Close reading response

Explication #1 Instructions We can define an explication as a close analysis of a text following New Critical tenets, which means no outside research should be conducted. Forego details pertaining to the author’s biography or historical context. These responses should reflect your careful reading of an assigned creative text. I’m looking for responses that demonstrate your active consideration of the course material, so you should clearly connect to relevant concepts, literary devices, terms, and techniques that weve covered in class. In all cases, you should make specific reference to textual evidence for your idea(s). Quote briefly and cite where necessary, but do not overstuff your responses with quotes. Make a claim and back it up using textual evidence. Reference at at least 3 passages in the text and contextualize those references within the larger framework of the story (why are they important to your interpretation of the story?). Whether you are paraphrasing or quoting directly, you must include in-text citations (author last name and a page number if there is one, line number for poems) to receive credit for your response. Vague references have no place in academic writing. Get concrete and specific. Additional information you should find useful: You are welcome to use the first person ‘I.’ First and foremost: an explication needs a focus (or a claim)! See thesis statement document in the Terms module. These do not have to be groundbreaking claims. They can be relatively straightforward, but you want to your focus to be clear and specific. Thesis statements act as a focus lens by keeping you on a specific topic. Often, it’s best to begin brainstorming about what aspects/elements of the piece are pulling you in or pushing you out: voice, tone, style, form, structure, content (subject matter), diction, etc. I am not expecting you to be an expert on these texts/authors. I am expecting you to do your best to demonstrate nuanced thinking and that you have attempted to engage with the text in a meaningful way. See syllabus Close Reading documents for guidance and best approaches to writing an effective analysis/explication of a text. Topic Questions Answer one of the following questions (below) in detail. Consider tone and other concepts, devices, and craft elements we’ve discussed in class this semester. Remember, tone is crucial to comprehension. It’s not enough to summarize a story, you need to make an attempt to read creatively, which means reading between the lines and attempting to interpret what’s motivating these speakers or characters’ behavior beyond what’s stated on the page. Trust your intuitions, use your brains, and make sure to proofread your response before you submitting it. How does George Saunders’ use of an unreliable narrator (and the first-person POV) in “Adams” influence your reading of the story (your interpretation of events, how the conflict escalates, opinion of the two main characters, etc.)? Explore the ways your opinion of the narrator’s character/personality differs from how she presents and/or views herself in Amy Hempel’s “The Harvest”? Explore the role of setting in Kelly Link’s “Stone Animals.” In other words, how does the setting inform or influence the story’s plot and central conflict? What is the characters’ relation to the setting? How are these various elements interacting? Make a claim about an internal conflict the speaker is wrestling with in one of the poems we’ve read. What are they struggling to express, process, admit, and/or work through? Look to specific imagery, figurative expressions, phrases, etc., in the poem to back up your claim. Formatting Roughly one page, single-spaced, 12pt. Times New Roman. Submit as a .docx file or you won’t receive credit. Make sure your name, class, my name, and date are in the upper-lefthand corner of the first page. Do not use/rely on secondary sources outside of our assigned readings or any lecture notes/annotations you’ve taken (and if you do use an outside source without correctly citing it, that constitutes plagiarism and will be treated accordingly). Outside sources includes. Use your own voice. Include appropriate MLA in-text citations (page/line numbers). Include a Works Cited. This should contain the primary text and any other sources you reference, paraphrase, and/or quote from (including my lecture notes). I understand sometimes that something you read in the past feels vital to whatever insight you had on the assigned text for this class. I don’t want you actively researching, but I’m openminded if you want to safely paraphrase or reference a source you encountered in another class, as long as you cite it accordingly ** Only talk about one of the topic questions, not all of them.