Close Reading Walker Percy

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Close Reading Walker Percy

description

A guided walkthrough of one paragraph from "Loss of the Creature" by Walker Percy, showcasing some of the basic tools of close reading

Transcript of Close Reading Walker Percy

Page 1: Close Reading Walker Percy

Close Reading Walker Percy

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Close Reading:

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Close Reading:Using annotation, word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, and rhetorical analysis to dig deep into a complex text

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Close Reading:Using annotation, word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, and rhetorical analysis to dig deep into a complex textActive, not passive

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Close Reading:Using annotation, word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, and rhetorical analysis to dig deep into a complex textActive, not passiveMore like a conversation

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rhetorical analysis:

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rhetorical analysis:“Toolkit” (p. 98)

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rhetorical analysis:“Toolkit” (p. 98)Author, Audience, Purpose

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rhetorical analysis:“Toolkit” (p. 98)Author, Audience, PurposeThree Appeals:

PathosEthosLogos

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rhetorical analysis:“Toolkit” (p. 98)Author, Audience, PurposeThree Appeals:

PathosEthosLogos

Not just what the author says, but how the author says it

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annotation:

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annotation:Marking up a text

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annotation:Marking up a text

On paper:HighlightingMargin notes

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annotation:Marking up a text

On paper:HighlightingMargin notes

On screen:Techniques vary

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annotation:Marking up a text

On paper:HighlightingMargin notes

On screen:Techniques vary

Most important:Mark important passagesWrite notes and comments right on the textMark up as you read

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word-by-word:sentence-by-sentnece:

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word-by-word:sentence-by-sentnece:

Go slow

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word-by-word:sentence-by-sentnece:

Go slowExamine words familiar and unfamiliar both

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word-by-word:sentence-by-sentnece:

Go slowExamine words familiar and unfamiliar bothParaphrase and summarize in your head and on paper

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word-by-word:sentence-by-sentnece:

Go slowExamine words familiar and unfamiliar bothParaphrase and summarize in your head and on paperThink about connections between ideas

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let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

Page 22: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

Page 23: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

Page 24: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

Page 25: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

•Appropriate:•Symbolic Complex:

Page 26: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

•Appropriate: Take something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s approval (New Oxford American Dictionary)

•Symbolic Complex:•Symbolic:•Complex:

Page 27: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

•Appropriate: Take something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s approval (New Oxford American Dictionary)

•Symbolic Complex:•Symbolic: Representing or standing in for something else

•Complex:

Page 28: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

•Appropriate: Take something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s approval (New Oxford American Dictionary)

•Symbolic Complex:•Symbolic: Representing or standing in for something else

•Complex: (Psychoanalysis) a related group of emotionally significant ideas that are completely or partly repressed and that cause psychic conflict leading to abnormal mental states or behavior.

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what was that?

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•Symbolic: Representing or standing in for something else

•Complex: (Psychoanalysis) a related group of emotionally significant ideas that are completely or partly repressed and that cause psychic conflict leading to abnormal mental states or behavior.

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It is almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been formed in the sightseer’s mind.

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let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

Page 33: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

Page 34: Close Reading Walker Percy

let’s try: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

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•Symbolic: Representing or standing in for something else

•Complex: (Psychoanalysis) a related group of emotionally significant ideas that are completely or partly repressed and that cause psychic conflict leading to abnormal mental states or behavior.

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•Symbolic: Representing or standing in for something else

So, the postcard and guidebook and tourist folders are now standing in for the canyon itself?

•Complex: (Psychoanalysis) a related group of emotionally significant ideas that are completely or partly repressed and that cause psychic conflict leading to abnormal mental states or behavior.

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•Symbolic: Representing or standing in for something else

So, the postcard and guidebook and tourist folders are now standing in for the canyon itself?

•Complex: (Psychoanalysis) a related group of emotionally significant ideas that are completely or partly repressed and that cause psychic conflict leading to abnormal mental states or behavior.

And those “symbols” of the canyon are repressed? No—what’s repressed is the canyon itself!

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here it is again: Why is it almost impossible to gaze directly at the Grand Canyon

under these circumstances and see it for what it is—as one picks up

a strange object from one’s back yard and gazes directly at it? It is

almost impossible because the Grand Canyon, the thing as it is, has

been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been

formed in the sightseer’s mind. Seeing the canyon under approved

circumstances is seeing the symbolic complex head on. The thing is

no longer the thing as it confronted the Spaniard; it is rather that

which has already been formulated—by picture postcard, geography

book, tourist folders, and the words Grand Canyon.

(5th paragraph)

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note:

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note:This can take a while

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note:This can take a whileNotice what you don’t know and what you don’t understand

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note:This can take a whileNotice what you don’t know and what you don’t understandGo back, connect ideas, and paraphrase in your own words

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note:This can take a whileNotice what you don’t know and what you don’t understandGo back, connect ideas, and paraphrase in your own wordsDon’t worry if you don’t understand

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note:This can take a whileNotice what you don’t know and what you don’t understandGo back, connect ideas, and paraphrase in your own wordsDon’t worry if you don’t understandKeep going, even if you feel bored, tired, or frustrated