Of all the skills on the two AP exams (Lang and Lit), the art of close reading is the toughest to master for students who tend to think very literally or concretely. The concept that words and ideas can have deeper meaings or implications beyond the surface is a difficult idea to master for some students.
The following provides specific focus for students or classes who struggle with the notion of close reading. This page focuses specifically on skills such as reading for tone, diction, syntax, etc. |
Standards
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Close reading is the fine art of asking the following questions:
What follows is a prose analysis worksheet you can use as a checklist for your own writing and close reading activities. |
Close Reading Looks for Norms, Examples, and Exceptions
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In order to analyze a piece of prose, work through the following questions to make sure you hit the high points. The focus throughout this worksheet will be on getting you to notice three elements:
Norms are those elements that are typical of the writer's prose -- and you'll be able to tell what's "typical" by the pattern the writer will establish throughout the piece. EXAMPLES are (obviously) examples of those typical moves the writer makes. EXCEPTIONS are those places in which the author diverges from his or her norm. EVERY TIME THIS HAPPENS, IT'S IMPORTANT. If I'm walking down the street and all of a sudden I turn to the left and run away fast, it's probably because of a good reason. I had a norm (walking), and I broke from that norm (ran away). Odds are, there is a loose pterodactyl somewhere and I just saw it. |
Analyze Tone
Analyze Diction
Analyze Syntax
Analyze Rhetoric
Analyze Persona and Stance
Analyze Content and Purpose
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CONTENT (includes Purpose)
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Analyze Organization
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