Worldview, Practical Criticism and Transactional theory

Worldview 

Bressler's : Worldview consists of the assumptions or presuppositions that we all hold (either consciously or unconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.

DEFINITION

•Any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement, or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world, and man's relations to God and the world (Dr. David Noebel – Understanding the Times).

•A worldview is a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic make-up of our world (The Universe Next Door – James Sire).

•In simplest terms, a worldview is a set of beliefs about the most important issues in life that guide and directs our behaviour

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•Worldviews act somewhat like eye glasses or contact lenses. That is, a worldview should provide the correct "prescription" for making sense of the world just as wearing the correct prescription for your eyes brings things into focus.

•Common worldviews include Atheism , Existentialism, Hedonism, Humanism, Materialism, Nihilism, Postmodernism, Pragmatism, Socialism, Theism, Naturalism, New Age Pantheism.

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Practical Criticism 

Bressler's : Practical criticism (also known as applied criticism) applies the theories and tenets of theoretical criticism to a particular work. It defines the standards of taste and explains, evaluates, or justifies a particular piece of literature. 

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•The term ‘Practical Criticism’  is applied to an academic procedure devised by the critic I. A. Richards at Cambridge University in the 1920s and illustrated in his book Practical Criticism (1929).

•In that exercise, students were asked to analyse a short poem without any information about its authorship, date, or circumstances of composition, thus forcing them to attend to the ‘words on the page’ rather than refer to biographical and historical contexts.

•It has sometimes been referred to as a species of 'blind reading', though the aim is to sharpen perception and to develop more precise powers of description, diagnosis and critical judgement.

•It is used to test students' responsiveness to what they read, as well as their knowledge of verse forms and of the technical language for describing the way poems create their effects

•In conclusion, it was devised to describe a method of teaching (and testing) skills and developing insights which would enhance deeper and more alert understanding of literary works through detailed analysis of short text passages, often presented with no information about author, date of composition, or the place of the passage for analysis within the work from which it was excerpted.

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Transactional theory

•Transactional theory suggests a "reciprocal, mutually defining relationship" (Rosenblatt, 1986) between the reader and the literary text.

•That exchange--a transaction--is more accurately characterized by Annie Dillard's metaphor ; "The mind fits the world and shapes it as a river fits and shapes its own banks" (1982).

•Transactional theory proposes that the relationship between reader and text is much like that between the river and its banks, each working its effects upon the other, each contributing to the shape of the poem

•Readers bring their prior knowledge and experiences to bear on the reading event, and meaning is constructed during the transaction between reader and text.

•This theoretical perspective views the reader as an active constructor of meaning, not as a passive recipient of ready-made “truths.”

•Readers are individuals in society, unable to escape from the contexts in which they live and read, but capable of rendering unique interpretations as they transact with particular texts at particular times

•While the reader is guided by the ideas and words that the author laid out, it is ultimately each individual reader's experience in reading the work that actually gives it meaning

•Since each person brings unique knowledge and beliefs to the reading transaction, the text will mean different things to different people.

** Bressler here refers to the book "Literary Criticism - An Introduction to Theory and Practise ( Fifth Edition) " by Charles E.Bressler

** These notes I copy paste from my powerpoint presentation. And I got all these mostly from the internet from various websites. There are lots on worldview, practical criticism and transactional theory in the internet, I suggest you type " worldview literature" "practical criticism literature" "transactional literature reader text" . Hope that helps :)

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~Thanks for reading~

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