Analysis of a specific artifact is called critical analysis or critique. This is typically a process of developing a line of interpretation, or a “reading,” and of identifying the interrelated parts of the text that are meaningful.

There’s a lot of shared ground between rhetorical and critical analysis—by some accounts, they’re essentially the same thing. One difference is the starting point of each kind of analysis: While rhetorical analysis emphasizes the relationship between the author, context, and reader, critical analysis starts from the elements of the text itself. The most important part of critical analysis (and really any textual analysis) is a reading strategy called “close reading.”

Close Reading

Close reading focuses on significant details or patterns in a text. The goal is to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text’s relationship to your purpose, topic, or field of study. Note that there’s a difference between close reading and simply reading a text carefully. If reading is like digging a hole, close reading is more like an archeological dig. Using special tools and a systematic approach, close reading scrapes away various layers of meaning to find new patterns and buried significance within a text.

If reading is like digging a hole…

… close reading is like an archeological dig.

This video shows the different ways scholars in two fields, Literary Studies and History, close read one text: The Gettysburg Address.

At the beginning of your close reading, your greatest asset is time; therefore, you should slow down. Analyzing a text is a multi-stage process and finding evidence from a text is the very beginning of that process.

You should not jump immediately to your thesis; instead, you need to gather complex evidence by reading slowly with a pencil in hand. You should take this time to annotate the text you are reading with your observations and initial interpretations.

To examine a text closely, you should:

1. Annotate your experience
2. Take notice
3. Be granular

1. Annotate your experience

You will always begin by reading with a pen in hand, writing in the margins, underlining, highlighting and otherwise marking on the text, if you own the text, or by taking notes on a separate piece of paper if you are borrowing the text. You can draw arrows in the margins to link different parts of the text as a way of following the author’s logic and argument. If you are reading online, you should get in the habit of annotating your reading experience in some way. You can do this on paper, or with a digital text editor or PDF editor which allow you to highlight and make notes or comments. Hypothes.is is a free general purpose web and PDF annotator that you can use for that purpose.

2. Take notice

During your first reading of a text, you should be looking for elements that jump out at you, that you think are interesting or puzzling, or that you think may need more attention in a second reading. Underline or highlight words you do not understand, then seek out definitions for those words. If you encounter a word that is new to you, it is likely that the word is significant to the central message or theme of the text.

3. Be granular

Reading critically requires being granular. It is not enough to just flag whole sentences or even whole paragraphs. You must get down to the level of the word. Begin by looking for some straightforward clues:

• What’s interesting? What’s strange?
  What words and phrases catch your attention in your first reading? This may take the form of repetitions; if a word or phrase is repeated, it is likely central to the author’s purpose.
• What words or phrases are new to you?
  You will probably encounter words or phrases that you have never read or heard before. You may also encounter facts or concepts that you are learning for the first time. That’s great! Make a note of them and then look them up, or seek out additional information.
• What patterns are present?
  What elements of the argument repeat? A common pattern is the use of synonyms or words that are similar thematically. If there are several synonyms or thematic terms, it is likely the author is focusing on a specific idea or argument that can be conveyed using these words. You might also consider larger sets of words. For example, if an author is using verbs like “flow” and “poured,” nouns like “ocean” and “river” and adjectives like “wet” or “fluid,” you might note that there are a lot of water-related words. Three or more words in a list of synonyms or thematically-related words or phrases probably indicates a pattern.
• What contrasts or opposites are present?
  Are there words that are opposites or words understood to be contrasts of one another? The author may use these to establish the main argument by comparing points or establishing a counter argument. It may also be that the author is offering a more nuanced approach to a subject, so it’s important to look for subtle or implied contrasts that are not as stark as good/bad, black/white. For example, an author might use the word “infantilize” and then later “adult”—while the author does not juxtapose the words side by side, the two words are opposites and may be clues about the author’s larger argument.