that of little women. In young adult literature, readers connect to different stories because of their experiences. This makes readers connect with different characters, because they relate with these characters because they share similar experiences.

Orlaith Connolly

4/6/2021 01:31:54 pm

Hi James,
I’m interested in the point you made about students relating to characters who share similar experiences with them. In a classroom setting, I think that one of the challenges with this instance would be getting a variety of different students to relate or understand characters who have nothing in common with them. For example, I highly doubt that there would be many students who could relate to Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, but his character development is extremely insightful and important to understanding the text as a whole. It’s difficult to get students to engage with a text that they cannot relate to, but it’s a challenge that must be considered in the classroom. Other times, there might be a text that some students in the class relate with while others are completely disinterested. Like your example with Little Women, it was difficult for you to connect with because yourself and the characters in the story have different experiences than what you are familiar with. I think it’s important to equally represent a variety of different character types throughout the school year so each student has more than once chance to recognize how it’s possible for them to relate with reading.

Grace Donnelly

4/6/2021 11:48:50 am

There is opportunity for both reader response and critical thinking in the classroom. If there is no reader response, like in Rosenblatt’s theory, poetry and other empathic work would be poorly understood. Without critical thinking and supporting articles, documents, and TED talks, the effects of trauma and tragedy can be marginalized, misunderstood, or ignored.
One of the Pecha Kuchas challenged teachers to push against the institutional expectations of the education system, stating that students should be taught how to think, not what to think. Although the educational system does have certain standards that curtail student’s reading experience, teachers should not be charged with this responsibility. It would have to be a school wide change to ensure teachers are not laid off or fired for stirring up trouble. Also, standardized tests like the SAT and the APs require students to learn about literature in a certain way, in order to succeed on the exam. If students choose not to take those tests, the lack of scores can affect their chances of getting into a competitive college. Although the educational system’s standards should be changed, there is a domino effect that we must be mindful of.
Additionally, one Pecha Kucha mentioned that modern poetry is easier for students to understand. Modern poetry tends to use the vocabulary we’re familiar with now. Shakespeare is unapproachable because of his phrasing, and references to traditions lost to time. Although literary purists may claim they spoil the text, the use of books like “No Fear Shakespeare” that annotate his plays can be a way to introduce high school students to unfamiliar vocabulary and sentence structure. After reading two or three plays in that format, students find it easier to approach unannotated Shakespeare, and they are more confident because of what they learned in those supplemental texts.
A balance of textual analysis, supported by outside resources, and intrinsic reader response will ensure engaged readers, more thorough responders, and well-educated members of society.

Hannah MacDonald

4/6/2021 12:35:40 pm

My main takeaway from watching other classmates' slides about Reader's Response Theory, is the importance of reactions when reading a text. Reader's Response Theory was an important step to taking the emotions that a piece evokes into account, instead of just analyzing what the piece of literature was meant to mean. One group specifically pointed out that because there is no correct answer, and it allows different people to have different meanings and understandings of the same text. This allows students to be more creative and use their imagination when analyzing.

Orlaith Connolly

4/6/2021 01:22:34 pm

Through the other Pecha Kucha created by my classmates, I have learned about the different practices of reading and how students can benefit from them in the classroom. One key detail that was common amongst most of the presentations was the importance of an individual's personal interpretation of their reading. All students are unique and have different backgrounds, beliefs, and life experiences which can all affect how they perceive the text, and should be taken into consideration in a classroom. A student’s response to a reading is largely dependent on how they relate to the text, so it is important to allow room for subjectivity in the classroom so that the students can learn from one another. One of the presentations discussed how teacher’s often tell their students what they should think of an assigned reading instead of giving them skills they need to critically think for themselves. I thought that this related to my group's presentation where we discussed the aesthetic experience because of Rosenblatt’s theory of a transactional reading experience in which each reader brings in their own discussion to the text rather than examining it from an objective perspective. However, a different Pecha Kucha contradicted Rosenblatt’s theory because she does not take into account the implications of the institutionalized pressures that students face in the education system, and how it can affect their interpretation of the reading. School systems often force students to conform to strict rules and rigid ideas of what is considered acceptable work which limits students in their freedom of expression, and often silences their ideas out of fear of repercussion. From watching these Pecha Kuchas, I have learned more about why readers of all ages can relate to Young Adult Literature by understanding how empathetic responses to create an emotional connection with the text.

