Purpose: The assignment will introduce you to close reading, the basic building block of all literary analysis. In the process, you’ll enhance your analytical, written, and argumentative skills.
Background: A close reading happens when a reader looks at a short passage of literature with something like a magnifying glass. A reader will sharply consider all of the striking features of a passage—diction, syntax, attitudes, metaphors, exaggerations, understatements, irony, organization, sound, line breaks, style, etc. – and draw a conclusion about the significance of the passage.
The reader will then go on to explain something about the work that would only be realized through a close reading of the actual language of the original literary passage.
What to do: In this paper, you will perform an original close reading of a short section of a work we’ve read so far(3 attached files). Your close reading should help readers understand the importance of the section in the larger piece (possibly its function). Explore how what you’ve noticed about that section contributes to its function.Special note:
If you choose The Concise Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki(attached file), aim to cover no more than two consecutive paragraphs.
If you choose a poemf rom The Classic of Poetry or by Li Ho or Li Po, analyze no more than five consecutive lines.
You may refer to other areas of the literary work only if they are directly referenced in this section.
Example Thesis: The following thesis (on an unassigned work) gives you an idea of what a close reading thesis should look like. Notice how it pays attention to the features of the passage and also explains why those features help us understand what the piece contributes to the work as a whole.
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness uses ambiguous language and haunting imagery in his introduction to an unnamed “wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman” (Conrad 99). Ultimately, the passage emphasizes Conrad’s conflicted stance toward the intersection of the “savage” and “civilized” spheres in colonization.
Tips: Make sure you . . .
1. Create an original argument—someone should be able to disagree with you and your idea should be surprising—that interprets the passage.
2. Narrow your focus. The more specific your thesis, the more you’ll be able to develop your thought in the body of the paper. Don’t tell me everything about the section. Tell me how the section’s features come together to do something interesting. Work on a concept or idea that links multiple observations. Remember space limitations.
Introduce your main idea (thesis) by the end of the introduction.
3. Choose both style and content suited for an academic audience. This audience is not your instructor but has read these works already. This means avoid extensive plot summary that doesn’t help your argument and avoid statements of the obvious so that your audience will remain engaged and enlightened.
4. Support your focus with examples and explain the significance of your examples. Make specific references to the work, use direct quotations, and offer detailed, close readings of those quotations. (However, do not use long block quotations as paper filler.)
You can be sure you are analyzing and interpreting the text when you are frequently quoting brief passages and then explaining something about them that can only be shown by referring to a close reading of the actual language of the original.
A close reading involves more than summarizing or paraphrasing the quotation; it involves showing how the specific language functions to convey a unique meaning. See the “Background” section of this assignment for a reminder of what close reading is.
5. Use logical organization with strong transitions between sentences and paragraphs. You don’t necessarily have to write about things as they chronologically happen in the passage. Instead, organize the paper around your focus and ideas, skipping around in the text as necessary.
6. Edit carefully for college-level writing (or better). Use MLA formatting (Links to an external site.) for the entire document, including headings, page numbers, in-text quotations, and a list of works cited. See an MLA guide or The Purdue OWL for assistance, or ask if you need help.
7. Use MLA documentation and include a Work Cited page. Do not research others’ interpretations of a work You may research history or author biography but any material you take from a source must be cited. I will consider any failure to cite sources a form of plagiarism and will initiate academic honesty proceedings.
EXAMPLE ESSAYS(3 attached files):
The following are examples of the type of paper you are being asked to write. They were all written for other Core Literature courses so the literature they write about will not be familiar to you. However, they should give you a good idea of what a close reading paper looks like, how it sounds, and how it should be formatted and organized. Pay special attention to how these students break down quotations in the body.
