close reading

In an era dominated by poststructuralist and politically influenced literary criticism, Ms. Vendler, who taught at Harvard for more than 30 years, adhered to the old-fashioned method of close reading, going methodically line by line, word by word, to expose a poem’s inner workings and emotional roots.

It doesn’t require close reading to determine that he has cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

Don’t miss Slate copy chief Sarah Rutledge’s close reading of the use of punctuation in Taylor Swift’s new album title—it’s lowkey poetry in itself.

Here’s a close reading of Bill Ackman’s “remarkable” social media posts.

This kind of close reading of songs and public performance of celebrity might feel less out of place happening in a group chat, on Reddit, or in another “lesser” publication, or if Marks had kept her subject at a journalistic distance, by sprinkling hedges like “some fans are saying” more liberally through her prose.