Close Reading Text Analysis Chart Use the chart below to track your analysis of the text at each

of the four levels.

Linguistic

Semantic

Structural

Cultural

Specific textual examples of what youve observed when reading at this levelcited in MLA format.

(You may use numbers or bullets here to take notes)

Not so faintly now as they come near the bridge; (Joyce 4-5) the silence is cloven by alarm as by/ an arrow. (6-7) what heart? /bearing what tidings? (9-10)

They are heard now far away, hoofs that shine/ amid the heavy night as gems, hurrying beyond the sleeping/ fields to what journeys end (8-10) through the/ silence of the city which has turned from dreams to/ dreamless sleep as a weary lover whom no caresses move/ the sounds of hoofs upon the road. (1-4)

which has turned from dreams to/ dreamless sleep (2-3) Faintly, under the heavy night Not so faintly now as/ they come near the bridge; (1, 4-5) what heart? bearing what tidings? (9-10)

dreams to dreamless sleep as a weary lover whom no caresses move, (2-3) They are heard now far away, hoofs that shine/ amid the heavy night as gems, hurrying beyond the sleeping/ fields to what journey's end--what heart? / bearing what tidings? (7-10_

Demonstrate the development of complexity of thought at each level by writing a descriptive response to what youve written in the row above. (Analyze your thought patterns when observing the examples youve listed abovethese may also be in notetaking form)

This freeform poem, although terse, contains a few similes and rhetorical questions. These help emphasize the most important lines of the poem and what it stands for. The similes refer to objects that wouldve have been very predated, even in Stephens time, such as arrows and gems a term that wouldve probably been considered archaic at that time. The rhetorical questions help provide a frame of mind for the poems ending.

It clearly can be seen that the poem takes place very late at night (Note: It seems all the important thinking is done way late into the night in Joyces works), almost in a dreamlike state, where reality is a bit hazy. Did a group of people just pass by on a journey, or is just a figment of imagination on the end of the sleepless, weary lover?

The structure of the poem already informs the audience of one think. It is freeform, and where the stanzas end and begin depends on which version of A Portrait one owns. Anyway, this structure helps show that the choice of individual words and rhetorical strategies used is more important than how the words act together independent of a strategy. There are questions posed by the protagonist of the poem, left to the audience to interpret the answer to.

Stephen, the next day, describes the poem as vague words for a vague emotion, but wonders if she would like it, and determines that she would. As Stephen never provides closure as to what this poem is about, it could be speculated to be about Emma the she as she was the one who got him to start writing in the first place. The weary lover could represent a lonely Stephen who is alone and the hoofs heard could be Emma moving far away, or vice versa, as Stephen ends up leaving Dublin for Trieste.

Poem #2 and Author Faintly, under the heavy night, through the silence of the city which has turned from dreams to dreamless sleep as a weary lover whom no caresses move, the sound of hoofs upon the road. Not so faintly now as they come near the bridge; and in a moment, as they pass the darkened windows, the silence is cloven by alarm as by an arrow. They are heard now far away, hoofs that shine amid the heavy night as gems, hurrying beyond the sleeping fields to what journey's end--what heart? bearing what tidings?

Analysis of Close Reading