Reader-Response criticism is not a subjective, impressionistic free-fall-all, nor a legitimizing of all half-baked, arbitrary, personal comments on literary works. Instead, it is a school of criticism, which emerged in the 1970’s, focused on finding meaning in the act of reading itself and examining the ways individual readers or communities of readers experience texts. These critics raise theoretical questions regarding how the reader joins with the author “to help the text mean.” They determine what kind of reader or what community of readers the work implies and helps to create. They also may examine the significance of the series of interpretations the reader undergoes in the reading process.
Using reader-response criticism to make meaning out of the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”. Approach the essay from a personal angle and/or from a community (age, gender, nationality, member of a family) angle. How do you and/or the community you choose that “constructs” this work in a particular way.