1. The Language of composition
Chapter Two
Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analysis
The Language of composition
Reading, Writing, Rhetoric

2. Close Reading Goal is to develop an understanding of text
Close reading is strategy
Create meaning based first on the words, then on the larger ideas suggested
When writing about a text, you start with larger ideas, then use examples from the language to support

3. Close Reading We do it subconsciously every day
We are aware of interaction of subject, speaker, audience in conversation
We analyze conversations
We even consider style (body language, tone, expression, etc.)

4. Analyzing Style Consists of tone, sentence structure and vocabulary
Style contributes to meaning, purpose and effect
Examples of style questions based on Ground Zero text, p 37
Style falls into two categories: diction and syntax

5. Diction Diction: choice of words Trope: artful diction
Examples: metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole

6. Diction – Considerations
Which important words are general/abstract vs. specific/concrete?
Are the important words formal, informal, colloquial or slang?
Are some words non literal, creating figures of speech?

7. Syntax Syntax: arrangement of words Scheme: artful syntax
Examples: parallelisms, juxtapositions, antithesis

8. Syntax – Considerations
What is the order of the parts of a sentence: normal or inverted?
Which part of speech is most prominent?
Are the sentences periodic or cumulative?
How does the sentence connect its words, phrases and clauses?
Which of the questions on p. 37 are about diction and which are about syntax??

9. Talking with the Text The point: generate your own questions
Remember, not just identifying techniques, but analyzing their effect.
Also, remember style is a subset of rhetoric so we’re analyzing it as a means of persuasion
Therefore, determine the PURPOSE, what style choices are made, and what is their effect (towards the purpose)

10. Example on page 40 – Joan Didion
Annotation
Using a pen or pencil, on text or post-its
Words you don’t know?
Words that seem related?
Thesis statements and topic sentences?
Imagery?
Allusions?
Things that stand out – quotation marks, punctuation, certain sentences, facts
Example on page 40 – Joan Didion

11. Dialectical Journal Double-entry notebook
Visually represent the conversation between text nd reader
See example, p. 42
Note Taking (text) vs. Note Making (commentary)

12. Graphic Organizer See example, p. 44
Copy something the writer has said
Restate it in your own words
Analyze how the writer makes the point (strategy or style element)
Function or effect on the reader

13. Close Reading Assignment
Assignment, p. 48
Complete a Dialectical Journal Entry for the passage by Ascham

14. Analyzing a Visual Text
When we analyze a visual text, we look at both the words AND the visuals
There are six basic aspects of a visual text that we look at
Example: Video Clip

15. Analyzing a Visual Text
Arrangement – “the organization of visual elements so that readers can see their structure”
Emphasis – making certain parts more prominent than others by changing its size, shape and color.
Clarity – helps the reader to “decode the message, to understand it quickly and completely”
Conciseness – “generating designs that are appropriately succinct to a particular situation”
Tone – tone reveals the designer’s attitude towards the subject matter
Ethos – earning the trust of the person receiving the message.