ABSTRACT
Studying English involves reading works of literature, learning to interpret them in different ways and understanding how these different approaches work. These new approaches have the potential to create new readings of texts and to make you think about the way you see the world and your place in it. People are, or should be, free to choose one or another method or to experiment with a selection. English as a subject is constantly changing. When people read, they interpret. No interpretation is neutral or objective, because we are all influenced by a number of presuppositions. Literary theory is a catch-all term for a huge range of new and different ways to read and interpret texts, reflecting the different concerns and ideas of a very wide range of people, not just an elite. Theory also encourages us to contrast and study different methods of interpretation in their own right. This is called hermeneutics, the study of interpretation itself.
