Question

What strategies can I use to closely examine a text? What can I learn through that analysis?

Answer 1

This is a subjective question, so there are certainly no "right" answers. Here are some close-examination strategies:
- Read the text through quickly, and then re-read more slowly until you feel that you understand what the text's purpose is and how each sentence contributes to a greater understanding.
- Highlight key words or phrases that show what the text's theme/topic/focus is.
- Examine the way information is presented. Is it scholarly, humorous, uncertain, etc?
- Is the text part of a larger work? If so, why is this excerpt significant? If not, then why is it meaningful standing alone?
- Research the author/person who created the text. Find out what drove them to write it or what they were trying to do.
- Is there a specific audience that the text is intended for? This relates to prior questions, but you could go deeper as well and look at how the text makes you feel, or whether you have learned a new way of thinking about something.
You can learn a lot by examining a text from different perspectives, including the typical characteristics of-- who, what, when, where, why, how?