Close reading

Please use both sources that the teacher mentioned.

Teacher’s Intructions:

For this essay assignment you’ll receive CREDIT/NO CREDIT for turning the essay in on time. (Remember, you have a 48 hour “grace period” on all essays if you need extra time (by Wednesday Sept 8), so while the due date is listed as September 6, the assignment won’t close until the following Sept 12, although for reduced points if turned in after Sept 8.

For this assignment, you’ll choose both or either of the texts “Close Reading” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/08/close-reading/305038/ and “Stop Close Reading” https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/ideas-2010/archive/2010/07/stop-close-reading/59005/ as your subject. Using the “Thinking Analytically about the Readings” questions at the bottom of this board (Scroll Down) as your guide, compose a SUMMARY+ANALYSIS of the text(s). To build this essay, it is helpful if you copy the questions onto a word or google doc, and then simply answer the questions. You can “reformulate” the question as a statement and answer it. It may feel repetitive, but that’s ok.

The goal of this assignment is to showcase our ability to “think through” a text after reading and annotating it and discussing it. Once you have all the answers (which will include quotations from the text) move your answers into paragraphs. Where you decide to make paragraphs is up to you — but remember, each chunk of an essay should follow the INTRODUCTIOn + BODY + CONCLUSION format — so you may need to ADD an introduction after moving things around and/or ADD a conclusion, and you may also need to formulate new topic sentences for your paragraphs.

Then, double space your document, apply the MLA Paper Format which includes a heading, headers, Assignment title, and then beginning on its own last page, compose a Works Cited page that include one or both articles, cited correctly. (You’ll need to look up how to cite an article from an online magazine in MLA format). Be sure to read through your document for editing, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and typos. Then, paste your document into the Essay 1 Discussion Board (and also attach it as a file if you wish. )

Guidelines:

MLA Paper Format
Include a Works Cited page
Distinguishable paragraphs – Introduction, Body Paragraphs, Conclusion
In-text citations of your quotations and paraphrases from the text (Links to an external site.)
There is no prescribed “length” for this paper. You should formulate the paper based on the questions below, and then shape and revise and turn in your paper.

THINKING ANALYTICALLY ABOUT READINGS QUESTIONS:

1. Classify the book or article according to kind and subject matter. Into what genre does that work fit? What is the book about?
2. Number the major parts in their order and relations. Outline these as you have outlined the whole.
3. Define the specific problem or problems the author has tried to solve. What question does the author claim to address? You might also want to think about how this reading fits into the course. Why did the instructor place the reading at this point in the course? What is the topic on the syllabus? How does this reading provide an answer or information for this topic?
4. What theoretical statements does the author make? A theoretical statement proposes a relationship. For example, structural theories of deviance suggest that deviance (that which is to be explained) is a consequence of the structure (organization of the parts) of a society. In other words, social structure produces deviance.
5. What are the concepts and variables used? Become familiar with the author by defining keywords. Know the details of the argument. In the example above: what is social structure? What is meant by deviance? Do structural theorists/ writers assume the reader knows what is meant by social structure? Do you need to find out what this means in order to understand the reading?
6. How does the author’s argument/ position compare with that of others who address the same question or related questions? Where are the points of similarity and difference?
7. What value judgments does the author make? What values does the author assume readers will share? What assumptions does the author make that may be contestable?
8. What is the author’s methodology? (Here you should be concerned not only with the methods used but the kinds of arguments implied or given about what methods are more or less appropriate.) What constitutes evidence in this reading? Know the author’s arguments by finding them in, or constructing them out of, sequences of sentences.
9. Determine which of the problems the author has solved and which she has not. Of those not solved, decide which the author knows she has failed to solve. If you disagree with the author, on what basis do you rest your disagreement? Is the author uninformed, misinformed, illogical, imprecise, or incomplete? Criticize fairly; do not pass judgment based on personal opinion, taste, or preference. Is the argument internally consistent? Does the evidence (both that presented by the author and other evidence in the field) support the argument?

EXAMPLE:

1. Classify the book or article according to kind and subject matter. Into what genre does that work fit? What is the book about?
This question is asking for a brief summary and identification of the article. So:

“Stop Close Reading” by Heather Horn from The Atlantic magazine argues that the practice of “close reading,” a method of scrutinizing the language choices, grammar, and sentences from a specific passage of text in order to develop ideas about the text is making reading boring and no fun for students. In her article, she says that ____________. She also asserts how ______________. While many instructors feel close reading is _________, Horn believes that close reading __________.