Reader response and authorial intent are two concepts that are often discussed when analyzing literature. While they are related in the sense that a reader’s interpretation of a text may be influenced by an author’s purpose, these two terms refer to vastly different ideas. Reader response is focused on how readers experience the text while authorial intent looks at why the author wrote it in the first place. It is important to consider both when discussing communication as without considering both aspects our understanding of any particular work could be limited or incomplete.