Close Reading of Scholarly Literature

Who is the Writer? Begin your reading session by knowing the author. Sometimes a brief biography will be provided; if not, then google the author to learn his/her area of expertise.

Preview the text √Read introduction and conclusion √Read Headings and Subheadings √Read topic sentences and concluding sentences of paragraphs √Look for text that has special treatment: bold, italics, underlined √Pay attention to transitions from point to point

Be an Active Reader √Take Notes: keep a written record of important ideas, concepts, definitions. Don’t write in library or borrowed books. Use post-its. Don’t write down everything. √Underline or highlight important ideas. Read paragraph first to decide what is really important √Make notes or ask questing in the margin—annotation √Engage the writer in a mental conversation by asking questions and giving voice to your own thoughts and responses to the author’s ideas

Understanding the Text √Use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words, foreign words, or words that you don’t know how to use properly. √Look for literary devices: metaphor/simile: comparisons parallel structure repetition of key language or grammatical structure use of logic and reasoning: logical fallacies

Purpose of the Essay √Argumentative: seeks to advance/defend/support a position or take stand on an issue √Persuasive: seeks to move the reader to action √Informative: presents information in a no-biased fashion √Explanation/definition √Combination √Author’s mood and tone √Audience (you may not be part of the intended audience)

Scrutinize How the Ideas are Developed √Offers adequate evidence Good examples, statistics, expert testimony (keep in mind that scholarly articles are often written by the expert) √Sound reasoning and logic √Essay is well organized √Uses good transitions to connect ideas

Thesis Look for the thesis: Most writers will have a clearly stated thesis someplace in the essay: introduction, middle, conclusion. Always read the conclusion in the preview stage. Often writers will have a concluding statement that acts as a thesis. Implied thesis: Not a clearly stated statement that the reader can pick out as the main ideas. See if you can write a statement for the essay.

Good Writing √Ideas are clearly stated √Grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, word choice— all that you have learned as a writer √Look for literary devices

Hard Work √Time consuming: must read more than once, must take notes, must be able to mentally summarize the article after you have read it. Must be able to write a short summary. √Thought provoking: as a reader, in order to understand the work, you must take time to read every word, understand the main idea, be able to make connections from idea to the next, recognize writer signals for understanding the work at both the sentence level and as a whole. √Comprehend/remember what you have read