To assess the effects of textual variation on students' preferred patterns of literary response, 166 college undergraduates were asked to read two poems and two short stories. They then completed a modified version of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's Response Preference Measure for each literary work. Data from the response preference inventories were analyzed by means of a two-factor repeated-measurement MANOVA, with genre and tone as the within-subjects variables. Significant main effects were obtained for both genre and tone. The genre x tone interaction was, however, not significant. As a follow-up, a series of 2 x 2 repeated-measures ANOVAs were performed on each of the four dependent measures of response preference: personal statement, description, evaluation, and interpretation. A few overall trends worth noting follow: (a) students exhibited a preference for the descriptive response stance following their reading of the two lighthearted works; (b) works classified as having a serious tone tended to evoke personal, interpretive, and evaluative responses; (c) students favored a descriptive response stance subsequent to their reading of poetry; whereas, (d) short stories elicited a preference for the personal statement response stance.
Article
The Effects of Genre and Tone on Undergraduate Students Preferred Patterns of Response to 2 Short-Stories and 2 Poems
Research in the Teaching of English
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-1986
Disciplines
Abstract
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
@ 1986 National Council of Teachers of English
Citation Information
Zaharias, J. A. (1986). The effects of genre and tone on undergraduate students preferred patterns of response to 2 short-stories and 2 poems. Research in the Teaching of English 20 (1), 56-68.