Pedagogy Jan 2026

Defining and Teaching Close Reading as Disciplinary Method

Eleanor Reeds

Abstract

Abstract When teaching in neighboring fields such as creative writing and writing studies, instructors can draw on the explicit recommendations of professional organizations and an existing scholarly consensus about threshold concepts. However, the struggle to define what exactly it is we teach when we are teaching literary studies continues. Rather than advocating for transferable skills in deference to the neoliberal marketplace, we should spend more time explaining to ourselves and to our students the particular practices, habits, and concerns that distinguish literary studies as a valuable scholarly discipline. Metacognition is essential for students to learn, and this can be facilitated more effectively by instructors able to articulate how the methods and goals of a course are informed by disciplinary norms, especially the ubiquitous and yet continually contested practice of close reading. This article reviews both recent scholarship and pedagogical resources on close reading to identify the intertwined challenges of defining and teaching this disciplinary method, making recommendations for more effective classroom practices.

Journal
Pedagogy
Published
2026-01-01
DOI
10.1215/15314200-12097274
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy creative writing teacher development threshold concepts
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (91) · 15 in this index

  1. Abrams, Shane. 2018. “Chapter Four: Interpretation, Analysis, and Close Reading.” EmpoWORD: A Stude…
     ↗
  2. ADE Ad Hoc Committee on English Majors’ Career Preparation and Outcomes. 2024. Report on English Ma…
  3. Adler-Kassner (2015)
    Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies
  4. Adler-Kassner (2023)
    Writing Expertise: A Research-Based Approach to Writing and Learning Across Disciplines
  5. Auyoung (2020)
    What We Mean by Reading
    New Literary History  ↗
Show all 91 →
  1. Auyoung (2023)
    Becoming Sensitive: Literary Study and Learning to Notice
    PMLA
  2. AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs). 2012. “AWP Recommendations on the Teaching of Creative Writi…
  3. Ballentine (2022)
    Undergraduate Research and the Enrollment Crisis in English Literature
    Pedagogy
  4. Bass (2008)
    On the Evidence of Theory: Close Reading as a Disciplinary Model for Writing About Teachi…
    Arts & Humanities in Higher Education  ↗
  5. Baynes-Ross, Felisa . n.d.“Close Reading for Argument.”Yale Department of English. https://english.…
  6. Berry, Amanda . n.d.Close Reading: What, Why, How. https://canvas.wayne.edu/files/6981083/download?…
  7. Braun, Clare . 2022. “What is Close Reading?” The Oregon State Guide to English Literary Terms, Ore…
  8. Broughton, Trev, et al. 2018. “Close Reading.” University of York English and Related Literature,April. https…
  9. Bucks County Community College. 2019. “Close Reading.” March. https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/tu…
  10. Carter et al. (2022)
    Too Close for Context
    Pedagogy
  11. Chick (2009)
    Unpacking a Signature Pedagogy in Literary Studies
  12. Chick (2017)
    Beginning Where the Students Are Beginning
    Pedagogy
  13. Chick et al. (2009)
    “Pressing an Ear against the Hive”
    Pedagogy
  14. Collier (2021)
    Teaching Literature in the Real World: A Practical Guide
     ↗
  15. Collins (1988)
    Introduction to Poetry
    Poetry Foundation
  16. Coombs (2011)
    Reading in the Dark: Sensory Perception and Agency in The Return of the Native
    ELH  ↗
  17. Corrigan (2017)
    Teaching What We Do in Literary Studies
    Pedagogy
  18. Corrigan (2018)
    The State of Scholarship on Teaching Literature
    Pedagogy
  19. Corrigan (2019)
    Threshold Concepts in Literary Studies
    Teaching & Learning Inquiry  ↗
  20. Dames (2010)
