Close Reading Handout that explains the value and skill of close reading | Schemes and Mind Maps English Language

Discuss Readings vis a vis Critical Theories

Psychoanalysis involves the study of a text to uncover how the text reveals a pattern

of unconscious materials (memories, latent desires, universal symbols or archetypes,

etc.) for the author and/or the reader.

Small Group Discussion: Take turns sharing your critical discussion questions for

chapters 15-20 of Part 2. Choose what you think are your group’s strongest questions

and share those with the class.

Whole Class Discussion: Engage in an active, critical discussion of your peers’

questions. Use specific passages from the novel to support your responses.

Suggested Psychoanalytic Questions to Consider:

Childhood: What role does childhood play in the mental development of Adam?

Consider parental roles with John Locke’s tabula rasa theory. If we’re born blank

slates, doesn’t that leave the onus on our parents for ensuring that we grow up to

be well-adjusted members of society? Where does personal responsibility factor

in? Are there any oedipal dynamics - or any other family dynamics - are work

here?

Nature vs. Nurture: Where does the text side with regard to this debate? To

what extent is Adam’s upbringing (and/or later environment) responsible for his

current state? Who/what is to blame for his behavior and actions: his nature? His

lack of nurturing? Other factors?

Repression: How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work?

What unconscious motives are operating in the main character(s)? What core

issues are illustrated and how do these core issues structure or inform the piece?

How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in

terms of other psychoanalytic concepts (regression, crisis, projection, fear or

fascination with death, the operations of ego-id-superego, etc.)?

Dreams: In what ways can we view the text as analogous to a dream? How

might dream symbols reveal the ways in which the narrator is projecting his/her

unconscious desires, fears, wounds, or unresolved conflicts onto other

characters, onto setting, or onto the events portrayed?

Doubles and Foils: What do you make of the many doubles throughout the

novel, such as Adam/Blake, Blake/Rene, Jane/Beatrice? For instance, does

Blake operate as the id to Adam’s ego? Or does Blake represent all that Adam

lacks and wishes he had? What of the other pairs? What is revealed about the

nature of the human psyche (or society) through these doubles?

Reader Response: What might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest

about the psychological motives of the reader?

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Discuss Readings vis a vis Critical Theories Psychoanalysis involves the study of a text to uncover how the text reveals a pattern of unconscious materials (memories, latent desires, universal symbols or archetypes, etc.) for the author and/or the reader. Small Group Discussion: Take turns sharing your critical discussion questions for chapters 15-20 of Part 2. Choose what you think are your group’s strongest questions and share those with the class. Whole Class Discussion : Engage in an active, critical discussion of your peers’ questions. Use specific passages from the novel to support your responses. Suggested Psychoanalytic Questions to Consider:  Childhood : What role does childhood play in the mental development of Adam? Consider parental roles with John Locke’s tabula rasa theory. If we’re born blank slates, doesn’t that leave the onus on our parents for ensuring that we grow up to be well-adjusted members of society? Where does personal responsibility factor in? Are there any oedipal dynamics - or any other family dynamics - are work here?  Nature vs. Nurture: Where does the text side with regard to this debate? To what extent is Adam’s upbringing (and/or later environment) responsible for his current state? Who/what is to blame for his behavior and actions: his nature? His lack of nurturing? Other factors?  Repression : How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work? What unconscious motives are operating in the main character(s)? What core issues are illustrated and how do these core issues structure or inform the piece? How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of other psychoanalytic concepts (regression, crisis, projection, fear or fascination with death, the operations of ego-id-superego, etc.)?  Dreams : In what ways can we view the text as analogous to a dream? How might dream symbols reveal the ways in which the narrator is projecting his/her unconscious desires, fears, wounds, or unresolved conflicts onto other characters, onto setting, or onto the events portrayed?  Doubles and Foils : What do you make of the many doubles throughout the novel, such as Adam/Blake, Blake/Rene, Jane/Beatrice? For instance, does Blake operate as the id to Adam’s ego? Or does Blake represent all that Adam lacks and wishes he had? What of the other pairs? What is revealed about the nature of the human psyche (or society) through these doubles?  Reader Response : What might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest about the psychological motives of the reader?

 Free Will and Determinism : Do you think that the characters are responsible for the situations they find themselves in (ie. Free will)? Or do you think that outside circumstances, such as socioeconomic status, strips them of agency through which they can steer their lives in other directions? In-Class Writing (Close-Reading Analysis) Close-Reading involves looking beneath the surface meaning of a passage to find the deeper significance. This activity is helpful because it scaffolds your ability to make critical claims about a text and to support those ideas in a logical, thoughtful manner. Close-Reading requires you to unpack any parts of the quotation that need clarification or that may be understood in different ways. How do you interpret the key terms, figurative language (metaphors, similes, connotation, allusions, imagery, etc.), irony, and/or symbolism in the quotation? Next, analyze the broader meanings and implications of the quote. Let yourself go here. What major themes or motifs does it illustrate? In what ways does it reveal character? How does it reveal the author’s ideology? Why? How? Keep asking yourself questions about the quotation. Dig deep! How Do You Unpack a Quote? First choose a passage worthy of discussion. Then, underline the key terms of the passage (defining these terms will lead you from surface meaning to deeper significance). The following quotation comes from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The unnamed narrator is a young wife and mother who is suffering from postpartum depression while confined to a room covered in yellow wallpaper. The narrator notes, “The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing” (Gilman 533). Next, devote an entire paragraph to the discussion of the passage,  begin with a topic sentence that mentions the main point of the paragraph (the idea that relates to your quotation) before quoting your passage;  Quote the passage, using an appropriate signal phrase ;  Explain the context for the quote if necessary, considering how much you’ve already discussed about the text from which you took the quotation;  Explain its surface meaning , defining key terms (and any figurative language );  Reflect on the deeper significance of the passage in 3-4 additional sentences.  Note: Avoid using block quotations (a quote of more than 4 lines) because this does not allow you to analyze fully. Instead, try breaking up a longer passage

Close Reading Handout that explains the value and skill of close reading, Schemes and Mind Maps of English Language

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