Grade 10 · Context, Allusion and Interpretation · Interpretation and Intertextuality
Competing Interpretations of a Text
Hold two defensible readings of one text side by side and judge which the evidence supports better.
Learning objectives
- Construct two defensible readings from the same evidence
- Test each reading against the whole text
- Defend the stronger reading without dismissing the other
Common Core ELA alignment
RL.9-10.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a literary text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. Grades 9–10 emphasis: sustain a line of analysis across complex texts, using precise evidence and a formal academic register.
RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyse its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary. Grades 9–10 emphasis: sustain a line of analysis across complex texts, using precise evidence and a formal academic register.
SL.9-10.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions, building on others' ideas and expressing your own clearly and persuasively. Grades 9–10 emphasis: sustain a line of analysis across complex texts, using precise evidence and a formal academic register.
MYP criteria
- Criterion A — Analysing
- Criterion D — Using language
ENGAGE
Two readings, one ending
A character walks into the sea at the end of a novel. Reading 1: a suicide, the final proof of despair. Reading 2: a rebirth, since the imagery all summer has linked water to release. Both readings can quote the text.
Think about it
- What would settle the disagreement?
- Can a text support two readings at once?
EXPLAIN
Testing a reading
| Test | Question |
|---|---|
| Coverage | Does the reading account for the whole text or only the ending? |
| Pattern | Is the imagery or motif consistent across the text? |
| Counter-evidence | What in the text resists this reading? |
| Economy | Does the reading require inventing offstage events? |
Language of defensible disagreement
- The stronger reading is X, because it accounts for both A and B.
- Reading Y remains defensible where the text leaves Z unresolved.
- The ambiguity may be deliberate, in which case the question becomes what the ambiguity achieves.
Careful
Anything goes is not interpretation. A reading must be supported by textual evidence and must survive counter-evidence.
EXPLORE
Weigh the evidence
- Water is described three times as clean and once as forgiving.
- The character has given away her books in the previous chapter.
- The final sentence uses the present tense for the first time in the novel.
- A doctor earlier warns her against swimming alone.
Think about it
- Which details support each reading?
- Which single detail is hardest for reading 1 to explain?
MYP_PRACTICE
Criterion A and D task
Take an ambiguous ending from a text you know. Write 250 words presenting two defensible readings with evidence, then judge which is stronger using the four tests, and say what the ambiguity itself achieves.
EXIT_TICKET
Check yourself
Think about it
- Name the strongest counter-evidence to your preferred reading.
- What does deliberate ambiguity achieve in your text?
Interactive practice · evidence weigh
Weigh two readings
Assign each detail to the reading it supports, then apply the four tests.
Details
Readings
Your answer
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Key vocabulary
- Defensible reading
- An interpretation supported by evidence that survives counter-evidence.
- Ambiguity
- A deliberate openness to more than one reading.
- Counter-evidence
- Textual detail that resists your interpretation.
- Motif
- A repeated image or idea that builds meaning.
Practice questions
0/2 correct
Level 1 · Criterion A
Which detail most supports the rebirth reading?
Level 2 · Criterion D
Which test asks whether a reading needs invented offstage events?
MYP criterion tasks
Level 3 · Criterion D
Judge which reading the evidence supports better, and what the ambiguity achieves.
Reflect & track
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