Close Reading

Close reading looks at the specific literary devices, diction, and repetitive instances to understand a character, a theme, a motif, a conflict, or any part of a literary text. In many AP prose prompts, you will be given a short selection and will use direct and indirect characterization to analyze a character and his or her context. Dialogue, body language, movement, and character interaction all play a part in detailing a character's meaning. 

An example -

"A woman stood in the doorway of the shop, her arms crossed, a woman made entirely of precisely ruled lines. Her face was long and stern, its planes sharpened by iron-grey hair tightly pulled back from the crown. Above the two angles of her cheek-bones, her eyes were curt incisions, while her nose was a narrow triangle, pinched to a white tip. Her plain white cap was so crisply starched it might have been folded from paper, while beneath the jutting lines of her collarbones, the rigid bodice of her plain dark dress made another precise triangle of her chest...." - Clare Clark

Here I have highlighted key words creating her character:

"A woman stood in the doorway of the shop, her arms crossed, a woman made entirely of precisely ruled lines. Her face was long and stern, its planes sharpened by iron-grey hair tightly pulled back from the crown. Above the two angles of her cheek-bones, her eyes were curt incisions, while her nose was a narrow triangle, pinched to a white tip. Her plain white cap was so crisply starched it might have been folded from paper, while beneath the jutting lines of her collarbones, the rigid bodice of her plain dark dress made another precise triangle of her chest...."

How would you describe her character from these details? In brief, her body language constructs a harsh, distant woman and her physical description conveys calculating angles. She is described in mathematical terminology, which is diction not connected to the female stereotype. I could go on here, but that would take away from your observations. 

With characterization, you should know the key types: protagonist, antagonist, round, flat, dynamic, flat, stock, foil, antihero. 

Lastly, the ability to describe tone in mature, precise language will help you immensely in understanding the text, writing analyses, and completing multiple choice passages. With that in mind. I thought 5 tone words a week will help with AP Lit Preparations.

• Jingoistic - extreme patriotism
• Reverent - respectful
• Laudatory - praising
• Kowtowing - obsequious, brown-nosing
• Vituperative - harsh, bitter criticism