PrintSeptember 13, 2013
Close Reading Is Close to a Con
A key component of the blitzkrieg known as Common Core Standards is something called "close reading."
This is an educational activity that children are supposed to engage in. They will not merely read; they will read deeply and profoundly, like professors.
"Close reading" is not a new term. "The technique as practiced today was pioneered (at least in English) by I. A. Richards and his student William Empson, later developed further by the New Critics of the mid-twentieth century[.] ... Close reading describes, in literary criticism, the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text."
College students majoring in English literature know they must try to dive deep into famous works of fiction and nonfiction. Of course, at that point in their lives, the students have read 50 books -- probably 250. They are fast, relaxed readers. The surface of the text is like the surface of a lake for a powerful swimmer. These people are...(Read Full Article)
