How to Approach a Close Reading (Prose)

Where to start

Read the end first. Then read from the start. Take a step back.
Consider the extract as a whole. What is happening in the text?
What conflict is their for the main character?

Conflict

Conflicts are almost always about values. Conflict is a battle over what is important to a person. Conflict might be a struggle that a character is having to belong, to survive, or to come to terms with a major event. As an audience, we can then consider whether what the character values is aligned or at odds with our own. Once we can identify the conflict and then have a sense of the values that are at play, we can then develop a reading. We can also make meaning of the interesting uses of language and generic features of the text.
We can even bring a discussion about context in.

Characterisation

Analyze the character traits, values, and attitudes ascribed to particular characters. Consider how characters are constructed through their actions, dialogue (including dialogue tags), descriptions by other characters or the narrator, language and imagery used to describe them, contrast with other characters, and the point of view which allows access to their motivations and feelings. Characterisation is also linked to themes.

Narrative POV

Identifying the narrative point of view employed shapes the story and positions the reader. This choice can give a voice to powerful or powerless discourses, invite the reader to share a character's emotional life, marginalise or silence other perspectives, or put the reader at a distance from characters and events. Third-person omniscient perspective can offer intimate access to characters' experiences and create a sense of universality.

Setting

How the setting is constructed is important, including its key features and how it is evoked (e.g., through narrative commentary or description). The significance of the setting is key; it can be used for literary purposes such as reflecting a psychological state, embodying attitudes and values, building atmosphere, developing character, working symbolically, and establishing time and place

Narrative Structure

This refers to the arrangement of events and ideas. Structure can be chronological or otherwise, and the sequence influences the reader's response. It can also affect the response to individual characters. Analyzing structure involves considering patterns of events, shifts of setting, organisation of time, and archetypes like the journey

Genre

Examining how a text conforms to or subverts generic conventions can reveal new ways of thinking

Title

The title can act as a framing device, positioning the reader and guiding interpretation. It can foreground certain ideas

Stylistic elements

While sometimes distinct from narrative structure, stylistic choices are integral to how the narrative is presented. This includes language and imagery (diction, figurative language, connotations), level of language (formal, colloquial, slang), sentence types, length, and syntax, use of symbol, allusion, dialogue, and tone. Analyzing how language choice creates effect is crucial.

Representations

Identify the representations evident in the text (e.g., race, gender, class) and the values and attitudes that inform them. Analyze how these representations are constructed using various methods.

Ideology

Uncover the underlying ideologies conveyed in the text. Reading for ideology often involves identifying the ideas and assumptions that are not directly stated but underlie the text, making them seem natural. Narratives often illustrate or challenge ideologies and cultural myths through their stories. Questions about who the text encourages sympathy for, who is criticised or rewarded, and whose point of view is supported can help uncover ideologies. Texts can be read in terms of a range of ideologies and can even be complex or contradictory in their treatment of them.