Close Reading Strategies

Types of close reading

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

Find conspicuous words

The narrator tells us to “Call him Ishmael” (Melville 1).  He does not, however, say that his name is actually Ishmael.  This lack of clarity in the definition of the narrator will be echoed later in Moby-Dick.

Decipher tone and mood

Melville uses bleak words: “damp, drizzly . . . coffin warehouses . . . [a] funeral . . .“ (Melville 1).  The darkness of Ishmael’s thoughts veils the reader early on in the novel.  Melville describes the process of going to sea as if he was leaving a dark world through suicide.  

Interpret symbols, metaphors, or images

Ishmael describes his life on land as “a damp, drizzly November in my soul” (Melville 1). November is a cold month, but not yet cold enough to snow.  The warmth and happiness of summer is behind Ishmael, and a long winter existence confronts him.

Explain punctuation and sentence structure--why keep things long?  Why keep things brief?  Why ask a question?  Why give an exclamation?

Melville’s extensive use of semicolons and colons in the sentence that begins, “Whenever I find,” connotes Ishmael’s lengthy, protracted battle with existence on land (Melville 1).  Ishmael is weary, and wishes to remove himself from his previous life.  Notably, the phrase that ends the sentence is “to get to sea as soon as I can” (Melville 1).  This further emphasizes that the ocean is the only end to his protracted war with his land-life.

Patterns-Microcosm--a small event that is representative of something larger

The first paragraph of the novel, though narrated by Ishmael, sets up a clear repetition that Ahab follows.  Ahab wishes to leave his simple land life, just as Ishmael wants to “see the watery part of the world” (Melville 1).  

Patterns-Parallels--can be in words, sentence structure, punctuation, events, characterization, or setting

If an author is repeating something, no matter how large or small, he is trying to draw attention to it and inviting a comparison.  (See tone and mode, as well as punctuation for examples of using parallels.)
Explain Comparisons--Allusions to other works or historical characters, characterization of objects, objectifying characters, juxtapositions between characters

Ishmael compares himself to “Cato,” showing the reader that the desire to go to sea is more of a timeless desire to end his previous life based on principle.  Just as Cato killed himself for an idea, Ishmael finds the mundane nature of life on land pugnacious and chooses to change his existence dramatically.

Find words, ideas, structures, settings, characters, events, that Contrast
The opposite of comparing, finding differences in a parallel structure.

Read into setting--An often underused close reading technique.  Time, place, events surrounding the time and place.  

Melville’s describes the setting of the novel ambiguously.  He tells us that the action of the novel occurred previously, but we should “never mind how long precisely” (Melville 1).  By using an indefinite setting Melville creates a timeless story meant to appeal to men of all generations.

Figure out what’s not being said?--Why is the author making the decision to start the novel this way and not another

For Ishmael to begin the novel talking about his own death is unusual; it connotes a severe instability.  However, it foreshadows the main theme of the work, the fixed fate of the members of The Pequod.  

Explain paradoxes--make sense of the things that don’t make sense

Ishmael twice mentions how he’s taking himself to sea in an attempt to avoid suicide, “stepping into the street . . .pistol and ball” (Melville 1).  However, he then references Cato and explains that “with the same philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship” (Melville).  Ishmael seems to suggest that he’s killing himself in order to avoid killing himself.  The paradox can be resolved for the reader if it is understood that Ishmael plays with two forms of suicide, figurative and literal.  While he is avoiding literally taking his life by going whaling, Ishmael notes that whaling is a process of figurative rebirth.  He will “die” and become a new man while on the whaling ship.  The reader can watch this carried through as we watch the evolution of Ishmael as a narrator throughout the work.