1. A Way In: A Visual Aid for Close Reading
COLORMARKING
A Way In: A Visual Aid for Close Reading

2. First… Literature does not happen by accident
It’s INTENTIONAL—What does this mean?
The author deliberately uses specific words, images, image patterns, structure, etc. to communicate to the reader.
It is the responsibility of the reader to see the pattern AND be able determine what is being communicated.

3. Literary Analysis What do we do when we read? How do we do it?
interpret the author or poet's intentions in writing the selection
How do we do it?
by carefully examining his or her use of words and making inferences as to their meaning.

4. A new tool for close reading!
COLORMARKING is a way of constructing a kind of visual diagram that will allow you to begin a critical analysis of a particular passage.
Works as a map as you continue to develop your ideas.
Readers can easily trace the development of different ideas because they are color-coded!

5. Terms to know:
Image: a word (or more than one word) appealing to at least one of our senses: an image solicits reader response.
Image Pattern: the repetition of three (Yes, the magic number!) images, not necessarily in uninterrupted succession
Motif: a repeated pattern or recurring element of any type within a work. Note that an image pattern is a motif, but a motif is not always an image pattern.

6. How do I COLORMARK? As you read, think about what jumps out to you…
Color Marking is looking with a microscope at the passage to better understand the writer’s techniques, whether they be narrative, as in prose fiction, or poetic, as in poetry. This process can be applied to all passages, whether they be prose or poetry.
Break those ideas/techniques into even smaller categories?
Ex: “I see a lot of feelings” can be divided into “I see feelings of embarrassment and feelings of frustration.”

7. How do I COLORMARK? Step One
Step 1: Mark with a different color each image/image pattern/motif (remember a motif doesn’t have to be a repeated image…it can be any recurring element) predominant in the passage. If you notice another type of pattern happening in your passage you may mark that as well. (Be sure to carefully examine what is going on within/prior to/following the passage.)

8. How do I COLORMARK? Other points to consider
Structure(is there a flashback/change in POV/dialogue?)
Syntax (are there really long sentences that jump out? Short? Unorthodox punctuation? Rhetorical questions?)
Imagery
Break it down to specifics (The color RED, physical descriptions of characters, etc.)
Figurative Language
Similes, Metaphors, Etc.
Absence: sometimes what isn’t there can reveal more

9. Next… (but don’t start yet)
For each item that you would like to colormark, assign a different color, and make a key at the bottom of your page.
Read the text closely, and color over the words that correspond to each element you trace.
What if they overlap?
THAT’S AWESOME—That means you see multiple layers of meaning in the same words!

10. How do I COLORMARK? Step Two
Step 2: Based on your color-marking, ask these questions:
Is one color predominant? Why?
Is there some logical progression of imagery/motifs, from one type to another?
Is the progression illogical? Why?

11. How do I COLORMARK? Step 2.1
How do the imagery/motifs reinforce and/or illustrate the content of the passage? (or, if you prefer, what is the relationship of the scene to the imagery/motifs used to describe it?)
Imagery reinforces content by giving it emphasis, by making it fresh (an unusual or creative use of imagery), and/or by adding irony (imagery appears to contradict the content or describe it in terms of its opposite qualities).
Is a specific tone or mood created by the marked material?

12. How do I COLORMARK? Step Three
Step 3: Based on your answers to these questions and any others you think appropriate, CODE each color marked with INFERENCES you draw about the use of that particular image/image pattern/motif.

13. After COLORMARKING
After you colormark your page, you should be able to see certain patterns, or maybe changes.
Ex: Perhaps the feelings shift from anticipation to anger to sadness over the course of the story, but it’s difficult for you to determine where or why when reading it the first time…
Where you see the colors changing, you can evaluate why the feelings and or the tone changed.
Stop to consider why you might see the absence of a color later on in the extract.

14. Rigor is not for the elite
Rigor is not for the elite. How can this work younger and/or low-achieving students? Scaffold to provide more support. As we read “Eleven,” mark at least 5 of the following on your page.
Misunderstanding
Repetition
Powerlessness
Disrespect
Shame/embarrassment
Family
Innocence
Anything else you see
Authority
Childlike Perspective
Adult Perspective
Color
Feelings towards others
Relationships
Similes

15. Collaborate: In your groups, share what you colormarked
One effective method is during collaborative grouping have students switch ink colors. This allows both student and teacher a clear visual representation of what the student could do on his own and what he was able to take away from the group.

16. Reflect: How will you know what you know?
After marking, look at what is going on in the passage or poem.
Students, after the study of more than one extract, should be able to determine some thematic connections about the motifs for which they were colormarking.
These connections will help students craft an argument-based commentary.

17. How will you KNOW they know it: Constructed Response
In “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros, explain what Rachel means by this statement from paragraph 3:
“Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit inside the other, each year inside the next one.”
Use 2 relevant examples from the text to support your answer.