After reading through my first blog post, I can point out successful close reading strategies as well as areas I could’ve improved on. I think overall I did a pretty good job at the assignment since I hadn’t completed a close reading since graduating high school over three years ago. As for what I think I did well on in this post was my use of details. For each quote I had a lot of details and textual support. That is an important aspect of close readings. There are various strategies to complete a close reading. My strategy for this post was to find a pattern. The pattern I tried to portray was that the Omelans don’t truly have happiness even though on the exterior everyone seemed so. I’d say that what I could improve on heavily outweighs what I did successfully. Yes, I did use specific quotes from the short story; however my imagination behind the meaning of the short story was very limited. What I read and how I interpreted it was generic. I believe this especially after reading what my peers wrote for their posts. I would’ve never thought of text in the ways they did. That is the biggest thing I need to improve on is broadening my textual imagination the most because what is written on the page very likely could have a hidden meaning. It is very difficult for me to think of these possible meanings. This withholds me from expanding the text and actually completing a successful close reading. I need to start thinking outside of the box, so to say. The way I see myself improving on this is by practice. I do think I have gotten a bit better at doing close readings but I know I still have a lot more to improve on. I should read more, even literary works that aren’t covered in our class, and begin to piece apart different passages on my own to try to interpret the text in different ways. I think the goal of close reading is just as I said it before; to think outside of the box. I think a good writer challenges its readers to interpret their text in various ways and to sometimes make their own conclusions. Reading is about building an imagination. Close reading is just the same, but instead you pick apart small parts of the text and try to explain the meanings.