A close reading involves analyzing a text at the level of the language itself. This includes considering things like:
- Exact word choices that authors use
- Verb tenses
- Use of figurative language
- Spaces of silence (what is not said is just as important as what is said)
- The tone the author adopts (not to be confused with the voice an author uses)
- The choice of narrator (not the same as the author)
- Gendered language
- Implicit/explicit bias
- Punctuation choices
- Repeated thematic elements
- And Much More!
In order to conduct a close reading, you must fully engage with the text.
FAIRFIELD CAMPUS