Close Reading

1. Close Reading The art and craft of analysis

2. Suzanne Berne article • Premise—her visit to World Trade Center—Ground Zero, several months after 9/11 • Appeared in NY Times travel section in April 2002 • Her trouble getting a ticket to the official viewing platform

3. Berne article discussion • Use the rhetoric triangle • Now we can look at her style: • Choices she makes at the word and sentence levels

4. Analyzing Style • Tone, sentence structure and vocabulary make up an author’s style • Style contributes to the meaning, purpose and effect of a text, whether visual or written

5. Berne • Why is the first paragraph one sentence? • In that paragraph, why does Berne call the empty space “the disaster”? • Why does the third sentence begin with Gathered rather than firefighters? • What examples of fig. language appear in the fourth paragraph? • Does the word huddled in the fourth paragraph remind you of anything else? • What is the effect of the dashes in the final sentence?

6. Style • When we talk about an author’s word choice, we mean diction • When we look at an author’s sentence structure, we mean syntax • Style is a matter of tropes and schemes • Tropes=artful diction-metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole • Scheme=artful syntax-parallelism, juxtaposition, antithesis

7. Diction Analysis • Look at important words in the passage—verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs—general or abstract: specific or concrete • Important words—informal, formal, colloquial or slang • Non-literal or figurative language

8. Syntax Analysis • Look at order of the parts of the sentence—subject, verb, object, or is it inverted • What part of speech is more prominent-nouns or verbs • What are the sentences like? Periodic-moving to something important at the end or Cumulative-adding details that support an important idea in the beginning of the sentence • How does the sentence connect its words, phrases, and clauses

9. Practice • Read Joan Didion’s passage about California’s Santa Ana winds • Look at word choice and sentence structure.

10. Annotation • Requires reading with a pen or pencil to mark the text. • If you cannot write in the book, because it is not yours, then use post-it notes or a reader’s notebook. • Identify the main idea-thesis statement and main points-also look for imagery and details.

11. Dialectical Journal • Also called a double-entry notebook • Represents a visual conversation between the text and the reader • Note taking para Note making • Collecting these bits of information from the text and considering their impression on you prepares you to attack the text and pick it apart

12. Assignment • Bring in an advertisement to analyze.

13. JFK Inaugural address 1961 • Read the first time to gather information • On the second reading-conversation with the address • Use the rhetorical triangle and appeals • Answer questions on board about diction and syntax

14. Assignment: • Do the same activity for Obama’s inaugural address 2009

15. Tropes and Schemes used by Kennedy • Alliteration • Allusion • Anaphora • Antimetabole • Antithesis • Archaic diction • Asyndeton • Cumulative sentences • Hortative sentences • Imperative sentences • Inversion • Juxtaposition • Metaphor • Metonymy • Oxymoron • Parallelism • Periodic sentences • Personification • Rhetorical questions • zeugma