User:AdrianLK/sandbox

Evaluate an Article

Article name - Close Reading

The article I have chosen to evaluate is entitled "Close Reading" I have chosen this article to evaluate, as it is the method I have used to write my section on the Wikipedia page on the characters appearing in "The Diviners". Close Reading is a practice that is taught often from High School English courses to University level programs; however students of the English program often struggle with the idea of close reading, as often it is difficult for them to approach a literary work / work of art from a critical standpoint. Following many years of close reading, my approach to critical reading have been influenced greatly by the instructors of my courses, and their advice on how to approach a text, often through the use of questions which in turn aids greatly in the writing of an essay or paper.

Lead

The Lead of the article is adequate summary of the function of close reading itself, how and why it is necessary for the purposes of research. The writer of the article emphasizes how to pay attention to how a literary work is written and why it is written the way it is, which in turn would allow the reader to come up with themes regarding the text. It is a short but concise summation of the research method of close reading.

Content

The Content presented within the article is well thought out and thorough, delving into the history of close reading and how it was influenced by various different individuals of differing time periods. Especial attention is dedicated to how the act of close reading itself was popularized by authors who found the criticism of the work equally as important as the work itself.

Tone and Balance

The article presents a well-balanced approach to close reading. The article moreover provides insight into "Distant Reading" a process that was outlined in the course EN6000, thereby presenting a different perspective which suggests that the writers of the article were consistent in their research methods and presenting a complete picture of close reading and its alternatives.

Sources and References

The article makes use of multiple sources from differing time periods often dating back to 1950 which suggests a wide and complex array of ideologies represented on the page, as well as its evolution. The article is well referenced, with the sources and reference points clearly on display.

Organization

Although short in length, the article presents a well-organized view into the act of close reading itself, arranging its points by History, Examples and how to teach close reading to an audience. The writers of the article in doing so present a thorough understanding of the source material and more importantly how to present it to an audience of scholars as well as non-academics.

Images and Media

The article does not include images and media. This is not a detriment towards the article as close reading and research methodologies do not provide much room for the addition of images and other related media.

Checking the Talk Page

The Talk page of the close reading article presents a comprehensive outlook of its writers and organizers and how they are in conversation with each other regarding the ideas presented on the page itself. Especial notice is given to the idea of associating close reading with "slow reading" which is a separate method of approaching a text. The community behind the page reflect their intellectual prowess as well as thorough organizational methods as well as a fluent command of research. This is reflected in their use of Derrida's works.

Overall Impressions

The article overall is highly instructional for academics and non-academics alike. It is a well thought out and comprehensive look into one of the most commonly utilized research methods used by students and professors alike for their research. A question would also be how to close read an article without paying close attention to the author of the work's private life details and separating their biographical information from the text.

For the purposes of writing "The Diviners" I utilized a close reading method as it presents a comprehensive outlook of the characters utilized within Laurence's text. Close reading allows a more in depth look into the postmodern representation of characters and geographical locations within Laurence's text, as well as how a postmodern work differs from a classical literary work. Laurence's text is both representative of Canadian Literature but more importantly on the level of postmodern literature on a cosmopolitan level.