Close Reading
What is close reading?
Close reading is a mode of analysis that constructs arguments about a text based on evidence compiled through careful attention to the form of the text. We already do this every day! We read texts – not just novels, poems, or essays, but also films, artwork, plays, objects, and so forth – as they align with or challenge our expectations of the text's formal conventions, medium, mode of expression, genre/type, and origin (person, place, time, etc.).
In the context of university-level writing assignments, sometimes students may be asked to write an entire "close reading essay", in which they must use small details within the text to support a larger argument about text and/or its author. However, close reading's usefulness is not limited to these specific assignments. In fact, because it requires us as readers/writers to work so specifically and closely with evidence, close reading is an indispensable tool that we can and should use in many different types of assignments: research papers, critical essays, opinion pieces, and even literature reviews.
How does close reading relate to argument?
Close reading leads to argumentation through a process of observation and interpretation (inductive reasoning). The resulting thesis will be based on and supported by concrete evidence collected through close observations of a text.
Note about Motive: Motive in a close reading paper is frequently related to our expectations of the text/topic or general knowledge about similar texts.
- Example: “First-time viewers of Blade Runner may be disappointed that the film is not more epic or flashy like other science-fiction films, because the film cultivates a contemplative aesthetic and a mystery-like narrative that may seem slow and abstract.”
How do we close-read?
- Identify a feature of the text to investigate
- Make observations and collect “data”
- Analyze and examine your observations
- Plan your essay and start writing!
Dos and Do-Nots:
Do:
- Talk about the reasons behind the decisions made
in the text - Make use of contrary evidence
- Ground your argument in the text
- Focus on the argument being made in the text
- Assume your reader has a baseline knowledge of
the text - Include specific and concrete evidence in each paragraph
Do Not:
- Use review-like or evaluative language
- Over-simplify or over-determine your argument
- Make generalizations (cultural)
- Make assumptions about the reader or audience
- Provide too much context
- Summarize
Example – two body paragraphs that successfully demonstrate close reading
On a lonely voyage back to Earth, all the crew members of the Nostromo have for company is one another, and their home, the ship Nostromo, run by the computer affectionately nicknamed Mother. The audience can immediately sense that the ship occupies a maternal-like space, as we see it awakening the crew. Sterile, white lights slowly flicker on and the camera cautiously pans around a corner, as if the audience is Mother, waking up her children, the crew (Scott 0:04:55). This gives the scene a slightly more human sense, rather than the lights just snapping on automatically. There is also mysterious but ultimately very light and airy music playing, like someone walking on tip-toe, during the awakening of the crew, contributing to the mother and her children perspective.
The audience then gets a glimpse into the crew’s stasis chamber, which resembles a nursery in many ways. The crew sleeps side by side in their underwear, much like infants in a crib (Scott 0:05:17). Here the camera remains fairly stationary, like a parent looking in on their sleeping children, and the music has an almost whimsical, child-like lilt to it, as if there is some sort of innocence or naivety to the crew (Scott 0:05:30). It is the sort of music one would associate with babies or toddlers listening to or enjoying, all very light and delicate, while still having some darker undertones. Since the audience knows this is a horror movie, this increases the feelings of uneasiness and apprehension. As the stasis pods all open in unison, the music becomes almost heavenly and the lighting becomes extraordinarily bright, almost blinding (Scott 0:05:43). This seems to put the crew in a literally positive light, signaling pure intentions, or that the ship, as their Mother, thinks highly of them. The music becomes much more lighthearted and uplifting, which might serve to relax the audience slightly, since it seems difficult to believe anything terrible could happen under such bright lighting and in such a clean, cold environment (Scott 0:05:50).This, of course, is designed to trick the audience into believing that the ship, and Mother will be a safe haven for the crew from the ‘alien’, but anyone who has seen the film knows that the opposite is in fact true. The crew’s home becomes a death trap, and the ship turns against them.
Credits: Adapted from Brandeis Writing Center and the University of Guelph (https://guides.lib.uoguelph.ca/CloseReading) under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.