"What is close reading? Close reading is the practice of paying attention to a passage of text to account for at least one aspect of its meaning and to make an argument about how it works.
In literary studies, we read, then we write. And as we write, we often begin to read in new ways--ways that ultimately modify our writing. There are lots of ways to write about a novel, story, play, essay, or poem. You might describe, summarize, or paraphrase it. You might reflect upon it, evaluate it, or present the process of reading by recounting what it was like to be surprised by or be submerged in it. You might linger over particular details. You might offer larger interpretations and persuasive arguments about how to understand that piece of literature. If you do all of these-if you focus on an aspect or piece of the text and also use that to see the text as a whole, if by describing the text you tell someone else how to read it, if you say what it's like to read the text as a way of saying what to know about it--it is a close reading."
"Close reading grounds general arguments in the analysis of specific details."