Close Reading & Literary Analysis

Below are a few different explanations of what we mean by "close reading" as well as how to do it!

What IS close reading?

Close reading is really just reading a poem or a passage from a longer work and analyzing it in fine detail, as if with a magnifying glass. Basically, you want to go over the passage word by word, seeing what you notice or what stands out to you, what makes you pause, etc. You then comment on points of style (how the author uses words) and on your reactions as a reader. Close reading is important because it is the building block for larger analysis. Your thoughts evolve not from someone else's truth about the reading, but from your own observations. The more closely you can observe, the more original and exact your ideas will be. To begin your close reading, ask yourself several specific questions about the passage. The following questions are not a formula, but a starting point for your own thoughts. When you arrive at some answers, you are ready to organize and write literary analysis (or what IB calls "commentary"). Generally, questions like the ones below help you to A) notice things and B) step back a little and ask yourself WHY you notice them and WHY the author might have made this choice. That second part, B, is what will lead you to good literary analysis -- considering the why/so what/to what effect questions.

Read with a pencil (or colored pencils or highlighters) in hand and MARK UP the passage as you read. Read through several times -- most good literature doesn't reveal its secrets on the first or second read-through!

I. First Impressions:

• What is the first thing you notice about the passage?
• What is the second thing?
• Do the two things you noticed complement each other? Or contradict each other?
• What mood does the passage create in you? Why?

II. Vocabulary and Diction:

• Which words do you notice first? Why? What is noteworthy about this diction?
• How do the important words relate to one another?
• Do any words seem oddly used to you? Why do you think the writer did this?
• Are certain words repeated? To what effect, do you think?
• Do any words have double meanings? Do they have extra connotations, especially negative or positive ones? Why might this affect meaning?
• Look up any unfamiliar words or words that seem to be used in an unusual way. (Often-- especially in poetry -- writers will play on words, or meanings of words, for a certain effect or purpose. Therefore, even if you think you know what a word means, often if you look it up you'll learn the various meanings and connotations the author might be hinting at or playing around with, and this can enrich meaning.

III. Discerning Patterns:

• Does an image here remind you of an image elsewhere in the text? Where? What's the connection?
• How might this image fit into the pattern of the text as a whole?
• Could this passage symbolize the entire work? Could this passage serve as a microcosm--a little picture--of what's taking place in the whole work?
• What is the sentence rhythm like? Short and choppy? Long and flowing? Does it build on itself or stay at an even pace? What is the style like?
• Look at the punctuation. Is there anything unusual about it?
• Is there any repetition (of words, images, phrases, ideas, symbols) within the passage? What is the effect of that repetition?
• How many types of writing are in the passage? (For example, narration, description, argument, dialogue, rhymed or alliterative poetry, etc.)
• Can you identify paradoxes in the author's thought or subject?
• What is left out or kept silent? What would you expect the author to talk about that the author avoided?

IV. Point of View and Characterization:

• How does the passage make us react or think about any characters or events within the narrative?
• Are there colors, sounds, physical description that appeals to the senses? Does this imagery form a pattern? Why might the author have chosen that color, sound or physical description?
• Who speaks in the passage? To whom does he or she speak? Does the narrator have a limited or partial point of view? Or does the narrator appear to be omniscient, and he knows things the characters couldn't possibly know? (For example, omniscient narrators might mention future historical events, events taking place "off stage," the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters, and so on). What effect does this POV have on the story? On us as readers?

V. Symbolism & Metaphor:

• Are there metaphors? What kinds?
• Is there one controlling metaphor? If not, how many different metaphors are there, and in what order do they occur? How might that be significant?
• How might objects represent something else?
• Do any of the objects, colors, animals, or plants appearing in the passage have traditional connotations or meaning? What about religious or biblical significance?
• If there are multiple symbols in the work, could we read the entire passage as having allegorical meaning beyond the literal level?

If you wish to walk through a close-reading of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, click here.

(adapted from this source)

What is literary analysis?

Literary analysis involves taking what you've noticed during close reading and discussion and forming some sort of thesis (an arguable statement or proposition) about WHAT is going on, HOW the author has created this idea, and WHY he/she did so (in other words, what's the point?).

Literary analysis often discusses/explores:

• how the various components of a work relate to each other (these components can include word-level things like diction, imagery, syntax, metaphor, irony, etc as well as larger-scale issues like setting, plot, character development, symbolism, etc).
• how the concepts in the work or passage relate to higher-order issues like political, social, cultural, religious, artistic, or economic contexts

Literary analysis must:

• make an argument
• be specific and well-organized
• include quotes from the text and EXPLAIN their significance in relation to the thesis
• shows that you as critic are aware that the writer makes choices when creating a text (genre, style, diction, theme, etc) and that these choice have effects on creating meaning
• attend to the "so what" questions - WHAT effect does this particular choice that the author made have on the text's meaning? WHY might the author be making these choices or using these elements? WHAT are we meant to take away as readers?

Literary analysis should NOT:

• summarize or paraphrase the text

Examples of good thesis statements (concrete, specific, reasonable, and clear):

- In Othello, Shakespeare uses irony to make his audience aware of the complex nature of both trust and betrayal.

- Orwell's 1984 explores how totalitarianism can deny people their fundamental rights -- to love, to live in community, and to have a sense of individual identity -- thus effectively robbing them of their humanity.

You can find an example of a good literary analysis essay here.