Welcome to
HLI 121 Class!
Review
Let's Start with
an Activity
Can You Read
This?
Middle Age
Moral Support
Travel Overseas
Jack in the Box
Mixed Metaphor
Half-Hearted
Painless Operation
> How would you describe the
identification of words/phrases in each
visual?
> How were you able to come up the
word/phrase by just looking at the visual?
CLOSE READING
An Approach to Literary Analysis
Objectives for Today:
a.Define close reading and its
importance in the text analysis.
b.Use close reading in interpreting a
literary text.
c.Write a close analysis of a literary
text.
How do you
read?
Close Reading
It is an approach to extract meaning
from a text by examining carefully
how language is used in the
passage itself (Snow & Connor,
2016, p. 1).
Close Reading has 3
phases:
I.What the Text Says
II. How the Text Says It
III. What the Text Means
What the Text Says
Read the text carefully
Note details in what you are reading
Make sure to have at least an understanding of
what it says even if it is not clear to you
You may re-read the text
How the Text Says It
Note what are the pieces of evidence or the things
that made you realize what you know about the text that
you are reading.
Prove your analysis by taking note to how the text is
presented such as the shape of the poem, vocabulary
words, perspective, actions, the number of stanzas,
characteristics of the persona and speech that supports
your realization of the text.
What the Text Means
Determine the purpose of the text
Relate its importance to real-life situations,
other texts, and/or even bigger ideas
3 Phases of Close Reading:
What the Text Says Literal
How the Text Says It
What the Text Means Figurative
Let's Try Close Reading
Trees
By J. Antonio Carpio
CLOSE ANALYSIS
TREES
by J. Antonio Carpio I. What the text says
I think that I shall not plant a tree
I shall not follow this decree
I’m neither cowardly nor brave
I just don’t wanna be a slave
Of any mortal same as me!
God made us free; and free I’ll be!
II. How the text says it
Why should they rob me of the joy
I’ve known since I was still a boy?
The thrill of growing what I chose －
A pili, mango or a rose!
That’s why I will not plant a tree
I say －” to hell with that decree!”
Why let the loggers roam at will
Denuding every virgin hill III. What the text means
Then let the burden on us fall?
Where is the justice of it all?
Poems are made by fools like me
But greater fools made this decree!
CLOSE ANALYSIS
TREES
by J. Antonio Carpio
I think that I shall not plant a tree
I shall not follow this decree
I’m neither cowardly nor brave
<<5:00->>
I just don’t wanna be a slave
Of any mortal same as me!
God made us free; and free I’ll be!
Why should they rob me of the joy
I’ve known since I was still a boy?
The thrill of growing what I chose －
A pili, mango or a rose!
That’s why I will not plant a tree
I say －” to hell with that decree!”
Why let the loggers roam at will
Denuding every virgin hill
Then let the burden on us fall?
Where is the justice of it all?
Poems are made by fools like me
But greater fools made this decree!
CLOSE ANALYSIS
TREES I. What the text
by J. Antonio Carpio
says?
Stanza 1
I think that I shall not plant a tree Judge Antonio Carpio's poem “Trees” is about a persona who considers whether
I shall not follow this decree planting a tree is an injustice. The speaker wonders why he should plant a tree in
I’m neither cowardly nor brave the first stanza. As a decree is mentioned, he feels enslaved by the law, and he no
I just don’t wanna be a slave longer wants to do it because, like any other individual, he was created by God
Of any mortal same as me! with freedom.
God made us free; and free I’ll be!
CLOSE ANALYSIS
TREES II. How the text says it?
by J. Antonio Carpio
Stanza 2 This lyric poetry has a distinctive form. First, it has a three-stanza form with six
equal lines and follows the rhyme pattern AABBCC DDEEAA FFGGAA. The
Why should they rob me of the joy poem is written together in such a way that it appears to be a tree. Notice how the
I’ve known since I was still a boy? top lines represent the branches, the center lines represent the trunk, and the bottom
The thrill of growing what I chose lines represent the tree's roots.
－
A pili, mango or a rose! The speaker recalls to his childhood in the second stanza, when he wanted to grow
That’s why I will not plant a tree various trees such as pili, mango, or a rose. He claims that someone is forcing him
I say －” to hell with that to plant these trees and accuses them of depriving him of his happiness. At this
decree!” point, he is introducing what will happen in the next stanza.
CLOSE ANALYSIS
TREES III. What the text means?
by J. Antonio Carpio
The speaker accuses loggers of cutting down trees in virgin hills in the third
Stanza 3 stanza, implying that they target forests that have never been touched before. He
claims that this is unjust and unfair because loggers are the ones who cut down
Why let the loggers roam at will trees, why should an individual like him be burdened by the following law, which
Denuding every virgin hill mandates a person to plant trees when loggers are the ones who cut them down?
Then let the burden on us fall? He is pleading for justice. He then goes on to say that this poem was written by
Where is the justice of it all? fools like him, but those who wrote the law were much more fools than he appears
Poems are made by fools like me to be.
But greater fools made this decree!
In reality, the poem is about injustice. The speaker expresses his frustration with
the injustice of planting a tree while illegal loggers continue to get away with their
illegal activities. Even if there are several regulations requiring the planting of
trees, he believes that this is still not an acceptable solution because the problem—
tree cutting—is not being addressed. This poem also raises a number of issues in
the country, such as the implementation of ineffective legislation.
What lesson can we learn from the
‘Trees'?
KEEP IN MIND:
Writing a Close Analysis
● It is important that each paragraph contains a unifying idea.
Phase 1: What the Text Says?
> The meaning of the poem is revealed.
Phase 2: How the Text Says It
> The sentences reveal the pieces of evidence that prove the meaning of the poem.
> The rhyme scheme, shape, figurative devices, imagery, symbolism, and the citation of
words and lines must be considered.
> This is the heart of the analysis since you summarize the entire poem or narrative.
> This takes three paragraphs to mention the evidence and the summary of the poem.
Phase 3: What the Text Means
> The writer discusses the issue behind the poem.
> He/She explains and supports its meaning and relates it to issues that exist in real life.
CLOSE ANALYSIS
TREES
by J. Antonio Carpio I. What the text says?
I think that I shall not plant a tree
I shall not follow this decree
I’m neither cowardly nor brave
I just don’t wanna be a slave
Of any mortal same as me!
God made us free; and free I’ll be!
II. How the text says it?
Why should they rob me of the joy
I’ve known since I was still a boy?
The thrill of growing what I chose －
A pili, mango or a rose!
That’s why I will not plant a tree
I say －” to hell with that decree!”
Why let the loggers roam at will
Denuding every virgin hill III. What the text means?
Then let the burden on us fall?
Where is the justice of it all?
Poems are made by fools like me
But greater fools made this decree!
Going back to Close Reading. .
.
●How do you find
close reading?
Close Analysis
You place your 'analyses' after close
reading in the form of writing.
Close Analysis
What the Text Says
How the Text Says It
What the Text Means
Let's synthesize
●Close Reading
●Close Analysis
Any Questions?
Output: Writing a Close Analysis
This is an individual task.
You will write a close analysis of a poem.
Full instructions are posted in Canvas.
Thank you!
Have a Nice Day and
Keep Safe!
