Techniques of Close Reading, Second Edition helps students gain a deeper understanding of what texts may be saying, whether they are written, oral, visual, or mediated. Renowned scholar and professor Barry Brummett explains and explores the various ways to "read" messages (such as speeches, cartoons, or magazine ads), teaching students how to see deeper levels of meaning and to share those insights with others. Students learn techniques for discovering form, rhetorical tropes, argument, and ideologies within texts. New to the Second Edition: A new Chapter 6 includes a selection of techniques from each chapter to show students how different techniques may be used together when reading text. A close reading of a group of ads from the insurance company, Liberty Mutual, offers students an opportunity to apply the techniques to recent texts. Bundle Brummett’s texts and save! We’ve made it easy for students to get Rhetoric in Popular Culture, Fifth Edition all in one convenient package at a student-friendly price. When bundled with the new edition of Techniques of Close Reading, students receive a 20% discount. Use ISBN: 9781544341620

The kinship between modernism and close reading has long between taken for granted. But for that reason, it has also gone unexamined. As the archives, timeframes, and cultural contexts of global modernist studies proliferate, the field's rapport with close reading no longer appears self-evident or guaranteed--even though for countless students studying literary modernism still invariably means studying close reading. This authoritative collection of essays illuminates close reading's conceptual, institutional, and pedagogical genealogies as a means of examining its enduring potential. David James brings together a cast of world-renowned scholars to offer an account of some of the things we might otherwise know, and need to know, about the history of modernist theories of reading, before then providing a sense of how the futures for critical reading look different in light of the multiple ways in which modernism has been close read. Modernism and Close Reading responds to a contemporary climate of unprecedented reconstitution for the field: it takes stock of close reading's methodological possibilities in the wake of modernist studies' geographical, literary-historical, and interdisciplinary expansions; and it shows how the political, ethical, and aesthetic consequences of attending to matters of form complicate ideological preconceptions about the practice of formalism itself. By reassessing the intellectual commitments and institutional conditions that have shaped modernism in criticism as well as in the classroom, we are able to ask new questions about close reading that resonate across literary and cultural studies. Invigorating that critical venture, this volume enriches our vocabulary for addressing close reading's perpetual development and diversification.

"Given the number of well-developed informational sources available to educators and students and the focus of departments of education on learning from these sources, there is so much potential for students to grow as critical consumers of information. Being able to read informational sources closely or watch and listen to sources carefully--across all content areas--creates a path for being able to understand the world better. More than ever before, close reading has become an essential approach with students and the informational sources they are attempting to understand. In addition to addressing instruction with traditional printed texts, I address how to teach for understanding of content in videos and infographics. I have also developed a three-phase plan for learning and a matching template for lesson planning"--

Grasping the meaning of a text enables K-8 students to appreciate its language and structure through close reading, which in turn leads to deeper comprehension. This book explains the relationship between comprehension and close reading and offers step-by-step guidelines for teaching both of these key elements of literacy. Reproducible lessons are shared for eight engaging texts (excerpts from fiction, nonfiction, and poetry), complete with discussion tips, queries that scaffold comprehension, close reading activities, and connections to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The authors model lesson development and guide teachers in constructing their own lessons. Ten additional text selections are provided in the Appendix. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print all 18 texts in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

The Common Core State Standards have put close reading in the spotlight as never before. While middle and high school teachers want and need students to connect with, analyze, and learn from both literary and informational texts, many are unsure how to foster the skills students must have in order to develop deep and nuanced understanding of complicated content. Is there a process to follow? How is close reading different from shared reading and other common literacy practices? How do you prepare students to have their ability to analyze complex texts measured by high-stakes assessments? And how do you fit close reading instruction and experiences into an already crowded curriculum? * Text complexity and how to determine if a particular text is right for your learning purposes and your students. * The process and purpose of close reading, with an emphasis on its role in developing the 21st century thinking, speaking, and writing skills essential for academic communication and college and career readiness. * How to plan, teach, and manage close reading sessions across the academic disciplines, including the kinds of questions to ask, texts to use, and supports to provide. * How to assess close reading and help all students—regardless of linguistic, cultural, or academic background—connect deeply with what they read and derive meaning from complex texts. Equipping students with the tools and process of close reading sets them on the road to becoming analytical and critical thinkers—and empowered and independent learners. In this comprehensive resource, you’ll find everything you need to start their journey.

This essential book provides a roadmap for instruction and assessment of close reading skills in grades 3-8. To engage deeply with informational texts--a key requirement of the Common Core standards--students need to determine what details are important, how they fit together to convey a central idea, and how to synthesize information from multiple sources. They also need to understand the unique demands of different text features and structures. Presenting effective instructional strategies that teachers can tailor to their own classrooms, the book includes lesson plans, vignettes, and examples of student work, plus a Study Guide with professional learning activities and discussion questions.

Find out how to teach young learners to be close readers and how to make close reading a habit of practice in the elementary classroom.