Close reading : the basics / David Greenham.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-177) and index.

Preface -- Introduction -- Seven pleasures of reading -- The semantic context -- The syntactic and thematic contexts -- Getting to the crux of things: Hamlet, a case study -- The iterative context, part 1: Character and plot -- The iterative context, part 2: Sounds and rhythms -- The generic context -- The adversarial context -- Conclusion: Adversarial appreciation and the futures of close reading.

"Close reading remains the most essential skill that Literature students continue to develop across the full length of their studies and this book is the ideal guide to the practice, providing a methodology that can be used for poetry, novels, drama, and beyond. Using classic works of Literature, such as Hamlet and The Great Gatsby, as case studies, Greenham presents a unique, contextual approach to close reading, while addressing key questions such as: - What is close reading? - What is the importance of the relationship between words? - How can close reading enhance reading pleasure? - Is there a method of close reading that works for all literary genres? - How can close reading unlock complexity? - How does the practice of close reading relate to other theoretical and critical approaches? Close Reading: The Basics is formulated to bring together reading pleasure and analytic techniques that will engage the student of literature, and enhance their experience"-- Provided by publisher.