The Theories Of New Criticism - 1472 Words

During the early part of the 20th century, the formalist theories of New Criticism arose as the preeminent approach to teaching literature in college and high school curricula. Centered on the idea that there is a single, fixed meaning inherent in a literary work, New Criticism is text centered with no consideration given to the author or the reader. The text exists in and of itself, and New Critics advocate methodical and systematic reading, focusing on the structure of the text to define its meaning (Definition, n.d.). Louise Rosenblatt’s groundbreaking work in Literature as Exploration (1938/1995) and later refinement of her original thesis in The Reader, the Text, the Poem (1978), rejects the idea of this single, fixed meaning inherent in the text. It is her theory that the individual creates meaning through a transaction with the text based on personal associations, thus lifting the reader to a prominent, essential position along with the author and the text (Mora Welch, 2014). Known as transactional or reader response theory, Rosenblatt viewed the reader as transacting with a text to create what she called the poem; the meaning that emerges from the transaction at a given time. In Literature as Exploration (1938/1995), she argues that the same personal, social, and cultural factors that affect how a person perceived the world will â€Å"inevitably affect the equation represented by book plus reader† (p. 79). The text, however, is simply a: stimulus activatingShow MoreRelatedC riticism on Moral Development Theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Bandura and Providing a New Model for Research in Iranian Students Moral Development5918 Words   |  24 PagesCriticism on moral development theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Bandura and providing a new model for research in Iranian students moral development Hossein Lotfabadi, Ph. D.1 Abstract Its been years in the psychology and assessment of moral development that theories of genetic epistemology and social behaviorism (which are based on Piaget, Kohlberg, and Banduras approaches) have been in the center of attention for the psychologists and education experts and have been used by the educationalRead More Verbal Behavior Essay834 Words   |  4 Pagesoperants, and he distinguished the type of consequence for each operant. Furthermore, the theory defines the audience as a discriminative stimulus that will affect language development as it gives the signs of possible rewards or punishment. 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