“The Ethics of Close Reading: Close Encounters” is an article written by Jane Gallop for the 2000 Journal of Curriculum. It discusses the topic of close reading itself, the social impact of the concept, the ethical aspect of reading, and the various ways close reading can be applied to daily life. The term “close reading” is used in the article more than fifty-one times, and defined on twelve separate occasions, generally being defined as, “looking at what is actually on the page, reading the text itself, rather than some idea “behind the text.” It means noticing things in the writing, things in the writing that stand out” (Gallop p.7). Close reading, according to the author, has five key components to look for; word choice, repetition, …show more content…
Everyone comes from their own background, and has their own opinions about the world around them. They bring those thoughts and prejudices with them into every text they read, meaning they see what they expect to see. The author claims that close reading leads to ethical reading, ethical reading meaning the reader is listening to the author’s voice within the text, truly understanding and listening to that which the author is saying. Close reading forces the reader to temporarily abandon their preconceptions and “by concentrating on the details, we disrupt our projection; we are forced to see what is really there” (Gallop p.11). The author provides some historical context, in relation to the “new criticism” method of teaching. Between the 1950’s and 1970’s new criticism, “allowed students to appreciate the complexity of literary writing, to see the artful work, rather than merely themes and ideas.” (Gallop p.13). The issue with new criticism being that only “great” works or authors were considered “worthy” of analysis in that manner. Unfortunately, most work that was considered “great” within that period were written by men of European descent. Within the past few decades the multicultural movement has made reading lists in schools more diverse, making understanding the voice of authors more important than ever, as to not reinforce stereotypes and
He too quickly dismisses the idea of reading on your own to find meaning and think critically about a book. For him, Graff states that “It was through exposure to such critical reading and discussion over a period of time that I came to catch the literary bug.” (26) While this may have worked for Graff, not all students will “experience a personal reaction” (27) through the use of critical discussion.
The article “The Phenomenology of On-Screen Reading: University Students’ Lived Experience of Digitised Text,” written by Ellen Rose covers a multitude of themes in which Ellen Rose interviewed ten participants from the ages of 20-55 and utilized their answers in order to communicate her belief that reading on screen is much different than reading a physical book. Throughout the article she targets her audience on students and uses pathos, ethos, and logos persuasions in order to appeal to her readers and convey that she is credible, trustworthy, and logical. With a close analysis of Ellen Rose’s article “The Phenomenology of On-Screen Reading: University Students’ Lived Experience of Digitised Text” it is safe to say that Rose draws her audience
Milgram, Stanley. “The Perils of Obedience.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Boston: Longman, 2011. 692-704.
When reading someone else's work you need to be certain that you read between the lines. Author's, at times, will attempt to distort information in order to make their beliefs more prominent. In order to avoid this disinformation, you have to learn the difference between denotations and connotations and facts from opinions. Furthermore, you'll have to recognize figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, which can incite specific feelings onto readers.
"Any critical reading of a text will be strengthened by a knowledge of how a text is valued by readers in differing contexts."
In his essay “Disliking Books,” he examines the standard that many teachers hold. The author believes that the view of other teachers is that “leaving me alone with literary texts themselves, uncontaminated by the interpretations and theories of professional critics would enable me to get on the closest possible terms with those texts” (Graff 26). Teachers, as Graff believes, leave their students with only their own interpretations and perspectives on a text. This does not encourage learning or critical thinking, but hinders students’ abilities to improve and develop ideas their own. Without guidance, students cannot delve deeper into the subjects in which they are learning. Alternatively, in his “Other Voices, Other Rooms,” Graff reveals isolation in perspective of teachers through his own experience with teachers holding opposing viewpoints and theorizes “teachers in modern periods need nonmodernists (and vice versa) in order to make their subjects intelligible to their students” Graff 340). Hence, without elaborating on a subject from all possible viewpoints, a student will have a limited understanding of what it is and how to apply it in their life. Each student will take a different standpoint on what is said, and if they disagree, it will slip through their
First, he provides an overview of the history and development of the book as well as the development of reading. Carr analyzes and explains the effects of these developments on the individuals. Furthermore, he notes that the Internet recreates and alters a medium’s content by the use of hyperlinks, which ultimately distracts readers, and by separating the content into organized chunks. These characteristics make the content “searchable” which stimulates skimming behavior or superficial reading. As a result, readers retain less information due to the lack of deep, analytical reading. In addition, online texts often incorporate opinions, beliefs, or skewed viewpoints of certain topics, which can have negative effects on readers. Carr also addresses that some opponents believe that hardcopy reading was a result of “impoverished access” (111) and that the desire to use the fast paced web is a result of a quickening pace of life and work over the past few
Griffin, Susan. “Our Secret”. Ways of Reading Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Sixth edition. Boston. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.
