Schema theory and the teaching of literature

Doyle, Noreen Mary (1987) Schema theory and the teaching of literature. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (61MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

In view of the fact that literature does maintain an important position in the school curriculum, we must be concerned with how people read and interpret literature. We must accept that the teaching of reading is vital to the process of interpreting literary texts. Therefore, it is the purpose of this thesis to propose that schema-theoretical view of reading is a viable approach to the teaching of comprehension. It is the further purpose of this thesis to examine such a process-oriented approach in which the notion of the text and the reader as partners in the reading process is of central concern. - Believers in reader-response criticism posit that when readers encounter texts they use previously acquired background knowledge together with the author’s cues, to create meaning. Reading is an interactive process in which we must consider both text and reader. To this end, there will be supplied an examination of how these two interact in reading comprehension - an exploration of specific aspects of reader response. - Overall, a schema-theoretical view of the composing process requires us to modify many of our traditional views of reading comprehension. Some implications of such modifications are presented and some practical suggestions for improving the teaching of literature are provided. Thus the major purpose of this work is to facilitate reading comprehension.

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