Close Reading

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Close Reading
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The beginners guide to close reading

• 1. choose a passage that is representative of
• the authors style and theme
• 2. number the sentences in the passage
• 3. identify and evaluate elements of prose
  style,
• like sentence structure, syntax,
• punctuation, rhythm, and sound
• 4. identify and evaluate word choice in terms of
• diction, connotation, and tone
• 5. identify and evaluate use of imagery,
• figurative language, and literary devices

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From Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy

• (1) Jude was exasperated and went out to
  drag her in by main force. (2) Then he suddenly
  lost his heat. (3) Illuminated with the sense
  that all was over between them, and that it
  mattered not what she did, or he, her husband
  stood still, regarding her. (4) Their lives
  were ruined, he thought ruined by the
  fundamental error of their matrimonial union
  that of having based a permanent contract on a
  temporary feeling which had no necessary
  connection with affinities that alone render a
  lifelong comradeship tolerable.

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Analysis Hardys use of diction in this passage
is both effective and appropriate.

• The first two sentences are a narration of
  the action leading to the third and fourth
  sentences, which detail Judes sudden
  realization. These first two sentences indicate
  an emotionally physical action. Jude is running
  into the road to retrieve his screaming wife.
  Compared to the second two, they are simple in
  structure. Hardy uses clear, concise phrases to
  create a picture of Judes movements was
  exasperated, went out, to drag, suddenly
  lost. The specific and direct nature of Hardys
  diction is further illustrated in his word
  choices. Among the nineteen words in the first
  two sentences, seventeen of them contain only one
  syllable. The remaining two, exasperated and
  suddenly, are therefore emphasized by their
  length. Considering the content of the text, the
  choice of these two words becomes extremely
  appropriate and they serve to embody the intent
  of the first two sentences, in which an emotional
  scene is cut off by a sudden realization.

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• Likewise, in the last two sentences the
  words, phrases and sentences take on a longer,
  more descriptive and more difficult form.
  Sentences three and four convey Judes thoughts.
  The readers knowledge of Jude as an intellectual
  character makes the articulate and complex
  structure of these sentences a logical response.
  The third sentence contains a transitory phrase,
  stood still, connecting the first two sentences
  to the third and fourth. This is a stop in the
  action of sentences one and two and a transfer to
  the intellectual from the physical. Jude has
  become illuminated he is no longer
  exasperated.

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• The diction becomes more thoughtful and more
  complicated in these two sentences. Out of the
  sixty-six words, eleven of them have three or
  more syllables, a significant contrast to the
  monosyllabic nature of the first two sentences.
  Likewise, these two sentences suggest abstract,
  timeless thoughts with words like
  fundamental, feeling, render, tolerable,
  and lifelong. These are not concrete words.
  They do not produce an image of action. They
  are, instead, thoughts. It is this contrast that
  illustrates Hardys great control over diction
  and his effectiveness in this passage.

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• Hardys word choices at this point are
  appropriate as well. Jude is feeling empty at
  the recognition of his mistake and the fact that
  he can clearly see the untaken path that would
  have led him to happiness. He regrets having
  chosen the wrong course and, almost
  contemptuously, compares the two. The opposing
  phrases permanent contract, and temporary
  feeling, embody this emotion. Likewise, Hardy
  could have left out the word necessary, but its
  addition adds a bittersweet poignancy to the
  meaning of the sentence. Hardy could have
  written it as
• He realized that it was over
  for them. Their lives were
• ruined because it had been a
  mistake to get married out of
• lust and infatuation and not
  love and friendship.
• This would have stated his meaning, but
  would not have been nearly as appropriate or
  evocative. Moreover, Judes background and
  education render such terms as permanent
  contract, tolerable, affinities, lifelong
  comradeship, and matrimonial union effective
  reminders of Judes character.