ABSTRACT
To engage in literary criticism, readers benefit from a variety of interpretive tools that assist them in understanding how various texts function. Without readers, a text has no life, and without a multitude of readers each seeking their own experiences of it, a text would devolve into a singular, static interpretation. As reading theorist Louise Rosenblatt cautions of interpreting poetry, “No one … can read a poem for us. If there is indeed a poem and not simply a literal statement, the reader must have the experience, must ‘live through’ what is being created during the reading” (33). Literature’s eternal power arises in its ability to affect each reader individually. Countless readers delight in the works of great poets and authors, yet individual readers interpret each text uniquely, finding special senses and resonances that could never be divulged from a summary.
