1 Interpreting Texts & Analyzing Texts | Reading Literature | Semester 1 | Period 1 |

Hermeneutics

The study of interpretation

Affective Fallacy

The misconception that arises from judging a poem by the emotional effect it produces in the reader

Pathos

Appeal to emotion - Feelings of sorrow/pity/sympathy

Catharis

"Purification" achieved by tragic drama - emotional release

Intentional fallacy

assuming from the text what the author intended to mean

Didactic

intended to instruct/teach

Close reading

Analyzing a text in detail

Defamiliarization

technique of making the familiar seem new and strange, enabling the audience to see things afresh

Alienation Effect

When a story is intentionally distanced from the audience, making it hard to identify with - but also forces the audience to look critically

Death of the Author

When publishing a work the author loses authority over its interpretation, with it comes the "birth of the reader" - Barhes '68

Autotelic

Work that has no end or purpose beyond its own existence - "a poem should not mean, but be"

Oeuvre

Total body of works by a writer

Canon

Body of writings recognized by authority. E.g. Religious works or educational writings

Ambiguity

Openness to different interpretations