Below are several significant distinctions we have talked about, or will talk about. Though they are similar in a lot of ways, there are subtle but important differences that you should keep in mind.
Didactic – When a text explicitly sets out to teach a lesson to the reader – that lesson is often conveyed by a voice or character we are supposed to trust as an authority (in children’s books: the adult).
The text discusses an issue in order to tell you what to believe about that issue. Listen to the tone of a sentence like this: “Tommy learned that sometimes being a friend means sharing what you have.” Many children’s books have that tone of children learning some important lesson, and one of Nodelman’s points is that people often feel children’s books are supposed to do that.
Ambiguous – When a text is purposely open-ended, encouraging the reader to think about how they feel about an issue, or to piece together what they think happened.
The text discusses an issue in order to get the reader thinking how he or she feels about an issue. A text can be morally ambiguous (if you had a chance to pass as a different race, would you?) or narratively ambiguous (we don’t know who the killer is? who do you think it is?). One of our common assumptions about children is that they aren’t capable or wrestling with complicated issues, and it is dangerous not to tell them what to think.
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Monologic – The text has a single main voice that is narrating the story, usually the voice of an adult narrator crafting a story for the reader. All events and perspectives are filtered through the single voice. Examples we’ve seen: Matilda, Harry Potter, Kids on Strike, Peter Rabbit.
Dialogic – The text is made up of a number of competing voices that wrestle for power. Different voices and multiple perspectives are presented as equal, forcing the reader to weigh the different voices. Also, different voices contribute to the creation of the story, or the whole text falls apart because all the voices are fighting. Examples we’ve seen: Winnie-the-Pooh, Stinky Cheese Man, The Three Pigs.
There are also some in between examples, such as Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
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Readerly – A text in which we are encouraged to remain readers, to enjoy the text passively. The text is fully completed by the time it reaches us, all of our emotions and feelings are designed for us by the author (like a roller-coaster that had been built to thrill us) and our primary job is just to sit back and enjoy the ride. We are encouraged to remain a consumer of the text. Example: Harry Potter, Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
Writerly – A text in which we are encouraged to become co-creators, to become an active participant in the creation. The text is not fully completed by the time it reaches us, or all of the meaning is not handed to us by the author. We are encouraged to actively become producers, and if the reader doesn’t take that position, the text isn’t finished. (I showed several examples in class)
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Open – A text in which the reading pleasure comes from negotiating between the different and even contradictory ways in which the text can be interpreted. The text is created in such a way that there are many possible interpretations to be considered (for example: The Giving Tree, The Watertower) and our pleasure is in thinking through those different possible interpretations. The reader is eager to deal with the text as a maze of issues and possibilities.
Closed – A text that can be read without much effort because we are not forced to have to wrestle with different and clashing interpretations. Pleasure comes from the predictability of what the text presents and what the reader may find in it. You don’t have to negotiate different possible interpretations.