Period 3 CGQs

Independent Lesson 11: Guiding questions

How is the imagination of the reader important in creating meaning? 

Jeanette Winterson's work plays with the reader's imagination intentionally leaving things for the reader to latch on to without having a definitive purpose for them. You could say that it makes some point about the reader, but I'd argue that it mainly just makes the story's message more subjective and personal, allowing for people to take away what they will from a work.

Can texts be influenced by the identity of the reader? And can the identity of the reader be influenced by texts?

Absolutely, Deuteronomy in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is all about how stories are incredibly subjective, I agree, who the reader is influences what they take away from a work. To the second point, I agree again, if we engage with the ideas in work it can influence us very easily. Whatever we learn from any media changes us and our ideas, exposure to any idea does the same.

How do authors’ expectations about audience lead to texts being more accessible for some than for others?

Authors can subconsciously tailor their stories to who they believe the reader to be. If authors assume the reader is from the same community as them, then things like slang and inside jokes might not be explained. This can on a broader scale lead to the story being tailored in a way where it caters to certain people as readers and not others. This is why wondering about who the potential reader is can tell us something about the work itself and the authorial choices in it.