Summary of Chapter 48

Christina A. Clark

Concord University

The Transactional Theory of Reading and Writing

READING EXPERIENCES WRITING

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN AUTHOR AND READERS

Linguistic Transactions

Transacting with text

Reader’s Stance

Evocation, Response, and Interpretation

Writing Transaction

Writing about texts

Writer’s stance

Authorial Reading

Validity of Interpretation

Warranted Assertibility

Criteria for the continuum

“Literary” aspects of Efferent

Reading

Efferent-Aesthetic Continuum

Four components connect each individual in the transactional model.ReadingWritingExperienceCommunication between author and readers

Reading Transacting with text Perception depends on the viewer’s

selection and organization of visual cues according to past experiences, expectations, needs, and interests. (Ruddell, p1369)

ReadingThe Readers Stance 1). Efferent—The meaning results from

abstracting out and analytically structuring the ideas, information, directions, or conclusions to be retained, used, or acted on after the reading event. (Ruddell, p.1373)2). Aesthetic--The aesthetic reader pays attention to-savors-the qualities of the feelings, ideas, situations, scenes, personalities, and emotions that are called forth and participates in the tensions, conflicts, and resolutions of the images, ideas and scenes as they unfold. (Ruddell, p. 1373)

The ContinuumEfferent and aesthetic reflect the two main

ways of looking at the world—scientifically and artistically. (Ruddell, p. 1374)

Everyone takes one of these stances when choosing to read.

These stances can be intertwined, or one can be dominate.

These stances can be conscious or unconscious.

Stances can be public or private.

Evocation, Response, InterpretationEvocation—an object of thought; how we feel as we are

reading

Response—2 kinds 1). Second Stream of Response—momentary; felt as a

general state 2). Expressed Response—What the reading means to

you (the reader) (Ruddell, p. 1376)

Interpretation—arriving at a sense for the whole. This is how it should be interpreted.

WritingWriting transaction—the writer is always

transacting with a personal, social, and cultural environment. (Ruddell, p. 1378-1379) This is very important to what one will read and/or write.

WritingThe writers stance—is a function of the

circumstances, motives, the subject, and the relation between writer and reader. (Ruddell, p. 1380)

One would not write a letter to the insurance company explaining a car accident, as they would write an e-mail to a friend telling them about the accident.

Writing about textsIn general, is an efferent stance. Aesthetic

may be adopted to communicate an experience, expressing response, or interpretation. (Ruddell, p. 1381)

With the letter to the insurance company about an accident, one may need to take an aesthetic approach to get across how scared one was, or how shocked.

A Writers ReadingTwo kinds of authorial reading 1). Expression-oriented authorial reading leads to

revision as the new words appear on the page. To the writer (authorial reader), the words must be tested for intention and purpose. (Ruddell, p. 1382)

2). Reception-oriented reading is when the writer at some point, dissociates with the text, and reads it through the eyes of potential readers. This is a hypothetical interpretation, and must be checked against the writer’s own inner sense of purpose. (Ruddell, p. 1383)

ExperiencesOur experiences every day make up our

language, which in turn provides for linguistic transactions.

These linguistic transactions will account for how we read, how we write, and what we say. (Ruddell, p. 1367)

Some examples of linguistic transactions are:A conversationCommentsQuestionsFacial expressions

Communication between author and readersValidity of Interpretation—How valid is the

interpretation? The same text takes on different meanings in transactions with different readers, or even with the same reader in different contexts or times. (Ruddell, p. 1384)

Communication between author and readersWarranted Assertibility—when given

shared criteria concerning methods of investigation and kinds of evidence, there can be agreement concerning the decision as to what is a sound interpretation of the evidence, or a “Warranted assertion” (Ruddell, p. 1385)

Communication between author and readersCriteria for the efferent-aesthetic

continuum—is the idea that because we can choose on a range of efferent-aesthetic, it becomes important for writers to provide clear indications as to what stance they have chosen and for readers to be sensitive to the writer’s purpose, and to apply relevant criteria. (Ruddell, p. 1386)

Communication between author and readers“Literary” aspects of Efferent Reading-is

the idea that the stance we take as readers/listeners/writers, will determine the appropriate criteria. (Ruddell, p. 1386)

When a politician is talking about the “wave of the future”, more than likely we, as listeners, will not start daydreaming about waves on the beach, and imagining what the sand beneath our toes would feel like. We will remain at an efferent stance.

References

Rosenblatt, L. M. (1994). The Transactional Theory of

Reading and Writing. In Ruddell, R. B., & Unrau, N.

J. (2004) Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading. (pp. 1363-1398). Newark, DE:

International Reading Association