Literature: the Reader’s Role

Dr. Rosenblatt reminds us that “Literature equals book plus reader.” Perceptive teaching of literature must avoid over-concern with either the work as such or the personal responses of the reader. Dr. Rosenblatt, author of the well-known Literature as Exploration, is a professor of English education at New York University. This article is based on an address given at the 1959 convention of the National Council of Teachers of English.