36 exam-style questions on Reader response and interpretation of literature — topic AE1.3 of Readers, writers and texts in the IB English A: Literature syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
Explain the critical position that holds a text's meaning is produced in the interaction between the reader and the text, rather than fixed solely by the author.
Answer: Reader-response theory
Reader-response theory locates meaning in the reader's active engagement with the text, so different readers may construct valid, differing interpretations.
Identify the term for the error of treating a text's meaning as fixed by what its author intended.
Answer: The intentional fallacy
The intentional fallacy (Wimsatt and Beardsley) is the mistaken assumption that a text's meaning is limited to and settled by the author's intention; the affective fallacy instead confuses a poem with its emotional effect on the reader.
Determine which factor best explains why two readers might interpret the same poem differently.
Answer: Readers bring different experiences, values and contexts to the text
Reader-response criticism holds that a reader's background, assumptions and context shape the meaning they construct, so plural readings can each be defensible.
Identify the assessment component in which a student presents a prepared analysis exploring how a global issue is presented through the form and content of two chosen extracts.
Answer: Individual Oral
The Individual Oral requires the student to examine a global issue through extracts from two works, linking form and content to the issue.
Explain what Paper 1 chiefly assesses.
Answer: Guided analysis of a previously unseen text or extract
Paper 1 is a guided literary analysis of an unseen text, testing the ability to interpret and respond to unfamiliar material.
Determine which practice best demonstrates close reading in a literary response.
Answer: Analysing specific word choices and their effect on meaning
Close reading examines particular linguistic and structural choices and interprets their effects, moving beyond summary or unsupported opinion.
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