TEXTUAL SOURCES
Some examples:
PROSE ANDÂ POETRY
SPEECHES
OPINION PIECES AND SOME NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
PERSONAL DOCUMENTS E.G. LETTERS, DIARIES, BLOGS, SOCIAL MEDIA
FORMAL RECORDS, E.G. INTERVIEWS, WITNESS STATEMENTS, COURT PROCEEDINGS
SESSION MATERIALS
After the taught session on Textual Analysis, you'll be able to find session materials on Moodle. There's also a brief overview video here: Textual Analysis
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS (CLOSE READING)
Read through the whole text and make sure that you understand everything. Check word meaning using the Oxford English Dictionary if you are unsure.
Search for poetic/literary techniques; structure; words/ phrases of interest; anomalies in style and structure. Note – make sure that you use the right terminology (see: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/classroom/terms.htm).
Do you have any additional contextual details to consider for this passage? E.g. Consider when the text was produced and what impact this might have on language, style, etc.
Think about WHY these aspects may have been used – how can you interpret the text? What do you think the intention of the piece was and how has the style been used to achieve this? Consider each section of the text, but also the whole of the text given to you.
Narrow down your ideas and consider how they might fit together to form an argument/ interpretation.
EXTRA RESOURCES
See the following guide on Youtube for an example of a close reading.
York University's Guide: https://www.york.ac.uk/english/writing-at-york/writing-resources/close-reading/
Glossary of literary terms: https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/classroom/terms.htm