Abstract
This chapter minutely describes the model that subtitles the book, enabling other scholars to apply it consistently. The skeleton of the model rests on an intuitive distinction between RIDs (Readerly Indicators of Difficulty) and LIDs (Linguistic Indicators of Difficulty). Within an experimental setting, these may be conceived of as the two global variables of difficulty. RIDs are, for instance, statements of rejection, longer reading times and markers of interpretive hesitation. A total of thirty-three LIDs are identified and discussed, ranging from orthography to discourse (e.g. misspelt words, syntactic ambiguity and lack of narrativity ). Prototypical effects are suggested for each LID based on the processing operations they are most likely to challenge. This implies that the model allows to predict readerly reactions based on linguistic description.
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Castiglione, D. (2019). Genes of Difficulty: The Indicators. In: Difficulty in Poetry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97001-1_4
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