A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature

After reading this article, I couldn't help but feel like these concepts were already familiar to me.  In most of the classes I've taken, there has been a focus on student engagement especially through discussion. The focus has been on student voice and developing student ownership of their learning experience.  That being said, I appreciated the practical approach this article takes to outlining potential methods to achieve the goal of student response.

The concept of the "horizon of possibilities" is important as a teacher of language arts as it reminds me/us that we don't have to wrap every lesson up in a perfect package, that we need to be comfortable with more questions and the presentation of ideas that we might not be prepared for.  The fact that all of our students and us as teachers have different life experiences to draw from means that we will all interact with a particular text in a unique way and the only way to share how we can all be moved by literature in different ways is to invite our students to share without feeling like they have to give a "right" answer. 

Langer's description of how literary and discursive interactions with reading are different but interactive was interesting to me. I liked her point that while one is the focus, the other helps inform or move the reading/writing along to build complex conclusions. Helping students find a way to incorporate their knowledge and facts into their interpretation and viewpoint on a literary reading encourages and develops their critical thinking skills. And that process works both ways, applying literature to fact-based classwork or information can bring life and empathy to an issue that students can feel disconnected to.  Students need to become well-rounded in the way they take in new information, especially if it's contrary to their stance on an issue, in order to be good students, college students, employees and to build good relationships in all areas of their lives. This is an area of education that extends far into the rest of their lives, so if we as teachers can help them become empathetic and critical thinkers, we've prepared them for more than college.