Experiential reader-response theorists focus on the nature of the readers' engagement with the text, the ways in which students identify with characters, visualize images, etc. Louise Rosenblatt (1983), a leader in the study of reader-response, states that readers shift back and forth between efferent and aesthetic responses. Readers who respond aesthetically are creating a private meaning, responding to personal thoughts and feelings as they react to the text. When students engage with the text, they become involved emotionally, empathizing or identifying with the characters. They construct alternative worlds through their reading, conceptualizing the characters, the setting, the events, etc. and create visual images. They make connections with the text and their own lives, and reflect upon the quality of their own experiences with the text. For example, in the classroom, readers are often given optional activities that they choose, based on their learning styles. After readers have explored their personal responses, efferent responses follow, with a focus more on analysis (Jenkins, 1997). Reader-response does not preclude the literary examination of the text; this often develops through the writing of ongoing responses. But with either aesthetic or efferent responses, students must always return to the text to validate their responses.