Analysing Texts Close reading

Close reading Close reading is the skill of analysing and interpreting texts.

Text Types Biography Opinion column Feature article Cartoon Poster Letter of complaint Review Report Advertisement Speech Diary Essay Letter to the editor Song lyrics Brochure Guide Press Release Autobiography Instructions Novel Drama script

Close reading Close reading is the skill of analysing and interpreting texts. The tools you need to be proficient in close reading are: Audience and purpose Content and theme Tone and mood Stylistic devices Structure

Audience and purpose Who wrote the text? Who was it written for? Why was it written?

Audience and Purpose Ask yourself questions!! Saying the author’s purpose is to persuade is not enough - who does he want to persuade? - why does he want to persuade them? - what kind of reaction does the language I instigate from the reader? - what does the language tell us about the context in which the text was written?

Content and theme What is the text about? Content: what happens in the text (action, events, people and places) Theme: the deeper message or main idea of a text

Tone and mood What is the writer’s tone? How does the text make the reader feel? Tone: the language used to instigate an emotional reaction on the listener (e.g. the language can be described as hopeful, passionate, hyperbolic, confident …) Mood: the atmosphere that is created through the tone of the text (e.g. the mood can be disappointed, frustrated, uplifted, sentimental …)

Stylistic devices What stylistic devices does the writer use? Examples of stylistic devices are irony, sarcasm, rhetorical questions, metaphors

Structure What kind of text is it? What structural conventions are used? Example: personal letter Greeting – Date – Purpose – Anecdote – Conclusion Example: formal letter to an editor Greeting – Date – Reference – Point – Call to answer - Signature

Close reading Close reading is the skill of analysing and interpreting texts. The tools you need to be proficient in close reading are: Audience and purpose Content and theme Tone and mood Stylistic devices Structure

Audience and Purpose Who wrote the text? Who was it written for? Why was it written? Ask yourself questions!! Saying the author’s purpose is to persuade is not enough - who does he want to persuade? - why does he want to persuade them? - what kind of reaction does the language I instigate from the reader? - what does the language tell us about the context in which the text was written?