Prompt 4

This prompt reminds us that every book ever written has an author that had feelings, ideas and opinions on what they were writing, but when a reader comes along and has their own ideas and opinions based on the author's work two minds have come together and engaged one another. When a writer composes a new piece of literature and publishes it he/she has no more control of what readers and critics think about it. They have no control over what people think to begin with, but when the book leaves the authors hands it is even more vulnerable to public praise and scrutiny. No matter how much personal influence goes into an author’s writing, no matter how much clarification he/she gives; the books meanings and analogies have no strict meaning to the reader. The books contents and meaning are up to interpretation. Of course, the author can give guidance on what the book was supposed to mean, but that does not always sway some of the stubborn minds. The president’s thoughts, my thoughts, and Mrs. Mac’s thoughts and opinions on a piece of literature may be exactly the same or complete opposites. I would expect the latter, because it is so rare (maybe even impossible) to find another person that thinks exactly the same things about a book. This is the nature of reading and writing throughout history authors have taken pieces of works and added them to their own. Different readers come to different conclusions about a book based off of their life experiences, dreams, and the attitude they have when they read the book.