Lehman, Christopher and Kate Roberts. Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons
for Analyzing Texts and Life. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2014. Print.
Teaching Close Reading to Build Independence
TEXT EVIDENCE
In Narratives
Types of Lenses
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Types of Patterns
Types of
Understandings
What characters/people: say/think/do
Characters’ expressions, gestures, and
appearance
Relationships
Setting descriptions
Time period
Recurring objects
 Which details fit together?
 How do they fit together?
Character’s/People’s:
 Feelings
 Traits
 Relationships
 Motivations
 Comparisons to Others
Whole Text:
 Issues
 Symbols/metaphors/motifs
 Themes
 Lessons
In Informational Text
A subject’s:
 Facts
 Phrases
 Descriptions
Photos or graphics
Quotes from experts
Author’s stated opinions
Comparisons
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Definitions of unknown
concepts or terms
Main idea of a section
Central idea of an entire
text
Author’s bias or point of
view
Comparisons
Word Choice
Types of Lenses
Types of Patterns
Types of
Understandings
In Narratives and Informational Text
Choose words that seem particularly selected by the author, such as:
Words that evoke:
 Strong emotion
 Strong images
 A clear idea
Words that reveal style:
 Informal tone
 Formal tone
 A clear voice
Particular kinds of words:
 Nouns
 Verbs
 Adjectives
 Adverbs
 Which words fit together?
 How do they fit together?
An author’s:
 Tone
 Purpose
 Relationship to the subject/theme
Texts:
Lehman, Christopher and Kate Roberts. Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons
for Analyzing Texts and Life. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2014. Print.
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
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Central ideas
Issues
Lessons
Symbols/metaphors/motifs
Themes
Structure
In Narratives
Lens #1: Describe the organization of the
text:
Genre as structure chosen for a purpose:
 Fantasy, to explore good and evil
 Historical fiction, to reflect on current
ideas in a historical context
Location of parts within the whole:
Plot mountain:
 Exposition: introducing character,
setting, and backstory
 Rising Action: pressures and obstacles
 Climax: dramatic point, characters or
problems come together
 Falling Action: characters or
communities change, lessons learned
 Resolution: ending, some things wrap
up, others might not
Techniques the author uses:
 Descriptions
 Dialogue between characters
 Action
 Setting
 Inner thinking
 Scene endings and beginning
 Flashbacks
 Definition of a term
 Comparisons
In Informational Texts
Lens #1: Describe the
organization of the text:
Genre as structure chosen for a
purpose:
 Editorial, to convince or
persuade
 Article, to inform and
educate
Location of parts within the whole:
 Sections
 Text features
 Order of techniques
Techniques the author uses:
 Definition of a term
 Comparisons
 Cause or effect
 Description
 Anecdote
 Claim
Types of Lenses
Lens #2: Purpose of that organization:
 To set the stage
 To reveal
 To create suspense
 To foreshadow
Lens #2: Purpose of that
organization:
 To present a cause for an
effect
 To make a complex idea
more concrete
 To provide context
 To clear up
misconceptions
 To develop a reader’s
expertise
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Types of Patterns
 How are the parts similar?
 How are the parts different?
 What purpose do the parts serve?
Character:
 Development
Types of Lenses
Types of
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Definitions
Main idea of a section
Lehman, Christopher and Kate Roberts. Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons
for Analyzing Texts and Life. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2014. Print.
Understandings
 Changes
 Critical moments
Whole Text:
 Themes
 Central ideas
 Issues
 Lessons
 Symbols/metaphors/motifs
 Author’s purpose
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Central idea of an entire
text
Author’s bias or point of
view
Purpose behind the
author’s choices
Point of View and Argument
Types of Lenses
Types of Patterns
Types of
Understandings
In Narratives
Lens #1: What is the author’s and/or
character’s point of view here?
 What they are thinking
 What they believe
 What they feel or want
Lens #2: What makes the author and/or
character’s point of view persuasive?
 Text evidence
 Word choice
 Structure
 What characters: say/think/do
 Character expressions, gestures, and
appearance
 Relationships
 Setting descriptions
 Time period
 Recurring objects
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In Informational Texts
Lens #1: What is the point of
view/argument?
 Ideas or claims
 Reasons the claim is right
 Evidence supporting the
reasons
 Counterargument
 Logic
 Validity
 Relevance
Lens #2: What makes the point of
view/argument persuasive?
 Text evidence
 Word choice
 Structure
 Emotional appeals
(personal stories or
anecdotes)
 Engaging voice (humor,
passion, or outrage)
 Sense of audience
(angled evidence, or tone)
 Nods to commonly held
beliefs or even
stereotypes
 Cacophony, or “ranting”
 Rhetorical devices
(metaphors, alliteration, or
irony)
Which points of view/ideas are repeated?
What technique does the author use to make his or her point of
view/argument?
 What sticks out as different or unusual in the text?
What is the purpose or effect of these points of
Validity and strength of the
view?
argument:
 What is revealed about a theme?
 Central idea or claim
 The author’s purpose?
 Most/least persuasive
parts
 The effect on the reader?
 How similar or different
 Which point of view is rewarded in the
from the reader’s point of
text?
view
 Comparison of points of view
Lehman, Christopher and Kate Roberts. Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons
for Analyzing Texts and Life. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2014. Print.
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How well-supported
Effective or ineffective
parts
 The strength of
counterargument
Author’s style:
 Most commonly used craft
or persuasion techniques
 Balance of style and
argument
 Effective or ineffective
persuasive techniques
Reading Across Texts
Types of Lenses
Types of Patterns
Types of
Understandings
Lens #1: Choose a comparison
 Characters or subjects
 Themes or central ideas
 Settings
 Authors (texts by the same author or different author)
 Genres
 Styles
 Other ways (awards won, time period, social issues, etc.)
Lens #2: Then choose your texts:
 What other text fits with this chosen comparison
*some students may prefer to flip these steps
Decide how to compare:
 Text evidence
 Word choice
 Structure
 Point of view
Have new ideas about:
 The lens you look through
 The author’s choices
 The messages these texts send
 See characters or subjects as more complex
 Analyze what texts from a time period show us about that period in history