    On Not Close Reading: The Prolonged Excerpt as Victorian Critical Protocol
  21. Daniels-Lerberg (2010)
    Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing
  22. Duckworth (1971)
    Mansfield Park and Estate Improvements: Jane Austen's Grounds of Being
    Nineteenth-Century Fiction  ↗
  23. Elfenbein (2016)
    The Desirable Difficulties of Studying Romanticism
    Pedagogy
  24. English and Media Centre. 2014. “What Is Close Reading?” Doing Close Reading—Activities, Anthology, Analysis,…
  25. Fleming (2016)
    The Words Students Need and How They Can Learn Them
    Pedagogy
  26. Fleming (2024)
    Where to Begin?
    symplokē  ↗
  27. Gamer, Michael . n.d.“Some Hints to Help You With ‘Close Reading.’ ” University of Pennsylvania. ht…
  28. Gettelman, Debra , AudreyJaffe, and Mary AnnO'Farrell. 2021. “CFP: ‘The Time of Close Reading: Vict…
  29. Goldstone, Andrew . 2011. “Close Reading as Genre.”Arcade: A Digital Salon. Stanford University, Ju…
  30. Guillory (2025)
    On Close Reading
  31. Harvard University. 2025. “Close Reading.” ClassicsWrites. https://classicswrites.hsites.harvard.edu/close-re…
  32. Hay, John . 2018. “The Hegemony of Close Reading.” John Hay, February10. https://professorhay.com/2…
  33. Hayot (2014)
    The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities
     ↗
  34. Hayot (2024)
    Close Reading Needs a Better Theory of Actuality
    symplokē  ↗
  35. Heinert (2017)
    Reacting in Literary Studies: Crossing the Threshold from Quality to Meaning
    Arts & Humanities in Higher Education  ↗
  36. Huggan (2021)
    Going Underground: In Defense of Deep Reading
     ↗
  37. Irvine (2009)
    Threshold Concepts: A Point of Focus for Practitioner Research
    Active Learning in Higher Education  ↗
  38. Jackson, Jeanne-Marie . 2024. “Does Literary Criticism Tell Truths About the World? A scholarly rou…
  39. Javadizadeh, Kamran . 2022–24. Close Readings. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-readings…
  40. Jones, Barbara, et al. 2015. Supporting Students in Close Reading. National Center for Research on Evaluation…
  41. Joubin, Alexa Alice . 2025. “How to Do Close Reading.” Critical Theory. https://criticaltheory.info…
  42. Kadue (2025)
    Scorning the Gaze
    Modern Language Quarterly  ↗
  43. Kain, Patricia . 1998. “How to Do a Close Reading.” The Writing Center at Harvard University. https…
  44. Kane, John , and RebeccaMushtare. 2025. “More Than Words.” Tea for Teaching, March19. https://teafo…
  45. Kramnick (2023)
    Criticism and Truth: On Method in Literary Studies
     ↗
  46. Linkon (2005)
    The Reader's Apprentice: Making Critical Cultural Reading Visible
    Pedagogy
  47. Long (2021)
    Close Reading at the End of Time
     ↗
  48. Mallory-Kani, Amy . 2024. “How to Do a Close Reading Essay.” BibGuru Blog, March7. https://www.bibg…
  49. McCollum (2024)
    SOTL Mentoring for the Mind and the Heart
  50. Meade, Marcus . 2018. “How to Close Read.” The Writing Center @ UVa, October26. https://uvawritingc…
  51. Newstok (2020)
    How to Think Like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education
  52. Newstok, Scott , ed. 2025. Close Reading Archive. Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humani…
  53. Paton (2017)
    From the Parlor to the Classroom
    Pedagogy
  54. Prynne, J. H. 2004. “Tips on Practical Criticism, for Students of English.” Gonville and…
  55. Reynolds (2023)
    Prismatic Jane Eyre: Close-Reading a World Novel Across Languages
     ↗
  56. Richards (1929)
    Practical Criticism: A Study in Literary Judgment
  57. Salmon, Paddy . n.d.“Practicing Close Reading with Classes.”Practicing Close Reading in Class. http…
  58. Savonick, Danica . 2018. “Collaborative Close Reading.” HASTAC Teaching and Learning, October13. ht…
  59. Schreibersdorf (2014)
    Literary Discipline in the Margins
    Pedagogy
  60. Seybold (2025)
