Hello Sue,

Being a complete philistine when it comes to this literary criticism business, I've probably completely misunderstood what L. Swilley is saying in: "The examination of literature is similarly a rational/intellectual one; it defines exactly *what* a work says and precises *how* it says it."
But never mind, I'm going to ask a question about it anyway (I'm working on the principal of 'if you don't ask, you won't learn).

I'm having difficulty with this "it defines exactly *what* a work says" bit.

Surely, the only person who could define "exactly *what* a work says" is that work's creator, its author?

How can anybody know exactly what an author is saying without asking him/her?
Or am I, perhaps, taking L. Swilley too literally?

Regards,

Alex (in somewhat puzzled frame of mind)