Close Reading Essay Example for Free

Close Reading Essay The answers to these questions emerge more from the doing than the talking. Briefly, close reading is a basic tool for understanding, taking pleasure in, and communicating one’s interpretation of a literary work. The skills employed in close reading lend themselves to all kinds of cultural interpretation and investigation. Close reading takes language as its subject because language can operate in different ways to convey meaning. Reading sensitively allows one to remain open to the many ways language works on the mind and heart. When an assignment calls for close reading, it’s best to start by choosing a brief but promising passage and checking your assumptions about its content at the door. Close reading often reveals the fissures between what the speaker or narrator says and how she or he says it. You know from your own experience that life involves constant, often unconscious sifting of these nuances. Here are some useful steps. 1. Choose a short passage that allows you to investigate the details closely. Here, for example, is the first paragraph of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Chapter 2. In addition to what has already been said of Catherine Morland’s personal and mental endowments, when about to be launched into all the difficulties and dangers of a six weeks’ residence in Bath, it may be stated, for the reader’s more certain information, lest the following pages should otherwise fail of giving any idea of what her character is meant to be; that her heart was affectionate, her disposition cheerful and open, without conceit or affectation of any kind—her manners just removed from the awkwardness and shyness of a girl; her person pleasing, and when in good looks, pretty—and her mind about as ignorant and uninformed as the female mind at seventeen usually is. This single sentence will give us plenty to work with. 2. Look at diction. What kinds of words does Austen use? Does she aim for lofty diction (used for special occasions) or common diction? Are the words long or short, Latinate or Anglo-Saxon, specialized (i.e. legalistic, medical, jargon, elite) or ordinary? Remember that the rules for diction are different at different times in history. 3. Next, look at sentence structure. Can you map the sentence (find the subject and verb, locate phrases and clauses)? Is it a simple, compound, or complex sentence? How does the structure of the sentence relate to its content? Does the author use active or passive verbs? What rhythms does the sentence structure create—long flowing ones, short choppy ones—and how do these relate to the meaning? 4. After you have looked at language (and there are other technical issues one might pay attention to), you can begin to analyze tone. Is the narrator being straightforward, factual, open? Or is she taking a less direct route toward her meaning? Does the voice carry any emotion? Or is it detached from its subject? Do you hear irony? Where? If so, what complications does the irony produce? 5. At this point, you may discover some difference between what the author appears to be doing (giving you a complete, unbiased picture of her character) and what she also accomplishes (raising doubts about whether these qualities are worth having, whether her character is a heroine after all, whether women have minds at all, therefore whether this narrator can be trusted at all, etc.). You can now begin to talk about the ways Austen’s language, which seems to invite our confidence, is also complicating its message by raising these doubts. 6. At this point, you can propose a generic hypothesis, something like, â€Å"In this passage, Austen raises doubts about Catherine Morland’s character through her use of deliberately banal diction, her strained sentence structure, and her ironic use of the terms of character description for heroines.† 7. You can proceed to fill in the outlines of this point by explaining what you mean, using details and quotations from the passage to support your point. 8. You still, however, need an argument and will need to go back to your opening to sharpen the thesis. The question is Why? Or to what effect? Your thesis might build on what you’ve already written by suggesting: Austen creates this irony early in the novel to alert the reader to the ways she’s subverting narrative conventions. Or: The effect of this description of Catherine is to undermine any notion of her powers as a heroine and to introduce Austen’s theme that true character emerges from weakness rather than strength. Or: Austen’s cavalier treatment of her heroine suggests that she has little respect for the typical education of young women. 9. Even with these more developed statements, you will need to explain and support your point further. But you will have achieved some very important things, namely: 1) you have chosen a specific piece of the text to work with, hence avoiding huge generalizations and abstractions that tend to turn a reader off; 2) you have moved from exposition (explaining what’s there—and really, shouldn’t a reader be able to figure these things out for him or herself?) to arguing a point, which will involve your reader in a more interactive and risky encounter; 3) you have carved out your own reading of the text rather than taking the more well-worn path; 4) you have identified something about Austen’s method that may well open up other areas of the text for study and debate. Bravo! 10. With your more refined thesis in place, you can go back and make sure your supporting argument explains the questions you’ve raised, follows through on your argument, and comes to a provocative conclusion. By the end, you may be able to expand from your initial passage to a larger point, but use your organization to keep the reader focused all the way. The most exciting thing for a reader, and the most useful for an essayist, is that close reading generally offers surprises. Your project is not so much about telling readers what they probably can see for themselves but what they might have missed that could delight them. It’s helpful, then, to go into the paper with an open mind and be ready to adjust your thesis to the evidence you find in the text. Have a blast!

