In "Uses of Literature" (2008), Rita Felski outlines four ways in which our affective responses to literature can serve as a starting point for a new form of literary criticism drawing on reader response and ethical criticism. This article situates Felski's approach in the context of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) on reading resilience, close and reflective reading and discusses my own experiences with integrating Felski's ideas into a second-year subject in English literature.