Week 2 Blog Assignment

Using the passage that you chose from Angela Carter’s Love, perform a close reading of the passage and connect it to larger themes in the novel, and the course. This assignment is fairly straight forward, but has some distinct steps that must be clearly represented in your blog post. This type of close reading will be applied (with appropriate language and technique) to different texts and media throughout the class, will be expected on your exams, and will be the crux of your final project, though that will be specific to your own research interests.

1. Paraphrase – In a few sentences describe what is happening in the narrative at a literal level within this passage. Explain where this falls in the larger narrative.
2. Observation – In detail, describe the tone communicated by the author and how is it being achieved. Be specific in pointing out specific word choice (diction), rhetorical devices, syntax, etc. For this, you will need to reread the passage multiple times, annotate, and keep a dictionary on hand (I recommend the OED, which can be accessed through the university library proxy) to look up unfamiliar vocabulary.
3. Commentary – Comment on your chosen passage. Why did you choose it? What made it stick out to you? Why is it relevant or paradigmatic of the larger text?  Try to connect this to a theoretical reading, in-class or online conversations, and the larger class as a whole.

Do not forget to respond to a classmate’s close reading as well. See if and how you read things differently, and how collaborative readings might bring out different meanings to texts or parts of them.