Afghan Women and Their Horror Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A woman’s life in Afghanistan is one of the most shocking and devastating truths. It wasn’t until September 11th 2001 that the world awoke to the relevance of women’s issues to international peace and security. However, it’s been two years since and the lives of Afghan women have improved only slightly. Harassment, violence, illiteracy, poverty and extreme repression continue to characterize reality for many afghan women.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Under the Taliban, ultraconservative Islamic ideas combined with misogynistic and patriarchal tribal culture resulted in numerous edicts aimed at the control and subjugation of Afghan women† (Womenwarpeace.org). Women were denied all rights both civil and political. They were denied the right to free assembly, freedom of movement and the right to personal security.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to a March 2003 International Crisis Group report, the civil war created by the Taliban produced 50,000 widows in Kabul alone. They were denied employment and as a result many had to result to begging in order to provide for their families. Their economic burden continued to increased as they became responsible for their family’s security and income, a situation complicated by the fact that women had limited economic and educational opportunities. It made women very vulnerable to exploitative situations such as prostitution, indentured servitude and drug trafficking to support themselves and their...

Nature of Relationship between Edward II and Graveston and its effects Essay

Marlowe’s Edward II is marked with the thematic expressions of correlation between status and sodomy. Sodomy affects status in the play at multiple level and status influences sodomy in various ways. In the play, Marlowe takes into accounts the story of Edward II, whose homoeroticism takes primacy over his political stature and socio-cultural commitments. He ultimately pays back for his criminality and sins through constant torments and afflictions and play culminates on his tragic death. As far as sodomitical relations remains apolitical, there is no public castigation or disapproval of this affair, but it becomes a cause of tension when it is transformed into a political associations with political objectives. Marlowe portrays Edward’s homoerotic love and affiliation with his underling Piers Gaveston. Play opens with following lines where Edward openly expresses his homoeroticism; â€Å"Sweet prince, I come. These, these thy amorous lines/ Might have enforced me to have swum from France,/ And, like Leander, gasped upon the sand,/ So thou wouldst smile and take me in thy arms. † (1. 1. 34) King Edward claims that he would give in his entire kingdom to only keep a â€Å"nook or corner† where he and Graveston could â€Å"frolic† is an ultimate manifestation of his love for Gaveston. (1. 4. 72-3). This further discloses that King is not much interested in his political obligations and responsibilities and his mind is captivated by the thoughts of homoeroticism and Graveston. Spencer Jr. is another character on whom King bestows his affections for the same reason of erotic love. Edward often calls Spencer with the titles of â€Å"sweet†. For example on one occasion he says; â€Å"Spencer, sweet Spencer, I adopt thee here†(3. 1. 144), repeat on another occasion; â€Å"Spencer, ah, sweet Spencer, thus then must we part? † (4. 7. 72) and again says; â€Å"Part we must, / Sweet Spencer† (4. 7. 94-5). Rutkoski says in this regard; â€Å"Edward calls the former â€Å"Good Piers of Gaveston, my sweet favorite† and indeed favors Gaveston to the extent that the king denies any distinction between him and his lover (III. iii. 8). To â€Å"manifest [his] love,† Edward offers Spencer Jr. a largess of crowns and promises, â€Å"daily [we] will enrich thee with our favor, / That, as the sunshine, shall reflect o’er thee† (III. i. 52, 50-1). Until the prince’s first entrance in act III, scene i–an entrance that hovers near the center of the play, as if the boy represents the heart of it–there is only one, rather colorless, mention of his existence. † But that love does not restrict to the private corridors of the palace but is manifested in the form of bestowing high status to Graveston. Edward makes him â€Å"Lord High Chamberlain, Earl of Cornwall, King and Lord of Man†. Additionally, there are various outcrop of this political recognition of homoerotic affairs. On one side Graveston longs for greater admiration, respect and acknowledgment of his status and hankers after various measures o gather supremacy among the noble ranks. On the other hand Edward craves for an official demand for public recognition of his sodomitical love for Graveston and sanctified by the nobles and lords. To further his purpose Graveston sow the seeds of ill-wishes in the mind of Edward against nobles. For example Graveston explicitly criticize nobles during his second meeting with the King. His major concern is that although he is close associate and darling of king, nobles does not entertain him with respect and does not recognize his political position. He says to King: â€Å"Base leaden earls that glory in your birth,/Go sit at home and eat your tenants’ beef,/ And come not here to scoff at Gaveston,/ Whose mounting thoughts did never creep so low/ As to bestow a look on such as you. † (2. 