Questions: Close Reading Techniques

Question 1

A student reads Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' soliloquy and notes: 'Shakespeare uses the word 'slings' metaphorically — slings are weapons that hurl stones, implying that misfortune is an aggressive, violent force attacking the speaker.' This is an example of:

• A. Summarizing the plot of the scene
• B. Moving from observation to interpretation using textual evidence
• C. Ignoring the text in favor of biographical context
• D. Describing what happens rather than how or why

Answer: (B)

This student identifies a specific word ('slings'), notes it is a metaphor, and then argues what effect that choice produces (misfortune as violent aggressor). That is the core close reading move: observation + interpretation + textual warrant. Summarizing would instead describe that Hamlet is contemplating suicide, without analyzing how the language works.

Question 2

Close reading requires the reader to set aside most historical and biographical context and focus primarily on the words on the page.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Context is not the enemy of close reading — it can sharpen and deepen interpretation. Knowing that a poem was written during wartime, or that an author was in exile, can illuminate word choices or structural decisions. The distinction is that close reading uses context to explain textual details, not to replace them. The text's specific language always remains the primary evidence.

Question 3

What is the difference between an observation and an interpretation in close reading?

Model answer: An observation identifies a specific textual feature (e.g., 'the sentences get shorter here'). An interpretation argues what that feature means or does (e.g., 'the shorter sentences create a sense of mounting panic'). Close reading requires both: observations are the evidence, interpretations are the claims.

Many readers stop at observation without advancing to interpretation, which produces description rather than argument. The move from 'what is there' to 'what it means or does' is the analytical core of close reading. Every interpretive claim should be traceable back to specific textual observations.