ACDW101/Close reading & Analysis/Mishra |1

ACDW101(L)
Worksheet on Close Reading & Analysis
Instructor: Neha Mishra
Handout Date: 24th September 2021

Working Towards a Claim: Close Reading & Analysis

Part I: Close reading1
Close reading is an analytical approach to textual material that attempts to “unpack”
the layers of meaning contained therein. Word choices, sentence structure, and tone
reveal a lot about the implications and connotations of an author’s ideas, if we pay
close attention to them. Close reading not only helps us to derive new meaning from
texts, it also requires a degree of step-by-step explanation that benefits our analysis in
general. It is not enough to make broad statements about the text, even if we quote it.
Instead, we must draw the reader’s attention to the specific element of the quote that we
find significant and then explain that significance by pointing out the subtler meaning
that lies just beneath the surface.
Close reading in Action
How Emily Dickinson Writes a Poem
This video does a wonderful job of showing us how it’s done. By paying attention to each
and every element of Dickinson’s poem, it shows us how careful attention to a text
determines how close we will come to unearthing what the text is really trying to say.

Task 1: Let’s see how Martin does it!

Read the following extracts from “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a

Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles” by Emily Martin and answer questions

which follow.

1
Sections of part 1 have been taken from Sameer Thomas’ (Faculty Associate, Centre for Writing and
Pedagogy, Krea University) close reading worksheet with his permission.
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Extract 1

At a fundamental level, all major scientific textbooks depict male and female reproductive

organs as systems for the production of valuable substances, such as eggs and sperm.2 In the

case of women, the monthly cycle is described as being designed to produce eggs and prepare

a suitable place for them to be, fertilized and grown - all to the end of making babies. But the

enthusiasm ends there. By extolling the female cycle as a productive enterprise, menstruation

must necessarily be viewed as a failure. Medical texts describe menstruation as the "debris"

of the uterine lining, the result of necrosis, or death of tissue. The descriptions imply that a

system has gone awry, making products of no use, not to specification, unsalable, wasted,

scrap. An illustration in a widely used medical text shows menstruation as a chaotic

disintegration of form, complementing the many texts that describe it as "ceasing," "dying,"

"losing," "denuding," "expelling."3

1. Highlight instances where Martin points out the connotations/implications of

specific words used by others in yellow.

Extract 2

Male reproductive physiology is evaluated quite differently. One of the texts that sees

menstruation as failed production employs a sort of breathless prose when it describes the

maturation of sperm: "The mechanisms which guide the remarkable cellular transformation

from spermatid to mature sperm remain uncertain. . . . Perhaps the most amazing

characteristic of spermatogenesis is its sheer magnitude: the normal human male may

manufacture several hundred million sperm per day."4 In the classic text Medical Physiology,

edited by Vernon Mountcastle, the male/female, productive/destructive comparison is more

explicit: "Whereas the female sheds only a single gamete each month, the seminiferous

tubules produce hundreds of millions of sperm each day" (emphasis mine).5 The female
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author of another text marvels at the length of the microscopic seminiferous tubules, which, if

uncoiled and placed end to end, "would span almost one-third of a mile!" She writes, "In an

adult male these structures produce millions of sperm cells each day." Later she asks, "How is

this feat accomplished?"6 None of these texts expresses such intense enthusiasm for any

female processes. It is surely no accident that the "remarkable" process of making sperm

involves precisely what, in the medical view, menstruation does not: production of something

deemed valuable7. (486-487)

2. Highlight instances where Martin notes and points the tone of the author (the way

that author is writing) in green.

Task 2: Let’s try working towards close reading text for ourselves:

Excerpt 1

“The female author of another text marvels at the length of the microscopic seminiferous

tubules, which, if uncoiled and placed end to end, ‘would span almost one-third of a mile!’”

1. Who is talking about the male reproductive system? female author

2. Who is writing about a text about the male reproductive system? Martin

3. What words does Martin use to describe the author of the text she quotes? Female

4. Why do you think Martin chose to include this detail?

To lay emphasis on the authors tone eventually supporting her argument

5. What does this tell us about the larger phenomenon that Martin is describing?

This supports the authors view about how male reproductive system is celebrated and

the female reproductive system is looked down on

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Excerpt 2 (10 minutes):

“As we use what the sociologist Daniel Bell has called our ‘intellectual technologies’—the
tools that extend our mental rather than our physical capacities—we inevitably begin to take
on the qualities of those technologies.” (Carr 5)
Q1. What is the sentence highlighted in yellow referring to?
Q2. Would the sentence’s meaning have been affected if the part highlighted in yellow was
left out?
Q3. What is the function of the parts highlighted in green?
Q4. How does the word “inevitably” affect what Carr is claiming? Does it add to his claim in
any way?

