What does it mean to experience a work of literature? What role does response play in the creation of literary meaning? And what matters – really matters – in the teaching of English Literature? In this book, Andrew Atherton offers a powerful and timely account of the vital role that student response plays in the English Literature classroom. This text is deeply immersed in the disciplinary traditions and legacies of what it has meant to experience English Literature, both for its teachers and students. As the English teaching community try to move beyond exam-driven responses, highly restrictive essay structures and explicit teaching of interpretation, this innovative text helps teachers to encourage responses from students that are more authentic and co-constructed. It contains dedicated.