Which term describes the reader's interpretive role shaping meaning?

Which term describes the reader's interpretive role shaping meaning?

• A. New Criticism
• B. Psychoanalytic
• C. Trope
• D. Reader Response

Answer: (D)

This item tests how meaning is created through the reader's interpretation. The term that captures the reader's interpretive role shaping meaning is Reader Response. It holds that meaning arises from the reader–text encounter, influenced by the reader's experiences, culture, and questions; the text provides prompts, but interpretation is co-created by the reader. Other approaches focus on the text itself (New Criticism treats the work as a self-contained object, with meaning found in its formal features) or on psychology (Psychoanalytic reads unconscious desires in characters or author), or on linguistic devices (Trope is a figure of speech or recurring motif, not a theory of meaning-making).

This item tests how meaning is created through the reader's interpretation. The term that captures the reader's interpretive role shaping meaning is Reader Response. It holds that meaning arises from the reader–text encounter, influenced by the reader's experiences, culture, and questions; the text provides prompts, but interpretation is co-created by the reader. Other approaches focus on the text itself (New Criticism treats the work as a self-contained object, with meaning found in its formal features) or on psychology (Psychoanalytic reads unconscious desires in characters or author), or on linguistic devices (Trope is a figure of speech or recurring motif, not a theory of meaning-making).