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Flower, Linda. "The Construction of Purpose in Writing and Reading." //College English//, Vol. 50, No. 5 (Sep. 1988): 528-550.

Flower set out to address the role of purpose in both writing texts and reading texts in rhetorical reading and writing, recognizing that both writing and reading are dynamic processes and that the reader’s interpretation of a text is affected by inferences drawn about the writer’s purpose. The author defines "rhetorical reading" as a "strategy by which readers use their inferences about the author’s plans, goals, and context to help construct a meaningful text." (540) The first half of the article addresses the writer’s sense of purpose by first acknowledging that the writer rarely (if ever) has a single purpose, but rather writes from a "web of purpose" from which a constructive planning process evolves. This analysis is conducted through two studies that both rely on verbal protocols. In the first, the writers talk through their writing processes, articulating the conscious thoughts that come to mind and the decisions they are making while writing. Readers were similarly asked to read certain texts and think aloud and were questioned about their understanding of the text at key points. The writer concludes from these two studies that "[p]urpose in the mind of the writer and the mind of the reader are cognitive analogues" (539) and that "assumptions about the author’s intentions have a substantial effect on the meaning readers see." (538).

[|"Tomorrow Will Not Be Like Today": Literacy and Identity in a World of Multiliteracies]  Bronwyn T. Williams

[|Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy] Vol. 51, No. 8 (May, 2008), pp. 682-686 Published by: International Reading Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40012405