English 10 - Quarter 3 - Lesson 13: The Mirror in the Book: A Reader-Response Critique

English 10: Quarter 3

Lesson 13: The Mirror in the Book

Lesson 13: The Mirror in the Book: A Reader-Response Critique

I. Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Knowledge: Define reader-response critique and explain how meaning is created through the "transaction" between a text and a reader's personal experiences.
• Skill: Analyze a poem and compose a critique by connecting the text to your own specific memories and feelings.
• Affective: Value your own unique, personal response as a central part of analysis.

II. Introduction

Good morning, class. Have you ever read a book that everyone else loved, but you just couldn't get into it? Or, have you ever heard a song that your friends thought was 'okay,' but for you, it was world-changing and made you cry?

How can the exact same words have such a different effect on different people?

Today, we are learning about the Reader-Response Critique. It has a simple, powerful idea: You are just as important as the book you are reading. Meaning isn't just hidden in the text; it's created by your own life, memories, and feelings.

III. Definition (Key Terms) - Part 1

1. Reader-Response Critique:
A type of literary critique that focuses on the reader's personal experience, feelings, and thoughts as they interact with a text.

• To Expand: A reader-response critic believes a text is like a "blueprint," and each reader builds a different "house" from it using the materials of their own life.

2. Personal Significance:
The unique importance, meaning, or emotional connection a text has to you based on your own life, memories, and beliefs.

III. Definition (Key Terms) - Part 2

3. Subjective vs. Objective:
Objective: A fact, separate from feelings (e.g., "The poem has 14 lines").
Subjective: Based on personal feelings or opinions (e.g., "The poem made me feel hopeful").

4. Transaction (Reader + Text = Meaning):
The key idea that meaning is a two-way event between the text's words and the reader's mind.

• Example: The text says "home." You imagine your home. The meaning is the mix of the word and your memory.

IV. Spring Board: The Road Not Taken

Read this excerpt from Robert Frost's famous poem.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

V. Essential Questions

Analyze the poem using your personal feelings.

1. What is the basic event the speaker is describing?

Answer: Looking back on a choice made a long time ago between two "roads" or paths in life.

2. The speaker says "I shall be telling this with a sigh." What feeling does the word "sigh" give YOU?

Possible Answers:
- Sadness or regret ("What if I took the other road?")
- Satisfaction or pride ("It was a long, good life.")
- Nostalgia (Just looking back.)

3. What does the phrase "the one less traveled by" mean to YOU?

Possible Answers:
- Being an individual/not following the crowd.
- Taking the harder path.
- Choosing a unique career or hobby.

4. What personal experience or choice from your own life does this poem make you think of?

Example: "It makes me think about choosing my high school strand," or "Deciding to quit a sport to focus on music."

VI. Exercise: The Response Room

Your Task: Write a short "reader-response" to the poem "The Road Not Taken."

Answer these questions in 3 sentences:

• What does this poem mean to me?
• What personal feeling or memory does it trigger?

Example: "To me, this poem is about the fear of making the wrong choice. It reminds me of when I had to choose between two different groups of friends last year. The 'sigh' makes me feel relieved that I chose the friends who truly support me."

Note for Class: If we shared these, we would find many different meanings. That proves the point: Same text + Different readers = Different meanings.

VII. Generalization

Today, we learned that meaning is not a treasure hidden in the text, but a creation—a 'transaction'—that happens in our own minds.

While a Formalist asks "How is it built?", a Reader-Response critic asks "What does this mean to me?"

This skill validates your personal connection to art. It proves that your experiences and feelings are a valid and essential part of the reading process.

VIII. Evaluation

English 10 - Short Quiz No. 13

Instructions: Choose the best answer for each question.

Full Name:

Result: English 10 - Short Quiz No. 13

Name:

Score:

Attempts:

IX. Additional Activity (Enrichment)

Assignment: Choose a song that has a strong personal significance to you.

Write one paragraph that is a simple reader-response critique. Do not summarize the lyrics. Instead, answer:

• Why is this song important to you?
• What specific memory, feeling, or personal experience does this song trigger for you that makes it meaningful?

Congratulations! You have completed Lesson 13.