ABSTRACT
English students questioned how I could derive a meaning of literature that was not present explicitly. They were not convinced that Animal Farm could be read as an indictment of tyranny or The Crucible a condemnation of intolerance and hysteria. Students did not believe that an author would purposefully construct literature to say one thing but mean another. Nor did they believe it was appropriate for a reader to impose his/her interpretation on the text. They saw the reader as separate from or outside of the text, not as an agent engaging with the text. Most of my students did not fully understand the concept; nor did they understand their role in learning the concept.
