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Literature vocabulary · Criticism and Analysis

Close reading

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounCommon term

In literature, close reading means: A careful, detailed reading of a short passage that pays attention to individual words, sounds, images and structure to show how they create meaning.

In Turkish: yakın okuma, dikkatli okuma, ayrıntılı metin okuması

How it is used

A core method in English departments, linked to the New Criticism of the mid-twentieth century and critics such as I. A. Richards. Exams often ask for a close reading of a passage or poem; students do or perform a close reading.

Example sentences

  1. For the exam, you will do a close reading of an unseen passage.

  2. A close reading of the first sentence reveals the whole novel's fear of change.

Common collocations

  • do a close reading
  • a close reading of
  • close reading skills
  • close reading exercise
  • literary analysisA close examination of how a literary text works, looking at elements such as theme, character, structure and language to explain its meaning and effects.
  • interpretationAn explanation of what a text or a part of it means, supported by evidence from the text; also the act of explaining it.
  • literary theoryThe study of the ideas and methods used to read and interpret literature, such as structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism and postcolonial theory.
  • imageryDescriptive language that appeals to the senses, such as sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, so that readers can picture or feel what is described.

More terms: Criticism and Analysis

Practise with graded reading

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