📖Learn Close Reading Technique
Stop treating close reading like a vibe and start treating it like a procedure. Fourteen days of a five-step drill — notice, question, pattern, interpret, support — that ends with a 300-word analysis of a paragraph from a book you love.
Phase 1Where Close Reading Comes From
Discover where close reading came from and why the procedure exists.
Close reading is a procedure, not a mood
6 minClose reading is a procedure, not a mood
New Criticism invented the page-only rule
7 minNew Criticism invented the page-only rule
Notice, question, pattern, interpret, support
7 minNotice, question, pattern, interpret, support
Diction, syntax, sound, image, repetition
7 minDiction, syntax, sound, image, repetition
Phase 2The Five-Step Drill
Drill the five steps daily on poems, prose, and openings.
Run the procedure on a four-line poem
8 minThe procedure works in fifteen minutes on a tiny text
Run the procedure on a paragraph of prose
8 minProse feels harder; the procedure stays the same
Run the procedure on a song lyric
7 minSong lyrics are short poems with extra repetition
Run the procedure on the opening of a novel
8 minOpenings are short texts pretending to be long ones
Run the procedure on a piece of nonfiction
8 minArgument prose hides its craft in sentence shape
Phase 3Reading Against Other Lenses
Compare close reading to historical, psychoanalytic, and feminist lenses.
Close reading vs. historical context
8 minClose reading vs. historical context
Close reading vs. psychoanalytic reading
8 minClose reading vs. psychoanalytic reading
Close reading vs. feminist reading
8 minClose reading vs. feminist reading
Layer the lenses; don't pick one
8 minLayer the lenses; don't pick one
Phase 4Your 300-Word Close Reading
Write a 300-word close reading of a paragraph you love.
Write a 300-word close reading of a paragraph you love
8 minA 300-word close reading is the unit of real literary analysis
Frequently asked questions
- What is close reading and how is it different from regular reading?
- This is covered in the “Learn Close Reading Technique” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- Where did close reading come from?
- This is covered in the “Learn Close Reading Technique” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- What are the steps of a close reading?
- This is covered in the “Learn Close Reading Technique” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- How long should a close reading analysis be?
- This is covered in the “Learn Close Reading Technique” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- Is close reading still useful if I'm not an English major?
- This is covered in the “Learn Close Reading Technique” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
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