Maria Pestilli

4/8/2021 12:39:23 pm

Hi Orlaith!

I think you touched on a really interesting idea here and that is that it is almost impossible for students to have their own interpretations of a text in a classroom. Students are so afraid of getting a bad grade that they obsess over getting the “right” answer or the answer the teacher wants to hear. This prevents the reader from connecting to the story and creating their own interpretation which is important to understanding a text. If a student is not given the chance to make their own assumptions about a story, then they will struggle to properly understand the text. It is sad that there are so many classrooms where students are not allowed to have their own opinions about a story. I do believe the idea you brought up is a real issue that needs to be fixed and this idea was something I touched on in my own response. It makes no sense to me why there are so many teachers who teach by the book and don’t allow students to express themselves. How can anyone learn anything in such a restrictive environment? Anyways, I liked what you brought up in your post. We talked about pretty similar ideas.

Brittany Ann Oppenheimer

4/6/2021 01:45:41 pm

After watching these presentations, I learned that the reading response theory is about how a person decides to read a text based on their life experience and current living situation. A person's life experience can help change how a reader sees the text as a whole and can help them change how they feel about a theme from the novel overtime. If, let's say, a reader grew up in a poor home and decided to read a novel like "Long Way Down," the text might be looked at differently from his/her point of view than someone who is of middle class. I also feel like when the text is read can also be important to this theory as well. It might be different reading "Little Women" in the 1960s, then having a person from a newer generation read that text in the 2000s.
Taking all this into account can drastically change how reading is as a practice for each person. Some readers might view a text differently because they can't relate to that situation while others can. Some text might come off as boring to some students but might hit close to home for others. Sure, any student can read a text and analyze it critically, but it helps to relate to the themes of the text so that a student can read it on a whole other level. If a novel doesn't grab them right away in the opening pages, the text might not pertain to them as readers. That, however, doesn't mean there isn't anyone who relates to the novels presented here. It just means that the students living situation does not help them see the themes that someone else might see as a reader.
With that said, I feel that, based on the presentations we watched, that the the idea of "Young Adult Literature" still comes off as a broad topic. It's a genre for a novel that, in a sense, has a target demographic, but then again, it doesn't. The novel "Long Way Down" wouldn't be something I would personally teach to 8th graders. I would probably wait until that class hit the 10th grade before I taught something like that to them. It feels like a book that is targeted towards sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen year old students. I feel that teaching fourteen and fifteen year old students is a little too young for them to understand the themes here. But hey, that's just me. Young Adult novels might be meant for thirteen year olds, or maybe it is meant for kids about to turn into adults (seventeen to eighteen?). In the end, I feel what determines what is YA for a specific age demographic depends on the themes itself. If these themes are darker or more mature, then maybe teach that to a 11th or 12th grade class. If the themes are more moderate, then teach that to a 8th or 9th grade class. That's just how I see young adult literature right now.

Nicholas A Ceniseroz

4/6/2021 07:58:50 pm

An interesting connection among the pecha kuchas was the notion of readers either failing to develop, or developing a different empathetic response than the author/text intended to elicit. In my group’s article, this was referred to as Empathetic Inaccuracy, and there was much discussion on what causes this and how these discrepancies are still worth studying. Meanwhile, in all the other pecha kuchas, this was addressed as the concept of Reader Response Theory. This was a term I was at least peripherally aware of, but had never really gotten into or had a chance to properly study at any point. Surprisingly all but my group seemed to be about the exact same thing with Rosenblatt and reader response theory, while my group’s article was more about the science and study of empathetic strategies in general. I do feel glad that I am able to think about the concept of reader response theory through the lens of having read my article mentioning Empathetic Inaccuracy first, thinking about the different types of strategic empathy employed, the strategies used, while considering the intent of the author and why the discrepancy exists in a broader, more scientific lens. Another interesting difference was the fact that in my group’s article, it established that while some correlations between high readership and different levels of empathy exist, it is actually up in the air and unproven whether or not reading in and of itself actually causes an increase in empathy, as correlation does not equal causation. Meanwhile, the other pecha kuchas seemed more or less in agreement under the assumption that reading directly fosters empathy in people

