Topic: Close Reading of Literary Works

10-second review: Author describes how she teaches students to read literary works closely.

Title: “ ‘Being A Writer Depends on Being a Reader’: An Interview with Francine Prose.” L A Goodson. Council Chronicle (November 2008), 25 -26. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Quote: “[Francine] Prose says she’s enjoying teaching literature classes, where she’s teaching undergraduates how to do close reading of works. ‘It’s exciting,’ she says. ‘We go over a [short] story, line by line. You’d think it’d be tedious, but it isn’t. I love watching the way their minds work. That’s the fun about teaching.’ ”

Quote: “In this technique, students examine each line of the text to determine why the author chose specific words and phrases. Prose contends in Reading Like a Writer that learning such an approach is extremely helpful when trying to understand difficult texts.”

Comment: There are different types of reading: There’s normal reading for ideas. There is proofreading. And there is close reading of the text. As the author entitles her book, It’s reading like an writer. Interesting. RayS.