glossary: February 2008 Archives
Key Concept:
Close Reading
A close reading is a careful, thorough, sustained examination of the words that make up a text. You "read closely" in order to focus your attention on the actual words contained in the text.
A close reading uses short quotations (a few words or only one word) inside sentences that make an argument about the work itself (rather than an argument about your reactions, incidents in the author's life, or whether things today are different from or similar to the society depicted in the literary work).
In a close reading, a text is not so much a mirror to reflect your own opinions and personal reactions; nor is it a window, to look through in order to learn about the subject of the text or the author's motivations or goals; rather, you look at the glass itself -- you look at the language, grammar, punctuation, structure, with the understanding that the author chose each word, each line break, each allusion, in order to achieve a certain effect.Note: Close reading is always re-reading.
Rather than imagining or arguing about what the author intended, a close reading examines what the text itself has accomplished.
Continue reading Close Reading.
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Recent Comments
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