Prompt, Week 3: Close Reading Assignment

DUE: Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Explanation

So far, we have talked a great deal about close reading, and we’ve even done a little as a group (think the political comic we looked at on the second day). Now, each of you will undertake a close reading of your own. As I mentioned in the syllabus, close reading (also referred to narrowly as explication) is the practice of reading, analyzing, and interpreting a single passage within a larger text. Traditionally, this kind of reading was limited to identifying significant rhetorical figures, like the master tropes discussed by Culler (70–72; metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony).

However, times have changed. Close reading is still at the heart of literary studies, but it has expanded to include a wider range of critical approaches. For instance, we can close read passages in The Odyssey using performance or identity in order to make an argument about how to read a text.

Which brings me to the next, crucial element of close reading. When you close read a passage, your interpretation is not limited to that passage. Instead, the close reading of three or four lines (or maybe a paragraph or two) enables you to make an argument about how the entire text can be read. In fact, close reading is a kind of evidence. It acts as the critical support for your primary argument.

And, indeed, everything you write should have an explicit or implied argument. This may at first seem counterintuitive because close reading is more like observation or description than argument, but close readings always contain an argument for how we, other readers of the text, should understand it.

Method

Conceptually, this is all well and good. But how do you, as novice close readers, perform your close readings? Here are my suggestions:

First, Read

• Carefully read your target text
• Identify a passage that strikes you as interesting
• Consider how you want to read the passage (performance, identity, rhetorical analysis, or some combination, etc. Do not feel limited by these categories)
• Begin interpreting the passage using your chosen approach
• Think about how your interpretation argues for a certain way of reading the entire text

Then, Write

• Consider using the form Assertion, Citation, Explanation, or ACE.
• Write your assertion, which is your primary argument about the text
• Follow the assertion with your citation, or passage. This is where you do your close reading. You will cite the passage, in part or in full, and then you will describe how to read it. The best kind of citations are integrated with your own words (do not just quote an entire passage; instead, cite those parts that are most important to your reading). Avoid block quotes.
• Finally, explain why your close reading is important for a better understanding of the text as a whole.

ACE may at first seem formulaic, but when starting out it can be helpful to have a formula to work with. In terms of writing, this organization pattern is widely accepted across a range of disciplines, so it may be good practice to try and follow it.

Logistics

• Read one of the assigned target texts, which include chapters from The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, The Inferno, and Paradise Lost.
• Publish your close reading as a blog post
• Title your post with the week and your name (for ex., mine would be: Week 3: James Trout)
• Your reading should be at least 350 words long and no more than 550 words
• All posts must be published by Wednesday, 6 pm. All late posts will automatically receive half credit. If the post is not published by Friday, 12 pm, it will receive no credit.

Please check your posts for my comments. I will often critique your posts in the comment section. If your post does not meet my standard for full credit, I will give you suggestions for improvement and ask you to edit your original post. If you choose not to edit the post, you will receive half credit.