Literary Analysis requires that one not only read the text, but look closely at what the author is saying as well as how the author is saying it.

When close reading, it is important to look at the small details and understand how they work together in the piece to create meaning.

How to Tackle the Ever-Daunting Task of Close Reading

When reading, look at passages that seem important in the text.

Underline or highlight or take notes on passages that stand out.

Things you might look for:

◦ Symbolism◦ Repeated images,

words or ideas◦ Words or phrases

that jump out as important

◦ Words or phrases that can be interpreted in more than one way

◦ Irony or ambiguity◦ Passages you don’t

understand◦ Figurative language

Before you look too closely at what you’ve marked, make sure you understand the basic plot and characters.◦ Look at characters

and their roles in the work.

Try paraphrasing passages you don’t understand.

Look for associations you make with words that the work challenges.

◦ An angel is normally associated with cleanliness and purity.

◦ Passages that emphasize dirtiness might be important.

Look up the meanings of words!

There may be a meaning that you didn’t think of before, or a word that may have had different meanings at different times in history.

A good resource for looking up words is the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

◦ The OED provides definitions of words relevant to specific time periods.

Re-read passages you did not understand the first time.

Never ignore anything that you don’t understand.

Keep working at difficult passages until they make sense.

After reading and making note of important passages, try to find a unifying idea.

First, ask what the elements seem to be saying.

Any idea supported by the text is valid. There are no “crazy” or “stupid” ideas, unless there is no evidence from the text to support the claim.

Don’t try to relate everything you found in the story. Use the parts that create one unifying idea.◦ However, don’t ignore anything that contradicts

this unifying idea. Remember to present and discuss any contradicting evidence you find.

If you have troublefinding a unifyingidea:Try writing about

ideas that interest you.◦ By writing your ideas

down you may begin to see connections you did not see before.

The thesis (unifying idea) should point to something about the text that people might not otherwise have realized.

If no one would argue your point, ask “So what?”◦ Sometimes the answer

to this question is the thesis.

Use everything from the text that works for your idea.

Also, quote from the text.

◦ Show what details you found, and tell why they are important.

Quotes support your argument, and you need to support every idea with evidence from the text.

If there is no evidence, there is no argument.

Close Reading: Fiction

Excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

From the first scaffold scene in The Scarlet Letter, pp. 9-10: Had there been a Papist among the crowd of Puritans, he might have seen in this beautiful woman, so picturesque in her attire and mien, and with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, which so many illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent; something which should remind him, indeed, but only by contrast, of that sacred image of sinless motherhood, whose infant was to redeem the world. Here, there was the taint of deepest sin in the most sacred quality of human life, working such effect, that the world was only the darker for this woman’s beauty, and the more lost for the infant she had borne.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (With Connections). Holt, Rhinehart and Winston: Austin, TX. 9-10.

The first sentence is very

long and descriptive. Let's first deconstructit by looking at some

thedifficult or interestingvocabulary.

What is a “Papist”? The

narrator juxtaposes itwith the idea of a

Puritan. How are these two

termscontrasted?

A Papist seems to be in opposition to Puritan ideals.

Originally a derogatory term. Describes a member of Roman Catholic Church who believes in Pope's rule. Reformation in England, Church of England broke away from Roman Catholic Church.

Puritans in opposition to Roman Catholic Church.

What does the word “picturesque” mean?

What does the word “mien” mean?

Picturesque: Striking, charming, having pleasing or interesting qualities.

Mien: Dignified manner or conduct, appearance, manner, expression, demeanor.

“Bosom.” What issignificant about thefact that the infant is ather bosom specificallyand not any place else?

The bosom is a place of warmth, it is just above the heart. The bosom is where the mother feeds an infant from. She gives life and then nourishes it with breast milk. The image of a breast feeding mother is the epitome of motherhood and seems to symbolize the comfort and life giving qualities of a woman. This image is unrivaled and can hardly be attacked or denounced.

What do the words “Divine Maternity” mean? Why are they capitalized? What do these combined words suggest about Hester?

Divine: heavenly, godly,marvelous. Maternity:motherhoodCombined these words mightshow connection to Virgin Mary,that motherhood is heavenly;motherhood is sanctioned byGod. God creates woman andwoman creates child, thereforeGod creates child. Perhaps thisidea means that although Hesterhas sinned, her child, born outof sin, is born unto God. Godhas created Hester and so toohas he created her child. Iimagine they are capitalized todrive this point home, to showimportance (like we capitalize“God,” and so we capitalize hiswork to show its importance.

In the phrase “which so many illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent” what do the words “illustrious” and “vied” mean? What does this phrase suggest about Hester?

Illustrious: memorable, well-known, famous. Vied: to compete over.This phrase seems to suggest that her appearance and her demeanor (mien) are so picturesque (striking, charming and interesting) that famous painters will fight each other to portray it in their work. It suggests that Hester is important in some way. She is striking, she stands out. She is worthy of being painted or in this case written about. Her story is important for the world to see and hear.

What does the word“sacred” mean?

Sacred: holy, blessed, revered, held in high regard.

What does Hester’sinfant represent?

What could it haverepresented if it wasconceived in “sinlessmotherhood”?

Hester’s infant, while the most sacred quality of human life” is also “the taint of deepest sin.” This infant represents the sin that was committed. If the infant had been born unto a “sinless mother” the passage suggests that it could have “redeemed the world.” An infant, pure and innocent, seems to represent life before it is tainted, before it is corrupted. But this infant is said to be already corrupt, already tainted due to sin it was conceived in.

What mightHawthorne bealluding to in thelast section of thispassage: “Theworld was onlydarker for thiswoman’s beauty,and the more lostfor the infant shehad borne”?

