Analytical Reading
Analytical (or critical, or close) reading differs from casual reading. The goal of analytical reasoning is to understand and then to evaluate an author's argument. This page gives some guidelines for analytical reading. After reading this, check out the reading sample.
1. Place the text in its context
Every piece of writing is embedded within a larger framework that contributes to its meaning. On a very simple level, the sentence, "Give me a hand," might mean very different things depending on its context: moving a sofa, petitioning for a prosthetic limb, assembling a clock, etc. In the same way, whole works are embedded in their contexts. Before analyzing a particular passage, it is useful to explore its setting.
You probably will not put all this information in your paper, but answering these questions will help you understand the text. A good encyclopedia article, such as one in Augustine Through the Ages, should provide you with the necessary context.
2. Read once quickly, locating key terms, technical terms, and unfamiliar terms
Key terms are any words or phrases that are significant in the passage. There are several ways to identify the key terms. Any term that is repeated regularly is probably key. Also, any term that the author takes great pains to define exactly is likely key. If a term occurs in the conclusion of an argument, or as one of the crucial supports of an argument, it is key.
Technical terms are of two types. First, some technical terms are uncommon, appearing only in specific contexts. An example is "homoousios," a word you are unlikely to find outside of trinitarian theology. A contemporary example is "laparoscopy," a distinctly medical term. The second type can be more difficult. Some technical terms are common words or phrases that take on a very particular sense in a given discussion. For example, the word "love" is common. Yet, when Augustine speaks about love, he means something very specific that a 21st-century reader would probably not realize right away. If you suspect a common word is being used in a technical sense, look for a definition somewhere in the context. If you can't find one, check an encyclopedia. For Augustine, check Augustine Through the Ages first.
An unfamiliar term is any term unfamiliar to you. A responsible reader will always make sure she understands every term in a passage before moving on.
3. Read again, analyzing the structure
The method of analysis appropriate to a given passage depends on its genre. This guide will focus on an explanatory or persuasive text, one in which the author is trying to convince readers of a position through logic and rhetoric. These texts consist largely of series of arguments. Each argument consists of several parts, which you must identify:
Elements in an argument are connected by structural terms. They determine how the elements in a text are related. Consider these two sentences:
1. Since Roger was offered a scholarship, he enrolled at Villanova University. In this sentence, the scholarship is the cause or motivating factor of the effect, enrolling.
2. Although Roger was offered a scholarship, he enrolled at Villanova University. How different is this sentence, although only one word changed! Now the scholarship, apparently from somewhere else, is a factor motivating against Roger's decision to enroll.
Identifying and understanding these structural terms enables you to grasp the structure of a passage. Consult the list of structural terms by category.
1. Place the text in its context
Every piece of writing is embedded within a larger framework that contributes to its meaning. On a very simple level, the sentence, "Give me a hand," might mean very different things depending on its context: moving a sofa, petitioning for a prosthetic limb, assembling a clock, etc. In the same way, whole works are embedded in their contexts. Before analyzing a particular passage, it is useful to explore its setting.
- literary - how does a particular passage fit within the larger context of a work; how does a work fit within a larger, multi-work project?
- historical - what was going on at the time of writing, and in what way did that prompt or influence the writing?
- ideological - from what philosophical or religious viewpoint did the author write? What sources influenced him or her? (Augustine writes from a Catholic Christian perspective, as one who was trained in rhetoric and exposed to Ciceronian and Neoplatonic thought.)
You probably will not put all this information in your paper, but answering these questions will help you understand the text. A good encyclopedia article, such as one in Augustine Through the Ages, should provide you with the necessary context.
2. Read once quickly, locating key terms, technical terms, and unfamiliar terms
Key terms are any words or phrases that are significant in the passage. There are several ways to identify the key terms. Any term that is repeated regularly is probably key. Also, any term that the author takes great pains to define exactly is likely key. If a term occurs in the conclusion of an argument, or as one of the crucial supports of an argument, it is key.
Technical terms are of two types. First, some technical terms are uncommon, appearing only in specific contexts. An example is "homoousios," a word you are unlikely to find outside of trinitarian theology. A contemporary example is "laparoscopy," a distinctly medical term. The second type can be more difficult. Some technical terms are common words or phrases that take on a very particular sense in a given discussion. For example, the word "love" is common. Yet, when Augustine speaks about love, he means something very specific that a 21st-century reader would probably not realize right away. If you suspect a common word is being used in a technical sense, look for a definition somewhere in the context. If you can't find one, check an encyclopedia. For Augustine, check Augustine Through the Ages first.
An unfamiliar term is any term unfamiliar to you. A responsible reader will always make sure she understands every term in a passage before moving on.
3. Read again, analyzing the structure
The method of analysis appropriate to a given passage depends on its genre. This guide will focus on an explanatory or persuasive text, one in which the author is trying to convince readers of a position through logic and rhetoric. These texts consist largely of series of arguments. Each argument consists of several parts, which you must identify:
- conclusion - the main point the author is trying to make. To identify the conclusion, ask what one idea the author wants his or her readers to understand or believe. Also, you could ask to which idea all the other pieces of the argument point.
- evidence - the basis upon which the author asserts his or her claim. A single conclusion may rest upon multiple strands of evidence. Evidence can take many forms: an allegedly self-evident idea, a historical example, common experience, a quote from an authoritative source (often the Bible or a church father), a statistic, and others. What makes something evidence is not the form, but the use. Anything that supports or defends a conclusion is evidence.
- assumption - unstated, presupposed ideas necessary to the argument.
- clarification - further explanation or definition of a concept. Clarification is not strictly necessary to the existence of an argument, but is usually there.
Elements in an argument are connected by structural terms. They determine how the elements in a text are related. Consider these two sentences:
1. Since Roger was offered a scholarship, he enrolled at Villanova University. In this sentence, the scholarship is the cause or motivating factor of the effect, enrolling.
2. Although Roger was offered a scholarship, he enrolled at Villanova University. How different is this sentence, although only one word changed! Now the scholarship, apparently from somewhere else, is a factor motivating against Roger's decision to enroll.
Identifying and understanding these structural terms enables you to grasp the structure of a passage. Consult the list of structural terms by category.