Literature as Exploration Quotes

“An intense response to a work will have its roots in the capacities and experiences already present in the personality and mind of the reader.”
― Louise M. Rosenblatt, Literature as Exploration

“Through the medium of words, the text brings into the reader's consciousness certain concepts, certain sensuous experiences, certain images of things, people, actions, scenes. The special meanings and, more particularly, the submerged associations that these words have for the individual reader will largely determine what the work communicates to him. The reader brings to the work personality traits, memories of past events, present needs and preoccupations, a particular mood of the moment, and a particular physical condition. These and many other elements in a never-to-be-duplicated combination determine his response to the peculiar contribution of the text.”
― Louise M. Rosenblatt, Literature as Exploration