Brief Notes on Rosenblatt Sections 1 & 2

Section 1: The Province of Literature

Chapter 1: The Challenge of Literature

Literature should be viewed as a living context, without limitations of any particular lens. "...the teaching of literature necessarily involves helping the student handle social, psychological, and ethical concepts"

Chapter 2: The Literary Experience

Reading is transactional. Understanding does not exist on the page or in the head, but in the space between. While understanding the author, the literary movement, the time period, etc., are important, it's ultimately about a transaction between the author and the reader. The reader has to have sufficient life experience to understand what the author is trying to communicate.

Section 2: The Human Basis of Literary Sensitivity

Chapter 3: The Setting for Spontaneity

The relationship between the teacher and students that allows productive interchange with literature.

Chapter 4: What the Student Brings to Literature

Preoccupations and needs the adolescent brings to literature.

Chapter 5: Broadening the Framework

Clarifying the student's response to literature; the kinds of knowledge that will contribute to understanding.