Excerpt 3 (5 minutes):
The process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing
metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves.
Q1. Rewrite the part highlighted in yellow as a complete sentence without changing its
meaning.
Acclimating to the latest intellectual technologies is a process.
Q2. Rewrite the part highlighted in red as a complete sentence without changing its meaning.
the altering metaphors one uses to define ourselves to ourselves
Q3. How does the word “reflected” affect the connection between the two sentences? Would
it make any difference to the meaning of Carr’s sentence if we changed the part highlighted
in green to “is determined by”? Explain why or why not.
Yes! Because is reflected by says it
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Part II: Analysis

Analysis is what you have to say about your sources. It is different from summarising a
source because in a summary, you focus on representing accurately what your source is
saying. Analysis is taking this engagement with a source a step further and elucidating what
you have to say about that source. In other words, a summary is about what they (sources) are
saying, while analysis is about what it means for us (I/author of the essay).
Task 3
The company has declared that its mission is “to organize the world’s information and make
it universally accessible and useful.” It seeks to develop “the perfect search engine,” which it
defines as something that “understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly
what you want.” In Google’s view, information is a kind of commodity, a utilitarian resource
that can be mined and processed with industrial efficiency. The more pieces of information
we can “access” and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as
thinkers.
What is the difference between the part highlighted in yellow and the part highlighted in
green (think in terms of what each sentence is doing as opposed to what it means)? Do you
note a shift in tone/voice as you move from the sentences highlighted in yellow to those
highlighted in green?
Ans:
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Part III: Tasks to help you prepare for the next graded submission
What’s coming up next? (Due on September 30 in audio/visual format on Moodle)
Argumentative Essay Part 1 (2 minute pitch)2: This will count toward 5% of your total
grade
Please note you are not required to submit these two tasks. This is for your own practise.
Task 4
Step 1:
Read Nicholas Carr’s essay again carefully. As you read, make note of sections that catch
your interest and highlight sentences/phrases that you think constitute claims and evidences.
Step 2:
Return to your highlighted sections and pick an example of at least one claim which matches
each of the following classifications. In addition to identifying the claim, explain why you
believe it’s a claim at all (refer back to the discussion ppt on Claim and Evidence).
1. A contestable fact/definition (think of definition as a concept)
Ans:
2. Cause/effect (event A leads to event B; B is an outcome of A; etc.)
3. A value judgement (An opinion on whether something is right/wrong, useful/useless,
significant/insignificant, etc.)
Step 3:
Does Carr provide evidence for the claims you have picked? Provide the list of evidences for
each of the corresponding claim. Make sure you specify which evidence supports which
claim and why.
Step 4:
Return to the notes you highlighted in step 1 and pick a section that you found to be
interesting. Pick two quotes from two different sections and answer the questions below with
those quotes as your basis:
1. Close read each quote carefully by breaking down its constituent parts and reading
them for meaning and function (remember what we have learned about close reading
today).
2. Explain why you found those quotes interesting. Give specific reasons that relate to
both your personal interest in the quotes as well as your possible research interests in
these quotes.
3. Write down at least one question (that remains unanswered in Carr’s essay) and one
insight (an insight that is yours and not Carr’s) that these quotes led you to.

Task 5: Reading Critically: How do you engage with an argument?

2
Check Moodle for details.
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This form will help you read through an essay while maintaining focus on the argument. Fill it out for
your own understanding. You may need to read the essay more than once. Look for information
AND for ways of thinking about the topic

You do not need to submit this to the instructor.

1. What is the topic of enquiry (the broad topic)?

A:

2. What context has been provided about the topic (geographical or time-period parameters,
specific circumstances and so on)?
A:

3. What are some of the key words or phrases around which you can expect to focus?
(skimming for these is the first step. On a second reading, you can go into more depth)
A:

4. What is the argument being made in the essay? (Copy-paste the thesis statement if you can
identify it)
A:

5. Now, can you identify the main topics sentences of the separate sections? (Copy-paste
these)
A:

6. For each topic sentence, what kind/variety of evidence is used?

A:

7. How is this evidence analysed? (if you think something needs more analysis, make a note of
this too!)
A:

8. Has the essay’s conclusion presented any findings or further opportunities for study?
A:

9. Having read the essay and engaged with its arguments, what do you think about the topic?
A:

10. Can you now find some ways in which you can approach the topic to make a competing
claim/ present a different perspective/ provide some further findings?
A: