eMysteries Toolkit

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. [Project Number: 2019-1-DE03-KA201-060127] 42 should pay attention to the main points of the text and identify key details. Headings and subheadings can be used to gain inference into the subject of each paragraph or excerpt. The most important practice when completing the first read is to annotate the text. Students should read the passage with a pencil in hand, underlining or circling any words or phrases that they find interesting. They should also use the margins to make notes of thoughts they are having about a specific part of the text. Students may wish to note questions they want to discuss about certain aspects of the passage as well (OWRC 2020). Looking at the excerpt in 3.1. Students, at this stage, may come up with very simple questions: Who is she? Who is he? Has he killed her? Who killed her? Why does he say, “ it was not good- bye’’, it was ‘until we meet again’? Second Read: Look for patterns and answer text-dependent questions After the first read, students should have a general understanding of what the theme of the text is about. The second read requires students to delve a little deeper. It is during this read that you will direct students to look for patterns in the text. Are there signs of repetition? Does the author contradict themselves? Are there similarities to other passages written by the same, or different, authors? In relation to the excerpt above these are questions that might come up: Why ‘ice princess’? Just because she has turned into ice or because she was distant as a person? Or is it because he cannot reach her anymore since she is dead? In the text this excerpt is written in a different type of letter ( italics ). Why? Have you read other books by the same author? Does she use the same strategy? To facilitate a more complex understanding and discussion of the passage, students should focus on specific areas in the text. It may be at this stage that the passage is divided or “chunked” in order to help students break it down further. This will of course depend on their level of experience with close reading.