1. Choose a story and re-read it
2. React personally. What aspects of the story do you seem to be most affected by? You should look at more than one aspect.
3. Determine the theme of the story. What is the main point? HINT: Try to complete this sentence: This story argues that …
4. Connect #2 & 3: How do you see this aspect and the theme relating
predictive: I think that it will be sunny outside. I think I'm going to ace this test. I believe that my teacher has a pet.
non-predictive: I love playing outside! Math is my favorite subject in school. I am going to a movie this afternoon.
Answer:
After doing a close reading, you should analyze the figurative language in a text for the following reason:
b. to reveal hidden meanings.
Explanation:
If a reader relies only on what is denotative, that is, on what is on the surface, he or she will certainly be missing out on a lot of messages that can only be perceived and understood with an open mind and thorough eyes which also attain to what is connotative, that is, to what is between the lines and goes way beyond the core meaning of words.
In Voltaire's "Candide", the main character starts to lead a farmer's life and his friend Pangloss suggests they are living in the best of possible worlds, to which Candide responds with the classic line:
“That is very well put . . . but we must cultivate our garden.”
The author is certainly not literally talking about a garden; he is rather symbolically referring to something that is much more profound and meaningful and lies within the very essence of mankind. Therefore, there is indeed a hidden meaning in those words, and it must be analyzed and interpreted so the reader can better profit from the text.
