The crafty reader / Robert Scholes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scholes, Robert, 1929-2016.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

English literature.

American literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

American literature.

Criticism--English-speaking countries.

Criticism.

Literature--Appreciation.

Literature.

Reader-response criticism.

Books and reading--English-speaking countries.

Books and reading.

Literary form.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"I believe that it is in our interest as individuals to become crafty readers, and in the interest of the nation to educate citizens in the craft of reading. The craft, not the art. . . . This book is about that craft."-from the Introduction. This latest book from the well-known literary critic Robert Scholes presents his thoughtful exploration of the craft of reading. He deals with reading not as an art or performance given by a virtuoso reader, but as a craft that can be studied, taught, and learned. Those who master the craft of reading, Scholes contends, will justifiably take responsibility for the readings they produce and the texts they choose to read. Scholes begins with a critique of the New Critical way of reading ("bad for poets and poetry and really terrible for students and teachers of poetry"), using examples of poems by various writers, in particular Edna St. Vincent Millay. He concludes with a consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the fundamentalist way of reading texts regarded as sacred. To explain and clarify the approach of the crafty reader, the author analyzes a wide-ranging selection of texts by figures at the margins of the literary and cultural canon, including Norman Rockwell, Anaïs Nin, Dashiell Hammett, and J. K. Rowling. Throughout his discussion Scholes emphasizes how concepts of genre affect the reading process and how they may work to exclude certain texts from the cultural canon and curriculum.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Reading Poetry

Reading the World

Heavy Reading

Light Reading

Fantastic Reading

Sacred Reading

Conclusion

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-250) and index.

ISBN:

9786611729202

9781281729200

1281729205

9780300128871

0300128878

OCLC:

952732376