Using LitWeb for Instructors

LITWEB is a guide for students as they read and re-read a literary text. They may be approaching the site independently, perhaps as an adjunct to a traditional literature class, or (better yet) collaboratively, exploring ideas and questions with other students.

The rationale of the site is taken from reader-response theory, which teaches the importance of beginning the interpretive process by recognizing the nature and validity of students' own first readings. Students need to be guided as unobtrusively as possible through a more sophisticated re-reading which explores textual gaps and complexities and finally encounters other interpretive readings—until the students themselves can generate their own strong interpretive readings. The differences in each stage of reading have been described well by Ann Woodlief and Marcel Cornis-Pope of Virginia Commonwealth University.

The theory is pedagogically intriguing, but the classroom practice can be exceedingly difficult. How does a teacher, practically speaking, set up a class so that all students can talk, listen, re-read, and revise at roughly the same time? How can this ideal community of readers negotiating interpretations—which David Bleich, Stanley Fish, and Wolfgang Iser discussed—actually come into being? An interactive, collaborative computer environment offers one set of answers to these questions.

We teachers want students to learn how to re-read texts as more experienced readers would: to understand what words, contexts, and so on, they should know, what to notice in a text, what kinds of questions to consider and keep open. At the same time, we want them to learn how to write their readings, keeping in mind Fish's point that when we read carefully and actively, we are "writing the text."

This site is set up to generate interactive responses in the form of notes, marginalia, budding interpretations, and personal connections which can be polished into more analytical essays. Its object is to guide students to develop their different readings of a text, to move beyond subjective and experiential readings to create stronger, more communal "texts." Adding the collaborative element helps students become more aware of their own reading strategies and the personal and cultural agendas they bring to their reading, as well as develop new and more productive strategies of interpretation. Even on a strictly independent level, there is value in each student working at his/her individual pace and style (within reasonable limits), responding to text materials, Web links, and discussions.

Working Through LITWEB

Literary Workshops

LITWEB focuses on fifty authors in the Ninth Edition of The Norton Introduction to Literature, gathered in Literary Workshops. It is best to go through the site in sequence: Reading, Re-Reading, and Explorations. The author biographies and Related Links should be used as references.

Reading

In this first encounter, students are asked to read the text (provided online or in the anthology via cross-references). Students are then asked to read the Reading Questions and notes on this part of the site as a means of exploring their first response to the work. They should have some opportunity to share their written responses via a class-linked environment such as an e-mail list or discussion forum.

Re-Reading

The Re-Reading section often offers provocative study texts with a range of apparatus such as differentiated texts and pop-up notes. Students should re-read the texts online (or in the anthology), considering the Re-Reading Questions and topics as they begin to move from their personal responses toward close reading and interpretation. Students should again be asked to share their ideas so that they can consider many interpretive possibilities.

Explorations

With thematic groupings and dynamic Web links, the Explorations provide excellent opportunities for further study. By providing links to thought-provoking issues beyond the realm of close reading, the Explorations serve as stepping stones for critical papers. Teachers might want to adapt these suggestions and/or add further options, questions, and research possibilities to suit the interests of their students and direction of their course.

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