Close Reading Sci-fi

Close Reading is a way to focus and critique a piece of writing, sharpening your analysis to look beyond the story to what, how, and why the story is constructed in a particular way.

Close Reading Strategies:

• Re-read: Read the entire story to get an overall understanding. As you read take note of particular chapters, passages, or portions you want to return to. Then, go back to these passages and read them again, more slowly and this time…
• Annotate: Underline key words and phrases, highlight unfamiliar terms or important features, write your comments and thoughts in the margins. Take notes of what you notice.
• Respond: Ask questions, reflect on why this passage stood out to you, challenge the perspective, make connections to the real world, consider what makes this story interesting or troubling, etc.

Questions to Guide your Attention:

• What is the setting? Is the setting intended to be realistic? Where does the story take place?
• What happens in the story? Are the events of the narrative something that has not happened?
• What’s strange? What is the novum introduced in the story?
• What’s familiar? What makes this story or it’s character’s relatable to you?
• What messages are the author trying to send?