Close Reading Skills

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Close Reading Skills

• Sentence Structure

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What you will need to know

• Different types of sentences
• How they can be linked/ separated by types of
  punctuation
• How component parts of a sentence can be arranged
  in patterns
• How writers use different sentence structures to
  create effect

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Types of sentence

• Statement narrative/ factual writing
• Question reflective/ emotional writing
  rhetorical question
• Exclamation conveys tone of amazement, shock
  any strong emotion
• Command used in instructions and in persuasive
  (e.g. advertisements)

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Minor Sentence

• Where the verb is omitted for dramatic effect
• Usually some form of the infinitive to be
• e.g. He looked in his rear view mirror. Nothing
  coming.
• Creates impact, suspense or urgency
• Suggests informality
• Could be an abbreviation (notes/ diary)

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Task

• Identify the followings sentences
• Mrs. Mark is fantastic.
• Is Mrs. Mark fantastic?
• You will say Mrs. Mark is fantastic.
• Gosh, Mrs. Mark is fantastic!
• Do you think she will forget about the Personal
  Study I havent done? No chance!

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Paragraphing

• Used to break writing into easier to digest
  pieces
• Pre- twentieth century tends to use much longer
  paragraphs.
• Short is easier to understand or creates impact.
  E.g.. Advertising, childrens fiction, tabloid
  newspapers.

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The Rules

• New paragraph marks new stage in narrative/
  argument
• Occasionally used for effect
• Single sentence paragraph can emphasise a
  statement or idea or
• Can be to slow the action and create suspense
• Anything unusually short is worthy of note.
  Consider what the aim was.

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Key Terms

• List
• Series
• Parallelism
• Climax/ anti-climax
• Repetition
• Expansion
• Colon/ semi-colon
• Short sentence

• Minor sentence
• Balance
• Antithesis
• Parenthesis
• Point of view
• Triad
• Position of And
• Direct address

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List

• Listing of items , consequences or ideas
• Not commas make up a list- items are the list
  not the punctuation mark
• Make clearer
• Emphasise volume
• Reinforce ideas
• Suggest scope
• context

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Series

• Similar effect to a list
• Usually employs parallel structure

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Parallelism

• Repetition
• Task Look at the following example of parallel
  structure. Deconstruct the different elements.

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Practise makes Perfect! ?

• I believe that both teachers and students who
  embark on a program of portfolio development
  within their composition classes will learn a
  lot. First, by comparing the first and last
  in-class essays, both students and teachers will
  see measurable progress, and they will learn that
  writing classes count. Second, by examining the
  character of successive essays throughout the
  semester, both students and teachers will see
  heightening degrees of student ownership, and
  they will learn that students have something to
  say. Finally, by examining the final, in-class
  essays, both students and teachers will see a
  development among students for self analysis, and
  they will learn that students have developed the
  critical capacity to learn and to think. These
  are compelling reasons to use portfolio
  development within the English composition
  classroom.

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Answers

• First, by comparing the first and last in-class
  essays, both students and teachers will see
  measurable progress, and they will learn that
  writing classes count.
• Second, by examining the character of successive
  essays throughout the semester, both students
  and teachers will see heightening degrees of
  student ownership, and they will learn that
  students have something to say.
• Finally, by examining the final, in-class essays,
  both students and teachers will see a
  development among students for self analysis,
  and they will learn that students have developed
  the critical capacity to learn and to think.

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Climax/ anti-climax

• Series and listed clauses or sentences
• In climax, a series of ideas are arranged in the
  order of increasing importance.
• Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime
• What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason,
  how infinite in faculties! In action, how like an
  angel! In apprehension, how like a God!
• Anticlimax is the opposite of climax - a sudden
  descent from higher to lower. It is chiefly used
  for the purpose of satire or ridicule.
• Here thou, great Anna! Whom three realms
  obey,Dost sometimes counsel take - and sometimes
  tea.

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Repetition

• Words or phrases are repeated throughout the text
  to emphasise certain facts or ideas
• Use of structural repetition
• Down. Down. Down.. Would the fall never come to
  an end! I wonder how many miles I've fallen by
  this time?she said aloud.Down. Down. Down There
  was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began
  talking again. 
• America at its best, matches a commitment to
  principle with a concern for civility. A civil
  society demands from each of us good will and
  respect, fair dealing and forgiveness.America at
  its best, is also courageous. Our national
  courage is compassionate. In the quiet of
  American conscience, we know that deep,
  persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's
  promise.

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Expansion

• Usually indicated by a colon
• Not enough to say a colon to introduce a list
• Comment on the general structure
• Comment on the list itself content
• Refer to the point being expanded
• Refer to the overall effect

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Colon/ semi-colon

• Colon
• introduces a list
• Expands on a point (either side)
• Semi colon links two sentence which are related
  (specifies relationship)
• E.g.. I went to Edinburgh. It was raining.
• I went to Edinburgh it was raining.

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Short sentence

• For impact
• Must refer to the context
• What is it emphasising?

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Minor sentence

• Verb omitted
• Informal
• Think about the type of writing used in
• Why would it be appropriate within the context of
  the text?

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Balance

• Created, usually, by some form of parallel
  structure or repetition
• Look at the paragraph structure
• Balance of ideas?
• Key words to indicate this?

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Antithesis

• contrasting relationship between two ideas
• antithesis emphasises the contrast between two
  ideas. The structure of the phrases / clauses is
  usually similar in order to draw the reader's /
  listener's attention directly to the contrast.
• That's one small step for a man, one giant leap
  for mankind . (Neil Armstrong)
• To err is human to forgive, divine. (Pope)
• It is easier for a father to have children than
  for children to have a real father. (Pope)

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Parenthesis

• Extra information
• Commas are formal
• Dashes, brackets more informal almost an aside
  (try not to use in essays)
• May come at the start of a sentence (one commas
  omitted)
• Again, refer to context

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Point of view

• Structure used to reinforce/ reflect the author's
  viewpoint

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Triad

• List of 3
• magic number which appears in writing
• Refer to context not merely identify

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Position of And

• Used to the start of a sentence to emphasise
• Isolates and reinforces an additional point.
• Grammatically incorrect deliberately.
• Refer to context

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Direct address

• 2nd person
• Addresses reader directly to create relationship
• Forces reader to consider point made and own
  opinion
• Engages reader with the point/ argument

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All Together

• Changing Rooms, Tool Stories, Home Front, you
  know the drill take three couples, shuffle them
  with an interior designer/ DIY expert/ measly
  budget, see what sticks.

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Task

• Look at the previous sentence
• Define every structural element
• Offer an explanation of the effects of these
  elements on the text.