2. 74-8) Initially nobility has no objection to the sodomitical affairs of the king. Instead nobility endorses it in one way or the other. For example Mortimer Senior’s not only approves of Edward’s homosexuality but also defend it by citing historical examples of royalty indulgence in homoerotic activities. He says in his speech: â€Å"The mightiest kings have had their minions:/ Great Alexander loved Hephestion;/ The conquering Hercules for Hylas wept;/ And for Patroclus stern Achilles drooped. / And not kings only, but the wisest men:/ The Roman Tully loved Octavius,/ Grave Socrates, wild Alcibiades. † (1. 4. 390-6) This example clearly manifest an admiration of homosexuality as great people remained indulged in this practice. So nobility does not challenge homoeroticism of Edward on the premises of it religious attributions i. e. something related to sin. Following this premise, Mortimer Junior is of the view that King’s â€Å"wanton humour grieves not me† (1. 4. 401); So there is no concern about his bad habitual formation and tendencies as long as it remains private and apolitical. Ellenzweig has summed up the main cause of nobility’s anger against Graveston: â€Å"Everyone else–the anti-Gaveston faction at court, Church representatives, and Queen Isabella herself–are too driven by self-interest to find in Gaveston’s rise anything but threats to their own status. And within the terms of the play, if perhaps not the historical record, the anti-Gavestons are traitorous to their king: they seek not only to thwart Edward’s love, but ultimately, in the sexual-power alliance of Mortimer and Isabella, to overthrow their rightful sovereign. † It is obvious that defiance of nobility and lords does not stem from Edward indulgence in homoerotic amorous affairs but the public recognition of Graveston and his placement at higher stature in the court. Openness of this affair to public and recognition of Graveston new status is not only shocking for the nobility but is offensive to them as a minion with low moral qualities is made Chamberlain. So relationship thus is not restricted to sexual capacity only but is transformed into a political association. Marlowe has beautifully disclosed the varying nature of relationship as he discloses that private becomes public and sexual becomes political. But elemental nobility does not want to recognize him more than a sodomite. They not only disapprove political recognition of Graveston by the king but also challenges it whenever they find a chance. For example, Lancaster asks king about permission to Graveston to sit with people f ranks in the court: â€Å"why do you thus incense your peers. / That naturally would love and honour you / But for that base and obscure Gaveston? † (1. 1. 98-100). So political recognition is unacceptable to lords and they start defying by a series of flare-ups and trivial squabbles. It seems that for Gaveston’s, the basic objective this sodomitical relations is not gratification of erotic desires but he utilize his sexuality to promote his political aims and to gain an upward mobility. So he does not let king go away from his shackles. He skillfully employs his sexual dexterities. This tension between his spell-bound effect on Edward in order to further his political goals and nobility’s defiance of his political recognition and growing influence in the corridors of power finally lead to establishment of some troublemaking elements. Edward II disinterest in the political affairs further causes misgovernance that ultimate culminates in the insurgency by the nobility. Such was the captivation of Graveston that after his detainment, Edward does not recognize the reality of the situation but says; â€Å"Ah, Spencer, not the riches of my realm/ Can ransom [Gaveston]! Ah, he is mark’d to die. / I know the malice of the younger Mortimer. † (3. 1. 3-5) There is another manifestation of this homoeroticism on the familial relationships. Edward’s relation with his wife and son is marred by excessive love for Graveston and Spencer Jr. Queen grumble against Edward’s inattention to her and Edward Junior and warns the king to leave to France with her son: â€Å"If [King Edward] be strange and not regard my words,/ My son and I will over into France,/ And to the King, my brother, there complain. † (2. 4. 