author's intent
Creator's intended message
Author's intent is what a writer meant to convey or accomplish with a text.
Literary analysis often distinguishes between what an author intended and what readers actually experience—a gap that fuels much debate about interpretation.
The author's intent was satirical, but many readers took the essay at face value.
In legal contexts, author's intent guides how statutes and contracts are interpreted.
- hermeneuticsStudy of interpretation methods
- literary analysisStudy of texts' meaning
- misreadingIncorrect interpretation of text
- inspirationSource of creative impulse
- motivationImpetus toward a goal
reception · interpretation · hidden meaning · between the lines · theme · moral lesson · message · subtext · narrative voice · creative vision · persuasion · allegory · context · didacticism · expression · symbolism · style · resonance
author's intentformalism
Privileging structure over substance
close reading · New Criticism · surface meaning · literal meaning
author, authors, authored, authoring, authorship, authorize, authorizes, authorized, authorizing