...olation… while also reminding us that we are connected to a world beyond our own skins…” (Coleman, ). Reading then holds a profound purpose in our everyday lives of communication and connection to life beyond our individual being.
reading across the curriculum. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Eleventh Edition. Longman, 2011. 248-250. Print.
Along these same lines, I have to agree with what Michael wrote in the first part of his journal entry. I, too, am not a fan of overanalyzing works of literature. For me good stories are just that -- stories. Don't get me wrong, there are many cases where looking past the surface of a book is appropriate -- for example Animal Farm is obviously allegory, and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is not so obviously a book promoting socialism. But sometimes I think that critics are digging too deep into literature and finding things that just aren't there, nor did the author intend for them to be there.
John Searle addresses the “major debate… going on at present concerning… a crisis in the teaching of the humanities.” [Searle, 106] He goes on to defend the canon of works by dead white males that has traditionally made up the curriculum of liberal arts education. I disagree with many of his arguments, and believe that multiculturalism should be taught in the university, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Openmindedness will take much more than just minimal changes in curriculum. In order for works by different races and women to be judged and studied alongside works by white men, they have to be seen as equal to works by white men. They have to be studied for their literary content, not for the statement they make about feminism or race. We don’t just need to evaluate them by the same standards, we need to change the standards. The standards set by the traditional liberal arts education have been set by white males and are inherently biased. New standards need to be set that are as openminded as we want students to be. This is a trend that needs to be started way before college. A diverse curriculum should be taught throughout a person’s education, because that is what will produce well rounded, openminded individuals that will change the tradition of oppression in society.
...ruly realize the false reality that literature made. The reader also has a huge role into expressing these false realities to the public, which can cause prejudice in the near future. People need to be open and understanding of different people and situations. Perspective plays a huge role into the thinking of a human mind, and readers should be more aware of the information’s brought upon different ways. Readers should not come up with a preconceived idea based upon the beliefs of other people perspective but should experience these different societies.
This quote addresses directly the primary difficulty of the issue. The terms gay and lesbian are useful in literature in that they allow a group of people who have been marginalised and even persecuted to become visible. They enable a way of life and a set of identities, harmonious or conflicting, to be presented, to be questioned, to be understood and accepted. As categories they create ‘space’ in which there may develop a more evolved understanding of texts and they also create a genre within which many lesbian and gay writers are comfortable with being placed. A gendered reading of a text can reveal undercurrents and depths which might otherwise not be apparent. These categories also make ‘space’ for the author within the text which leads to a closer tie between the author and the reader in the reading process.
Taking a close look at a text takes much more than looking at words or fining word and phrases to answer questions. Close reading is define as the mindful, disciplined reading of an object with a view to deeper understanding of its meaning (Cummins, 2013). According to Fisher & Frey (2012), the practice of close reading is not a new one, and in fact has existed for many decades as the practice of reading a text for a level of detail not used in everyday reading. Therefore, teachers need to foster this skill on students in early stages of literacy skill to become proficient in comprehension. In order for students to examine complex text, teachers need to model and guide them through various strategies that would support their understanding