In Blog Post 1 I wrote about how in the text the non-concrete words (“I think”, “I thought”, “It ought”, “If”) used in the description of Omelas can lead the reader to believe that even though it seems like a utopia it is not because there is no way that a utopia can exist and cater to every individuals specific fancies.

In Blog Post 1 I noticed that I did pick out some pretty good details and things to focus on. I had a lot of ideas and such to write about but they were not very well focused and specific. For example, I pointed out a pattern I found of the use of non-concrete words in the text to support my hypothesis. But as I said earlier my focus on the text and details were too scattered and in my opinion not very well fleshed out. Basically, I need to focus more on singling out a detail or idea and expanding on it in a fuller and more supported way. I can improve this by taking more time out to detect the pattern and form my hypothesis. Another thing I could do is that I could talk out my ideas which sometimes can help straighten out my ideas and thoughts to the point where I could better identify if my ideas are too broad and need to be narrowed.

This class is the first time I have ever done any type of close reading assignment. And now that we are at the fifth blog post I can now see and better appreciate the intricate layers of meaning and information behind the text rather than at face value. Besides just reading an interesting story I am now able to identify and become privy to deeper understanding of culture and society, heightening the reading experience further and providing me with surprise. It is as if another door has been opened to a new and different world. A world I can only access through being attentive to the details while I am reading to get to the meaning behind the text and keeping in mind to pay attention to the author’s intentions for writing. Generally, when reading I do not think about what the authors purpose of writing what they wrote. Usually my own purpose for reading is either for pleasure or for some type of assignment/class. And by taking this class I am learning the process of keeping all these things in mind while reading and paying attention to the details in the text. The purpose of close reading in my opinion is to get the reader to pay attention to the important point or issue the author is trying to get across.

I noticed as I reread my blog post that even though yes I did have some good ideas my skill level in close reading at that particular point in time was not at the point to where I could narrow down the exact idea I wanted to write about and express in a concise manner. With practice of course I have definitely improved in this aspect and will continue to do so. In the Close Reading Guideline I found the first section “Read and Think” very helpful. The part where it says “Determine what the passage is about and try to paraphrase it” is a step or exercise I intend to implement into my close reading from now on to see if putting extra emphasis on it will show any significant improvement.