Use Close Reading to Remember Every Detail As You Study.
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When you’re assigned a text, you need to identify general ideas. The problem is, sometimes you can miss the forest for the trees, skimming passages just to get a quick grasp. To achieve the necessary overall understanding, you should use a method based on attention to detail. This is called “close reading,” and it will help you internalize what you’ve read, ensuring you understand not only the assigned passage or chapter but the overall concept you’re studying.
What is close reading?
Close reading is a method that requires you to focus on every detail of the text, assuming that not a single detail was included there by chance or without reason. This is not so much an assumption as a fact. Consider the process required to get this content to you. A subject matter expert had to research it, write it down, and submit it, perhaps through an agent and certainly an editor, if not several editors. If it’s educational material, it had to be reviewed by a committee and approved for use. Everything that made it into the final version was reviewed by multiple sets of eyes. All of it is important and deserves to be there; anything irrelevant would likely have been cut.
In her book, Teaching Literature , literary critic Elaine Showalter writes that “close reading” is “reading slowly, a conscious attempt to step back from the magical power of narrative and pay attention to language, imagery, allusions, intertextuality, syntax, and form.” The idea is to break the habit of reading casually or taking everything in at once and instead develop a new habit in which you examine every tiny element of what you read and question why the author included it.
This method is even included in the US K-12 education standards , where it is defined as “a methodical exploration of complex text through answering text-dependent questions aimed at revealing its meaning.”
Essentially, you’re looking not just at what the text says but also at how it says it—and that’s beneficial: according to the Literacy in Focus program , this means you’ll ultimately be able to truly understand the meaning of the text. Educators have researched this method and found that it improves reading comprehension, for example. Close reading helps students not only understand what the text says but also understand why it’s important.
How to Use the Close Reading Method
Close reading means reading only twice (or more). The first time is to understand what’s written, and subsequent times are to understand why it’s written the way it is . The goal is to learn to apply this deep reflection and understanding to what you learned the first time.
Read for understanding
When you first read the material, just get the gist. Figure out the main argument or story, who’s speaking and to whom. Don’t worry about the details. Just take it all in and mentally note what stands out, what’s confusing, or what seems important.
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During your second reading, you’ll be doing a “close reading.” Highlight key terms, circle new words, and look them up in a dictionary. Pay particular attention to formatting, such as subheadings, section breaks, and visual elements like diagrams or photographs. Remember: nothing is random. Also, consider the order of the information. Does the author begin with a general description of the problem before moving on to examples? Or do they begin with a specific example and then explain the broader context?
Ask questions
Reread again, but this time ask questions. Write them down on a separate sheet of paper or even in the margins. You’ll likely be reading something digital, so just open a blank text document if necessary. Here are some questions to ask, though they may vary depending on the content, level, author, and other factors:
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Why is this section named this way?
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Why did the author use this [provocative/vague/frivolous, etc.] word?
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Why bring this idea up before that one?
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Why did the author begin the chapter with the characters’ backgrounds before explaining the larger context?
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Who is the target audience? Students? Teachers? The general public? Plumbers? Politicians?
It’s crucial to ask questions, even—and especially—if you’re unsure of the answer. Perhaps you don’t know why the author used a certain phrase or who the text was written for. It doesn’t matter. Asking questions sparks curiosity and encourages deeper thinking. This maintains interest.
Read to understand the meaning
After reading enough times to identify the main idea and ask questions, you’ve reached the final reading. Now zoom out. Stop focusing on individual words, unusual punctuation, or why the author included a particular graph. Think again about the big picture, just as you did on your first reading. What is the author’s purpose? How do the things you noticed on your second reading or the questions you asked on your third reading contribute to this idea?
Perhaps a repeated reference in a story hints at a theme. Perhaps the essay’s structure is meant to reflect a character’s thoughts. That’s precisely what this exercise is all about. You’re going beyond what the text says and trying to understand how it conveys its message. This is obviously a useful practice when studying literature, but it applies to a wide variety of topics. If you’re studying history, you might question why the author presents a particular battle or policy in a negative or positive light, and you might also inquire about how people on the other side of that battle or policy felt and why their perspective isn’t represented. Even asking these questions deepens your understanding and connects with the material, making it easier not only to understand but also to remember.