ENGL 2330: Writing in the Discipline of English Dr. Sunny Yang Linked

ENGL 2330: Writing in the Discipline of English

Dr. Sunny Yang

Linked Close Reading Instructions
(2-4 pages, single spaced)

Due by 9pm Friday, March 29

After choosing a broad topic centered on The Coquette, select 6-8 passages from the novel that you believe offer important insights into your subject. Each passage should be at least one paragraph and no longer than two pages.

Close read each passage using the 3 step method, generating as many observations about your topic (step 1 sentences) as you can based on language, grammar, punctuation, form, and/or literary technique. Each passage should produce at least one paragraph of analysis.

After close reading all of your passages, list all of the observations (step 1 sentences) you’ve generated on a separate page. If there are similar observations that emerge from different passages, group these sentences together. In your paper, these will be different examples that support the same claim.

Once you’ve grouped all the similar observations, take a step back and read over your main step 1 sentences again. Based on these observations, what larger claim can you make about your topic? In other words, what point or insight about your chosen topic do the majority of your step 1 observations lead you to?

Remember: not all of your observations will necessarily fit together/lead to the same argument. Your aim here is to identify what the majority of these observations allow you to say about your topic. If you find that there’s an equal amount of textual support for two conflicting observations, think about how you might bring those conflicting ideas together (for instance, is something one way at the beginning of the book and then another in the final half? Do these conflicts tell us something important about a character or situation?)

Return to the document containing your initial close readings and, at the top of the page (before your analysis), type out the overall claim that you’ve arrived at through your step 1s. Bold this sentence, it is your tentative thesis.

Go through your close readings again, removing the readings that are no longer relevant to your overall claim. Reorganize the paragraphs so that readings from different passages that support similar claims are placed together.

In the final paragraph, identify any conflicting observations from your initial close readings that you may have left out of your tentative thesis. Explain how you would account for this conflicting information. In other words: how would you explain this discrepancy?

If you did not have any conflicting observations, explain the significance of your analysis. Why does the overall claim that you’ve made about your chosen topic matter? How does it add to or change our understanding of a particular character, a relationship/dynamic, and/or The Coquette overall?

Point breakdown

List of your step 1 observations and groupings: 10 pts

Tentative thesis based on these observations: 5 pts

2-3 pages of close readings: 30 pts (25 points for using 3 step method properly, 5 pts for organization)

Final paragraph (either explanation of contradiction or significance): 5 pts

Linked Close Reading Proposal

(Due by 5pm Friday, March 22)

Please identify:

The broad topic you plan to focus on (eg: the development of x character’s views on y subject; the relationship between x and y character; the relationship between money and marriage; etc) and a short explanation of your interest in this topic (2 pts)

6-8 scenes/passages from the novel that you believe offer important insights into your chosen topic. These passages should come from across the book (don’t pick scenes that only appear in the first half!) and should be between one paragraph and 2 pages long each. Identify the letter and page number of your passages and offer a short summary of each. (6 pts with possibility of 2 extra credit pts)

Briefly explain the questions you hope to answer through your analysis of these passages (2 pts)