Close Reading Paper
An important part of any literary analysis is a close reading of the text.  Occasionally an entire paper will consist of a close reading; this will be the case with one of your writing assignments.  As we will see, however, a close reading is not a summary.  It is an analysis whose evidence comes from within the text, not from the application of outside sources.

When writing a close reading, a critic chooses some aspect of the text--development of character, use of imagery, function of setting, development of symbolism, etc.--and analyzes its function or its effect within the text.  Such a reading has a clear thesis statement (a focused argument which is subsequently proved within the paper), supported by evidence (summaries, paraphrases, quotations) from the primary text.

For this assignment students will choose a text from the reading schedule and analyze some aspect in five to seven pages.  No outside sources may be used.