A Close-Up on Close Reading

Close Reading Experience 4

Close Reading Experience 4 Program Transcript

NATALIE MALM: So what was the author's message?

MALE SPEAKER 1: I think his message was that the earth belongs to humans. And I say that because he said that, "The toll of a billion deaths has bought the birthright." So it's like our inheritance. This is ours, and we've paid for it through the duration of time-- how many people had to die to get to this place.

NATALIE MALM: So there was something specific in there that made you conclude that?

MALE SPEAKER 1: Yes.

NATALIE MALM: Great.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Absolutely, that's exactly what I came to, and I circled it, "Birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are." The earth belongs to mankind, no matter who comes.

NATALIE MALM: Great.

MALE SPEAKER 2: I highlighted that same passage, but I also picked up on something, coming through the third time, that it was sort of a liberation. Maybe it was unintended, but they started out and he mentions, "Terror and disaster blinded our minds." We should have seen this coming, is what he's telling us, but we didn't because we were so afraid. But then he comes through with the passage that you mention of "a billion deaths." We've earned this. "Dead matter" versus "living frames," the juxtaposition of those two comments.

NATALIE MALM: So what did you learn as you went through this close reading activity?

MALE SPEAKER 2: Repetition is a benefit, seeing it more than once. That may be obvious, but it's the first thing that came to mind.

FEMALE SPEAKER: The first time I read it, I was looking for information, trying to figure out what was going on. I think the author set the context, gave me enough words that I could hang onto, to understand what the passage was about. But then, reading it a second time, I could read it at a deeper level and gain more understanding about what he was really saying. Then, the third time, it all came together and made sense, what this passage was about.

NATALIE MALM: Great, great. Anything else to add?

©2014 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Close Reading Experience 4

MALE SPEAKER 1: Just, the more you read, the more you see. The text begins to really illuminate itself, and you start to notice, just word choice, and really the tone and tenor that the author's trying to set through the selection of the words.

NATALIE MALM: OK, great. So did anything else change your thinking as you went and reread the text?

MALE SPEAKER 1: I think it went from maybe like a sad story, until you saw the resilience of mankind. And so, then it became a thing of, there's hope, so that's what I kind of saw out of it.

NATALIE MALM: So you think this is a valuable activity, valuable way of reading?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Absolutely, yeah.

NATALIE MALM: Well, thank you for participating in the close reading activity.

Close Reading Experience 4 Additional Content Attribution

Music:

Creative Support Services Los Angeles, CA

Dimension Sound Effects Library Newnan, GA

Narrator Tracks Music Library Stevens Point, WI

Signature Music, Inc Chesterton, IN

Studio Cutz Music Library Carrollton, TX

©2014 Laureate Education, Inc. 2