Importance of Close Reading

Post date: Mar 5, 2012 11:05:51 PM

So, I'm pissed off today because it has been SUCH a challenge to get my students to really, closely read. Anything. But especially challenging expository texts, like Freire and Horace Mann. I really believe that closely, critically reading is an important skill (for life and for college), but they just want to debate big ideas without pointing to where they got them in the text. They like to just spout without giving evidence. And then they pout at me when I ask them to show me WHERE in the text they're understanding what they're saying. Ugh.

I was wondering if I'm going crazy or asking too much of them when I stumbled upon this website with this cool close reading exercise for Annie Dillard's "Living Like Weasels" (attached below). (Does anyone else love Dillard as much as me? Reading her writing is almost as good as going on a real hike. Almost.)

And then I found these provocative articles about closely reading and just REALLY reading in general. The first one, "Pretty Good Gatsby is not Good Enough," talks about the core standards and how they're pushing students to actually read literature (and not just use what the author calls empty "text to self" and "text to world" connections... I know...WHAT?! We love those! But read what she says anyway). The second one, "Gatsby without Greatness," is the original article from Roger Ebert himself (and who knew he was a literature critic as well as a film critic?!) which the first author is responding to.

They both affirm my desire to really challenge my students to read closely and to not shy away from challenging or difficult texts.

This is the newest conundrum that I'm wrestling with. Does anyone else think I'm crazy for pushing this close reading stuff so much?!?!

I feel a little better after writing this. That's nice.