Close Reading and Explication

Close reading is one way instructors may ask you to engage with a text in class. Written analysis of source material, or explication, emerges from close reading.  Here are some tips to remember when close reading:

Interact with the Text through Annotation and Note-taking

When reading, let yourself “interact” with the text by taking notes and highlighting passages or phrases that stand out to you. Depending on whether you have your own copy or are borrowing one, you may prefer to write in the margins of the page, use sticky notes, or take notes in a notebook or word document to record your ideas. These notes may hold your first impressions of a section or your ideas surrounding a symbol or theme, a critique, a link to theory, etc. These notes will give you a starting point for your analysis.
As you get more comfortable with close reading, you will find a system that helps you quickly annotate texts with different types of interactions. You can devise a personalized system of marking to help organize your reading and assist you with finding particular information on re-reading. You also can use different colours of highlighter to mark out things like agreements or disagreements, confusions, questions, or links to other texts.

For example, an exclamation mark or question mark may highlight a section you want to analyze in detail, or a pink highlight might identify a useful quote for an assignment.

Have a Plan

Let yourself be specific and in-depth when making notes, rather than merely summarizing the text. Having a plan when close reading will help you identify important passages while exploring how the text the deeper meanings of the text. Also, try to look for opportunities to implement theory to generate discussion in class. Look at themes and symbols as well as the structure of the text to determine what occurs in the passage. Choose a section of the text that interests you and pick it apart word by word, analyzing the literary and rhetorical devices. If the passage is verse (poetry), also consider meter and rhythm of the piece. 
Having a plan not only guides your analysis but also allows you to be specific with what you look for. This helps you create a thesis that demonstrates analysis, centering your claims around interpretation of the text rather than summary.

Details Matter

When close reading, paying attention to details and repetition of specific images are your gateway to further analysis. Repetition of certain words or themes (e.g. birds representing freedom in a poem) creates motifs and thematic commentary that can play a critical role in the meaning of the text. 
Focus on details in your passage and ask yourself these questions: is anything repeating? Why might this repetition be significant? How do these details affect our understanding of the text? Why are these details present?

Conclusion

If you want to demonstrate that you have deep understanding of a text, or use texts in support of your own arguments essays or other assignments, you need to read texts closely. By interacting with the text thoroughly and noting each line, you will develop an understanding of the rhetorical and literary techniques that the author uses to express ideas and themes within the text.