Allusion or reference to Eve? Eve committed sin by disobeying God. The words “the world” indicate a far reaching, long lasting effect. The entire world is not only dark because of this woman’s sin, but it is totally and utterly lost or doomed because of the infant she has birthed (Caine who murdered Abel). This allusion is interesting in the sense that Eve along with many female figures in the bible are often the cause of man’s downfall. Eve is blamed with the entire downfall of man for all eternity. Women frequently appear as sinners in the bible that lead to the sins of man. Here we see Hester, standing with her infant in front of the townspeople, taking the blame for her sin alone. “Adam” does not stand with her, she stands alone. Does she represent the downfall of all people?

Putting it All TogetherIn this section of text Hawthorne seems to be presenting the Puritan view of what Hester represents: sin. She is their modern day Eve and she has spawned the modern day Cain. This woman and child stand alone, no Adam in sight, and prepare to bear the ill will and hatred of humanity. While she is most certainly compared with Eve, she too is compared with Mary. These two female figures represent the two classic Biblical images women can represent: The virgin and the whore. In other words, pure vs. sinful.

But what about the Papist? How does this term fit in?

Hawthorne contrasts this strict Puritan view by introducing the Papist figure. He seems to suggest that Hester, although sinful to some degree, stands on the platform as the image of “Divine Maternity.” She is striking both in features and demeanor, and seems to silently express the idea that her story must be told. What is interesting is that while Hester stands on the platform her voice is never heard. Her story, as we know, must be told through a male narrator, just like Eve and Mary’s is told through a male narrator. Hester’s more specifically is written by an unknown narrator whose ideas came from Pue, the customs officer (in the Custom House section that originally introduced the book). Hester is a tragic figure in that she represents all that is warm, comforting, and strong, but she also represents the downfall of man. Although Hawthorne does not exonerate her of guilt, he does seem to sympathize with her character.

Close Reading: Poetry

Some elements of poetry to consider when close reading:

The speaker is not always the same as the poet.

Where is the poem taking place?What kinds of figurative language are present?

◦ Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Symbolism, Paradox, etc.

What kinds of imagery are in the poem?What can be said about the sounds of words?

◦ Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, Onomatopoeia, etc.

What is the meter? (stressed, unstressed syllables)

What is the rhyme scheme?What is the form of the poem?

◦ Sonnet (14 Lines), How many stanzas?, Are there any refrains?

1 Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest2 Now is the time that face should form another,3 Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest4 Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.5 For where is she so fair whose uneared womb6 Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?7 Or who is he so fond will be the tomb8 Of his self-love, to stop posterity?9 Thou art thy mother’s glass, and she in thee10 Calls back the lovely April of her prime11 So thou through windows of thine age shall see,12 Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time13 But if thou live, remembered not to be,14 Die single, and thine image dies with

thee.

Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewestNow is the time that face should form another,Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewestThou dost beguile the world, unbless some

mother.For where is she so fair whose uneared wombDisdains the tillage of thy husbandry?Or who is he so fond will be the tombOf his self-love, to stop posterity?Thou art thy mother’s glass, and she in theeCalls back the lovely April of her primeSo thou through windows of thine age shall

see,Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time But if thou live, remembered not to be, Die single, and thine image dies with thee.

ABABCDCDDEDEDD

• This is a Shakespearean sonnet.

• The rhyme scheme is: ABABCDCDDEDEDD

•This is a variant from the standard Shakespearean rhyme schemes of:• ABABCDCDEFEFGG• ABBACDDCEFFEGG

• The rhyme scheme shows possible turning points in a sonnet.

• Areas that break the rhyme pattern or don’t quite rhyme often draw attention to important words or ideas.

Meter is important because areas where the meter falters obviously could suggest important portions or words in the poem.

Look for stressed and unstressed syllables. Count how many syllables are in the line. What might extra syllables

suggest?

/ U / U / U / U / U /

1 Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest

/ U / U / U / U / U /

2 Now is the time that face should form another, U / U / U / U / U / U

3 Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest

Look at the speaker of the poem—is it a man or woman? How can you tell?◦ The speaker is not

always the same as the poet.

Though the poet is Shakespeare, he is not necessarily the speaker.

To Whom is the poem addressed?

Also, think about the theme of the poem◦ Is this a love poem?

◦ Is it something else?

Look for words that you don’t understand or that might be important

Look words up in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

In a poem, especially short poems, all words are important.

Beguile – 1. To entangle or over-

reach with guile; to delude, deceive, cheat.

2. To deprive of by fraud, to cheat out of.

3. To cheat (hopes, expectations, aims, or a person in them); to disappoint, to foil,

4. To win the attention or interest of (any one) by wiling means,

5. To divert attention in some pleasant way from (anything painful, or irksome)

Look for figurative language and other poetic elements in the poem.

◦ simile, metaphor, symbolism, imagery etc.

Metaphor – “Thou art thy mother’s glass”

Symbolism & Imagery – glass, meaning mirror, is a symbol throughout the poem.

Symbolism & Imagery – living, life, death, youth, children, mother

If you have troubles figuring out the language, try paraphrasing line by line, or sentence by sentence…

See the example below:

Image from: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/3detail.html

What does Shakespearean Sonnet 3 seem to be saying?

What do all of these elements combined suggest?

Generate a unifying principle to tie the information you’ve gathered together.

Visit the Writing Center to meet with a tutor to discuss your paper.

Take advantage of this and other helpful online resources through the Writing Center website at:

http://www.lima.ohio-state.edu/academics/writing/

The OSU-Lima Writing Center thanks Jered Slusher for creating this PowerPoint Presentation.

Based on a workshopCreated by Mary Hirt, Anne Maag, and Stephanie VerhoffVisit us online at:http://www.lima.ohio-state.edu/academics/writing/