Close Reading and Annotation
What is it and how does it work?
Close Reading
• Close reading is simply reading a small
passage very closely. You are looking for
details and literary techniques
• ANALYSIS of a passage
Summary vs. Analysis
Summary
• What happened
• Who, what, when, where
• The parts that everyone
knows
Analysis
• What it means
• WHY?
• Goes beyond obvious points
and looks deeper
Analysis is looking for layers in a text
Keep summary to no more than a few sentences in a
paper! I have read the book, I know what happens. I
want to read your analysis of it and hear your opinions!
Things to look for…
Title
• The Hunt for Red
October
• Alice in Wonderland
• The Odyssey
• East of Eden
• Anthem
• The Jungle
• Heart of Darkness
• 20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea
• Jurassic Park
• Jane Eure
• Pygmalian
• A Conneticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court
• Murder on the Orient
Express
Main Idea
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Read the back
Read the introduction
Look at the cover
Look at the book flaps
Look at the Table of Contents
Examine any illustrations
Skim the first chapter
Break it down!
• Split the text up into paragraphs or other
manageable chunks
– By paragraph, speaker, setting, situation, etc.
• Identify the main idea in each paragraph
– Look for topic sentences
– How does this paragraph’s main idea connect to
and build on a previous paragraph’s ideas?
Break it down!
• Pause periodically to ‘translate’
– Put things in your own words
– Repeat the action in more modern terms
– Look up anything you don’t understand!!
• Make connections
– Are there any modern-day similarities?
– Any similarities to your own experiences?
Getting it…
• Keep a list of questions
– What is clear? What do you not understand?
– Keep questions on a bookmark!
• Use more than one method of note-taking
– Read the text and your notes
– Write down notes or re-copy your old ones
– Speak: read the text out loud and listen to yourself
– Listen: find the book on tape
Annotating
Taking notes on or
about a book
Why should I?
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Reading comprehension
Notes for later assignments
Homework/classwork
Understanding
Interest
Practice
How do I?
• Best on the text itself, but also great to use a
separate page
• Take notes on questions you have, what’s
going on in the story, words you don’t
recognize, passages that are important,
themes and symbols, etc.
References
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Title
Chapter
Line
Page
Paragraph
• How will you find this
passage again?
Clarity points
• What is clear to you?
• What do I know?
• What is happening that
you don’t understand?
• What words are you
unfamiliar with?
– Look them up and write
the definitions in your
notes
Two-Column Response
What does the author think?
What do I think?
• What are the author’s
opinions?
• Why does he think this
way?
• What has influenced this
passage?
• What are the character’s
motivations?
• What in the author’s history
and personal life might have
influenced this passage?
• What do I think about the
author’s opinions?
• Why do I think the
characters are acting in this
particular way?
• What do I think it means?
• Do I agree with the author?
• Why or why not?
• What evidence or examples
can I use from the text to
support my ideas?
• What is my own cultural
perspective on this?
*Spark
• What occurs to you as you read this passage?
• What kinds of ideas does it give you?
• If you’re reading a critique or argument, what
gaps in the author’s argument can you find?
What kinds of things didn’t he consider?
Sum it up.
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What are the main points you just read?
What was important?
What did you learn?
What was the author’s point?
What techniques did the author use?
– Satire, characterization, irony, symbolism,
metaphor, etc.
WHY?!
• Character’s actions--- motivations
• Character’s words--- intent or perspective
• Character’s self--- personality, appearance,
attitude, etc.
– How do they appear to others?
– What effect does this person have by being this
way?
• Effect on other characters
• Effect on the reader
Alice in Wonderland
A Study in Scarlet