Close Reading and Analysis Notes

1. “Close Reading:
Analyzing Poetry and
Passages of Fiction”
The Keys to the AP English Lit. Exam!

2. Close Reading
a. small details suggest larger ideas
b. HOW does the meaning of a piece come about

3. Close Reading
Follow Guiding Documents for Annotations--Active Reading
“Unlocking Poetry” & “Deciphering Prose”

4. Close Reading
1. First Impressions: QCCs
2. Stylistic Elements: Diction, Figurative Language, Imagery,
Syntax, Tone and Mood

5. Diction
author’s word choice
LEAD
L=level of diction-formal, neutral or informal
E=description of level i.e. elevated, colloquial, slang, jargon,
dialect, etc.
A=abstract or concrete words
D=denotations and connotations

6. Figurative Language
simile, metaphor, personification, analogy, conceit (extended
metaphor), hyperbole (overstatement), paradox, irony
allegory, apostrophe, cliche, idiom, metonymy, synecdoche,
pun

7. Imagery
appeals to the five senses
synesthesia

8. Syntax
arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, sentences
long or short sentences (telegraphic, short, medium, long)
simple, complex, compound, compound-complex
interrogative, declarative, imperative, exclamatory, rhetorical
question, rhetorical fragment
cumulative, periodic, balanced, asyndeton, polysyndeton
natural s-v-o, inverted
parallelism, chiasmus/antimetabole, zeugma

9. Tone and Mood
Tone: speaker’s attitude or author’s attitude toward subject
of work DIDS: D=diction, I=imagery, D=details, S=syntax
Mood: feeling readers get because of the tone

10. Questions for Close Reading
Pages 23 and 24

11. Close Reading: Poetry
More to consider when actively reading and analyzing poetry
Rhyme, Meter, Form, Poetic Syntax, Sound

12. Rhyme
free verse or rhyming
types of rhyme-internal, end, near, eye, slant, feminine,
masculine,
rhyme scheme

13. Meter
pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (feet)
iambic, trochaic, spondaic, pyrrhic, anapestic, dactyllic
monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter,
hexameter, heptameter, octometer
blank verse

14. Form
HOW does structure reinforce meaning?
narrative (epic, ballad)
lyric (elegy, ode, idyll, sonnet, villanelle)
song (dirge, ballad, hymn, rap, blues)
light (limerick, epigram)
cause-effect, patterns, chronological, question and answer, dramatic
monologue
open (free verse, projective verse) or closed (blank verse, couplet, tercet,
quatrain, cinquain, sestet, septet, octet or octave)

15. Poetic Syntax
end-stopped, enjambment, caesura, long/short lines,
projective verse

16. Sound
musical quality
rhyme, enjambment, caesura, cadence, alliteration,
assonance, onomatopoeia
in text citations for poetry spanning two lines “word / word”
use l. for one line and ll. for more than one line in
parenthetical citations

17. Questions for Close Reading: Poetry
Pages 29 and 30

18. Tools for Close Reading
Annotations: “Unlocking Poetry,” “Deciphering Prose,”
Dramatic Situation Chart, Questions from 23, 24, 29, & 30,
and Graphic Organizers
1. Find devices
2. Analyze their effect
(Don’t forget to consider titles)

19. Analytical Writing
Break literature down into parts to figure out how those
parts tie to a whole (theme, tone, attitude, etc.)
ABTATO, PETs, TOO
Thesis must briefly answer the prompt, page 45
Determine Points and support before writing--organize body
by literary devices
Two readings-organize by reading or literary device
Text must be woven into your sentences, not stand alone