64-6) Rutkoski says in this regard that â€Å"Prince Edward’s potential to be loved by his father is eclipsed during the first several acts by the play’s focus on Gaveston and Spencer Jr. † Rutkoski further elaborates that Edward Jr. is only able to mark his presence due to the death of Graveston. So inattention and lack of paternal affection was his fate till the death of Graveston. He further says that â€Å"When Prince Edward physically appears on the stage in act III, scene i, Gaveston has been killed and Spencer Jr. is well on his way to replacing him, though without evoking the marked eroticism that characterized Edward and Gaveston’s king-minion relationship. † The low status of Graveston is challenged at every instant in the play and it creates the main dramatic tension in the play. The two most frequently used phrases in the play are against Graveston’s low status i. e. â€Å"low† and minion†. This main dramatic tension culminates in class ambitiousness that activates forces on both sides. The established nobility does not want an alien of low status to be among them and Graveston’s political ambitions forces him to take every measure to get a higher place among nobility. This saga finally ends with the execution of Graveston but Edward’s politics of sodomitical relationship does not end here as Marlowe places Spencer Jr. and same patterns of relationships are replicated again. Spencer Jr is subjected to the same ridicule e. g. â€Å"a putrifying branch / That deads the royal vine† (3. 1. 162-3). However some critics are of the view that Edward relation with Spencer Jr. was devoid of homoerotic connotations. Charlton is of the view that sexual passion only existed between Edward and Gaveston, â€Å"but for the most part Edward’s favourites [Spencer and Baldock] are presented, as in Raphael Holinshed, only as the objects of infatuated friendship†. ( p. 29) Whatever is the nature of relationship between Edward and Spencer Jr. it must be kept in mind that this gives a new life to rebelliousness of the nobles against Edward II after the execution of Graveston. The whole affair ends with degradation of the king and finally his execution. Above-mentioned arguments and supporting evidence clearly manifest that Graveston’s homoerotic relation with Edward was of political nature as Graveston utilized it to promote his political aims. This produced defiance among the nobility that rebelled against him due to his underserved grant of higher status to Graveston. Calmness prevailed until this relation was out of the spheres of politics and corridors of powers. Works Cite d Gregory W. Bredbeck, Sodomy and Interpretation: Marlowe to Milton (Ithaca and London: Cornell Univ. Press, 1991.Edward II, ed. Charlton and R. D. Waller, The Works and Life of Christopher Marlowe. London: Methuen, 1933. Ellenzweig, Allen. â€Å"The Marlowe in Edward II. (Christopher Marlowe)(Critical essay). .† The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 15. 2 (March-April 2008): 12(3). General OneFile. Gale. Apollo Library. 3 Sept. 2008 . Rutkoski, Marie. â€Å"Breeching the boy in Marlowe’s Edward II. † Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 46. 2 (Spring 2006): 281(24). General OneFile. Gale. Apollo Library. 3 Sept. 2008. .

The City Of New Orleans - 2342 Words

Reactions The city is dead. Without a single person out in the street, and without the bright summer sunshine that wakes people up for another Monday morning. The city was completely gone; the city that used to burst with people and streets that were filled with energy is now empty but filled with filthy water. It was August 29, 2005, when the hurricane entered the warm water of the Gulf and grew to be a monstrous storm. So monstrous, that it destroyed anything in its path. The hurricane that we now call Katrina had swept away the entire city of New Orleans. Many people lost family members and the storm caused an abundance of property damage. It was reported that the hurricane killed about 1,800. The number of damages totaled $108 billion dollars. Just imagine seeing your neighbor, your family members, your loved one and even yourself suffering to survive in the water that swipes away so many of your memories and what you valued. What would you have done the day before the hurricane knowing th at it will hit the city? This also questions the characters in the story â€Å"A.D: New Orleans After the Deluge†, by Josh Neufeld, a comic book that depicts the moments before, during and after the big disaster. Illustrating different characters within the different status of ranking going through the event differently. Demonstrating how very contrasting the â€Å"high up† and â€Å"low down† society face the consumer society even in the hurricane. Just as how Bauman describe that there areShow MoreRelatedThe City Of New Orleans922 Words   |  4 Pagescould be seen on the roofs of buildings across the city. A neighborhood TV channel reported New Orleans was encountering broad flooding due to levee damage, clean water was scarce, and the city was electrically deficient and was estimated to last for weeks. 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