E.R.M.A.A.: A strategy affirming the individuality of response

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a definition and description of the response process and a discussion of the teacher's role in facilitating opportunities for response to literary events. Rosenblatt, a prominent response theorist, has identified five components of the response process: the transaction between reader and text is reciprocal, the reader's past experiences play a role in the development of the response, the reader approaches the literary work from one of two stances, affective factors combine to produce an evocation to the literary experience, and the evocation leads to the aesthetic response. The paper concludes with a description of E.R.M.A.A., a strategy designed to facilitate literary response in the classroom setting. Implementation of E.R.M.A.A. involves experiencing the literary work, providing proper vehicles for response, mapping and analyzing multiple responses, and finally, affirming the inherent individuality of response.