13 ways of looking at a poem: How discourses of reading shape pedagogical practice in English

Abstract

Different discourses of reading construct differing ways of reading texts. This article illustrates such differences by showing how three contrasting ways of interrogating a literary text arise from three contrasting discourses of reading. In doing so, it shows how "similar" constitutive elements in a view of reading are highlighted and constructed differently in these three interrogations. The implications of these differing constructions for classroom practice and the professional development agenda of English teachers are discussed.