Close Reading and Interpretation

Good writing begins with good reading. In this course, I will work with you on writing as well as on reading.

For a start, read very carefully the information on "close reading" in Writing about Literature, pages 53-63.

Then, go to this site, the first few paragraphs of Charles Dickens's novel, Bleak House (a description of London in the 1850s).

This is a difficult passage: read the passage closely and try to visualize everything (really try to see it in your head). Look up any words you don't know. Then re-read the passage several times to gain a better understanding of what Dickens is trying to suggest about London.

For this first exercise, you will write a paragraph that will analyze this passage from Dickens's novel. In order to write a successful paragraph, you must do the following tasks:

• Decide what Dickens is trying to suggest about London in the mid-nineteenth century. What is the overall impression he is trying to convey?
• State this overall impression in a complete sentence. This will be the topic sentence (in other words, the first sentence) of the paragraph that you will write for this excercise.
• Go to this brainstorming page. The questions should help you come up with ideas to write about. In fact, I provide a sample topic sentence which you can use for your paragraph if you get stuck.
• Make an informal list of the specific details--the exact words and images--that Dickens uses to convey this overall impression.
• Now write the required paragraph
  
  • Begin the paragraph with the topic sentence, the sentence that describes the overall impression
  • Now, write the rest of the paragraph using the details that support this central impression. In the end, you should have a smoothly-flowing, well-developed paragraph that characterizes the Dickens passage above.
  • Be sure to incorporate a few quoted words and phrases into your paragraph. Just be sure that they are relevant to what you are arguing in the topic sentence, and be sure to integrate the quotations smoothly into your own writing.
  • For more information on quoting, click on this quotation site and this quotation link from Purdue University.
  • For the format for this assignment, and all later assignments, go to this site: Formating.
    
• Some final points about this paragraph
  
  • Write it in the PRESENT tense, and check to be sure you do so consistently. This is true for all future papers.
  • Italicize the novel's title, e.g. Bleak House
  • Finally, make it clear that you are analyzing a passage by Charles Dickens from Bleak House. In other words, you should begin your paragraph something like this: "In the first few paragraphs of Bleak House, Charles Dickens ....."
  • Remember that this should only be ONE paragraph
    
    
  You should only e-mail me the final version of your paragraph, with topic sentence and specific supporting details. This paragraph should be at least 250 words long. Please note, as well, that it should only be one paragraph (assignment 1--see information about file-naming before you e-mail me this work as an attachment.)

Syllabus