Maria Pestilli

4/8/2021 12:31:36 pm

Group 5 is the first Pecha Kucha I watched and what I learned from them is that it is important for teachers to acknowledge trauma within the classroom and that teachers should give fair warning to their students before they read about such topics. I also learned about how these themes don’t only exist in adult books, these themes appear in young adult literature. They brought up “Long Way Down” and how if it were to be taught in a class the students would need to be properly educated about the tough topics and warned before reading. Group 5 talked about how reading can cause trauma so to avoid that happening a reader should be properly warned before reading a story.

Group 1 talked about narrative empathy. They talked about how its important for readers to feel connected to a story and for readers to feel empathy towards the characters in the story. This idea is especially true when it comes to Young Adult lit. One of the reasons why YA is such a popular genre is the fact that everyone can relate to it. Everyone goes through the process of growing up whether that be something they are currently going through or something in the past. YA is so amazing because more often than not the characters are relatable which gives readers the chance to have narrative empathy towards the characters and this enhances their reader experience.

The next group had the Article from Marjori Godlin Roemer which talked about Reader Response theory but under a different light. The article brought up the fact that Reader Response theory has a hard time existing in the classroom because students try to give the answer they think will give them the best grade and not the answer they interpreted. This idea is important because it shows how we as teachers need to make students feel more comfortable when it comes to their own interpretations within the classroom. Reader Response Theory works well with Young Adult Lit because many people may relate to the same story, but they will relate to it in different ways. Each different view allows the reader to see the book in a new light and for YA it is always good to look deeper into the text to find new information about the story and characters.

The last group talked about Aesthetic Experience which is an extension to Reader Response Theory. Basically, what is means is that there is a sort of relationship between the reader and the text. They exchange information between each other, and the reader makes their interpretation based on the information given by the text. To me this sounds a lot like Reader Response Theory so its connection to YA lit is basically the same.

Alexyss Galvin

4/8/2021 02:32:28 pm

I have honestly learned a lot from watching the Pecha Kucha and everyone's hard work. Throughout every project, each student was able to make a connection within a classroom experience,or a life experience in general. My major take away was tips on how to help students engaged in both their readings and their classroom. Finding ways that children can relate and understand is so important. In one Pecha Kucha some poetry was discussed, and ways to bring it across to students' understanding. In conclusion, as future educators we must understand that everyone reads and understands texts differently. If they need assistance understanding something it is absolutely fine. Everyone did a great job!

Katy Bedig

4/9/2021 02:57:20 pm

I learned that Reader Response Theory is the interpretation of text that changes based on life experiences. Louise Rosenblatt changed the way we look at literature adding reader response to the box of tools we have to examine a piece of literature. Rosenblatt says the reader’s experiences and emotions are the most important part of literary interaction. Rosenblatt says, “Books do not simply happen to people. People also happen to books.” It sounds like people are abusing books but I think she means that any given experience a person has can affect how they understand and think about the messages written in a book.
Suzanne Keen argues that literary analysis has been based on the white western men's experiences that it doesn’t take the experiences of others from other parts of the world or with different human experiences into account. Empathizing inaccuracy from Suzanne Keen’s Theory of Narrative Empathy seems like it could be an unfortunate consequence of the Reader Response Theory because the reader might not be connecting with the author’s intent accurately and you might only be relating to your own world experience. Not that it isn’t necessarily wrong, but I think there are times and places where you want to discover what the author is intending and times when you want the reader’s feelings on the topic.
The Pecha Kucha titled The Ethics of Teaching Disturbing Pasts discussed the ethical implications of teaching trauma through literature. Their argument was that teachers should contextualize the information for the students and that it is important for students to grow morally and encourage right decision making so this work is valuable. Teachers should do this using historical documents and current events, focusing on rhetorical analysis and a safe environment. Relatability is key in teaching trauma in literature but the presenters say we can’t put our own experiences in the trauma because that would be trivializing the traumatic experiences. Don’t compare traumas; pay due respect to the people who live through these events.

READING THEORY PECHA KUCHA'S AND YA LIT

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