1. Reader-Response Criticism

2. Definition Reading is an active process Diversity of readers’ responses to literary works Questions value of multiple interpretations Cites direct references Text mirrors reader’s life *Reading affects readers Murfin, Ross and Supryia M. Ray. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. 3 rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2009.

3. Sample As a little girl, I pretended I was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I wanted desperately to find my prince charming. I danced around to the songs, and I would have loved a castle filled with enchanted creatures, or a library filled with books up to the ceiling. Years later, after watching the same story unfold, I can honestly say that Belle could be a role model for me in the way she lived her life. Her personality is one of strength, open-mindedness, and abundant love. Throughout her story, Belle is faced with opposition and obstacles that push her to define and think about who she is. Gaston and the rest of the townspeople try to push and mold Belle into the type of person that they feel is “normal.” The story of Beauty and the Beast is one of Belle defying the idea of what is normal, what is right, and what is supposed to be. A major way of society interpolating a person is by shunning the marriage or union between people with huge differences. Society applauds when the normal path is taken, whether it is a marriage between a man and woman, or the relationship between two people of the same race. The main motif or theme of Beauty and the Beast, which occurs in many children’s stories, is that of two people of different species falling in love and overcoming their obstacles. Belle, a human, and the Beast, a human enslaved in a beast-like body, are blinded to reality by their love. They do not look at each other with eyes focused on appearances, but look through the skin into each other’s souls. In the garden playing with birds, the Beast and Belle come to realize that they care for each other, despite the hesitations that first accompanied their situation. The beast is surprised that “when we touched she didn't shudder at my paw,” and Belle is taken aback “ that he's no Prince Charming but there's something in him that I simply didn't see.” Though surprised, Belle resisted the temptation to fall in love and marry a human, thus not giving in to interpellation. This movie also expresses distaste for interpellation in the sense that it expresses the acceptance of things not of the norm. It basically says that you do not have to settle for the town football hero, just because you are the cheerleader. Instead, you can hold out, find a person with whom your souls connect, and live happily ever after. There is also a trace of the “if you truly love them, let them go, and if they love you too, they will come back” theme present in this movie. For example, when the Beast releases Belle as his prisoner, he gives her the freedom to truly love him. It is only through this relinquishing, that Belle can understand her true feelings… “Sample Response Papers.” Longwood University. Longwood University. 07 Apr. 2015.

4. Sample F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterful novel, The Great Gatsby, is a text that is both deeply reflective and uniquely critical of the period of its construction. It was written in the mid-1920s, in America; a time of moral decadence, dominant materialism and an uneasy combination of elation and complacency following the Great War. Fitzgerald successfully employed many techniques and conventions of the genre in The Great Gatsby in order to encourage readers to respond to the text in a way that would promote critical evaluation of the meaning behind events, characters and symbols. Understanding characters is imperative in understanding The Great Gatsby. Our reaction to the characters is filtered through the narrative perspective and molded by the use of setting, dialogue, language, imagery and symbolism. It is through the use of these techniques and through intricate characterization that Fitzgerald presents us with startlingly three-dimensional; yet, at a superficial level, symbolic characters. The reader is invited to join Nick Carraway, the narrator, on a journey of ill fated love and failed dreams, as he or she tries to understand the characters of The Great Gatsby… Nick, however, betrays the reader's trust. H e makes judgements about events and chooses to respond to characters in different, and often unfair ways. A primary example is his willingness to forgive Gatsby for several serious crimes while criticizing other characters for minor offences. Nick overlooks the moral implications of Gatsby's bootlegging and association with the criminal Meyer Wolfsheim and still manages to praise him as a man with "an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness". At the same time, he is contemptuous of Jordan Baker for cheating in a mere golf game! Will we, like Nick, be willing to forgive Gatsby for these serious crimes? "They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." The truth is that since Nick plays such an important role in the novel and we have little alternative but to accept his version of events, the reader will often inherit Nick's response to characters. The story's structure also plays a role in positioning the reader. The story is told in retrospect - almost a year after the events of the summer took place. This allows the narrator to look back on the events in the exposition and make public his judgement about Gatsby and the main characters before the story even starts. “Responses to Characters in The Great Gatsby.” Classics Network. Classics Network. 07 Apr. 2015.