Essay #1 – Close Reading Analysis
Length: 3-4 pages
Due Date for Rough Draft: 2/3/20 via BB
Due Date for Rough Draft for peer review: 2/5/20
Due Date for Final Draft: 2/14/20 on BB
In class we have discussed Jamaica Kincaid’s “A Small Place.” Through different social and cultural lenses, her account examines issues of gender, tourism, and belonging. For your first essay, pick one of the passages from the text and write a close reading analysis. Your essay needs to have an argument, a thesis and although you zoom in on one specific passage (no more than 1-2 pages) you can refer to other moments in the text that support your argument.
Points to consider:
1. Remember a close reading is a sustained interpretation of a brief passage. Your goal is to use description to uncover multiple meanings/ significance within the scene and then to connect how this moment reflects the selected theme.
2. You should first pick your theme and then pick a scene you will focus on. You should employ detailed description of the particular scenes before you then discuss how the scene(s) examine or trouble the theme you have chosen.
3. You should bring in some quotation and paraphrasing from the text as that will give you material to back up your analysis. Quotes should be no more than 4 typed lines.
*Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1” margins