    The Medium Is Not the Method
    Modern Language Quarterly  ↗
  61. Shanahan, Timothy . 2012. “What Is Close Reading?” Shanahan on Literacy, June18. https://www.shanah…
  62. Shea (2022)
    Against Best Practices
    Pedagogy
  63. Simpson, Erik . n.d.“Close Reading.” Department of English, Grinnell College. https://eriksimpson.s…
  64. Sinykin, Daniel , and JohannaWinant. 2025. Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century. Princeton Un…
  65. Sunder (2017)
    Thinking Clearly About Confusion: Threshold Concepts, Bafflement, and Meaning as ‘Contest…
  66. Tinkle et al. (2013)
    Teaching Close Reading Skills in a Large Lecture Course
    Pedagogy
  67. Ullyot, Michael . 2018. “How to Turn Ideas into Arguments.” Literature Lab, April2. https://www.you…
  68. Ullyot, Michael . n.d.“Close Reading.”Michael Ullyot: Ideas + Materials for Research + Teaching. ht…
  69. University of California, Berkeley.n.d.“Close Reading.”Writing x Humanities. https://writingxhumanities.berke…
  70. University of Guelph. 2025. “Write a Close Reading.” McLaughlin Library. https://guides.lib.uoguelph.ca/Close…
  71. Warner (2025)
    More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI
  72. Wikipedia . “Close Reading.” 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_reading (accessed May12).
  73. Wilder (2012)
    Rhetorical Strategies and Genre Conventions in Literary Studies: Teaching and Writing in …
  74. Wilder et al. (2009)
    Sharing the Tacit Rhetorical Knowledge of the Literary Scholar: The Effects of …
    Research in the Teaching of English
  75. Wilner (2020)
    Rethinking Reading in College: An Across-the-Curriculum Approach
  76. Wilson, Jeffrey R. 2025. “Aphorisms on Close Reading.” Harvard University. https://wilso…
  77. Winant (2024)
    How Close Reading Goes Off
    symplokē  ↗
  78. Winant (2025)
    Minding Concepts
    Modern Language Quarterly  ↗
  79. Wisecup (2025)
    Recontextualizing ‘Radical Dislocation.’
    Modern Language Quarterly  ↗
  80. Wisker (2007)
    Crossing Liminal Spaces: Teaching the Postcolonial Gothic
    Pedagogy
  81. Wittgenstein (1921)
    Tractatus Logico-Philosophus
  82. Wolfe (2016)
    Digging into Literature: Strategies for Reading, Analysis, and Writing
  83. Wright, Jarrell D . n.d.“How to Teach Close Reading: Demystifying Literary Analysis for Undergradua…
  84. Writing Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison. 2025. “A Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysi…
  85. Wunsh, Jake . n.d.“Resources—Three Steps to Successful Close Reading.” The Writing Place, Northwest…
  86. Ypil, Lawrence . n.d. “The Art of Close Reading.” Yale NUS College Writers’ Centre. https://www.yal…
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  2. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy Aug 2025
    "How Did You End Up Teaching This Course?" Profiles in Science Communication Pedagogy ↗
    Karen Lunsford; Kara Mae Brown; Rebecca Chenoweth; John Schrank; Kenneth Smith; Stansell; Kali Yamboliev
    writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing teacher development professional writing scientific writing
  3. Teaching English in the Two-Year College May 2024
    Feature: The Misalignment between the Discipline and the Teaching of Writing ↗
    Steven Accardi; Jillian Grauman
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing two-year college teacher development labor and working conditions qualitative research
  4. Pedagogy Apr 2024
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing teacher development collaborative writing assessment technical communication professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies gender and writing literary studies book reviews editorial matter
  5. Pedagogy Apr 2023
    Contributors ↗
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality race and writing gender and writing literary studies editorial matter