Close Reading

Close Reading "Twilight"

"...all very attractive, " I added, trying to be more complimentary. "You should see the doctor, " Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around. " We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I startedon the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand --no dishwasher -- I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making. That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted. The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday Iwas able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stayed out of their way. Edward Cullen didn't come back to school."

I chose a short passage from the book from the saga, "Twilight".

      This short excerpt from "Twilight", Stephanie Meyer describes a scene we all know very well. A parents and child eating some dinner together. Meyer uses her skills to create that image in the readers mind. She uses descriptive words to get the reader's brain to picture the actions, setting and character without fail. 

      Stephanie Meyer uses great imagery in this excerpt. She uses words that create an easily imaginable picture in my brain. "He cleared the table while I startedon the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand --no dishwasher -- I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework." (Meyer)  In these lines, Stephanie Meyer describes the scene, not explaining, but showing the reader what her characters are doing. I can easily image a girl, finishing cleaning up from dinner and sitting at her desk struggling to do math homework, especially simple to connect to considering that happens to me about every night. Seeing this image makes the story easy to relate to and connect to different parts in the reader's life. This creates a deeper feeling between the reader, and the text.

      This excerpt uses details that add a small piece of information and detail to the story that add more to the story. When Meyer adds how in gym the kids know that she is a bad player and sometimes use her weakness as an advantage to them, it is a small piece of details.  The reader may at first seem unnecessary but later discover that this small addition of material about who Bella Swan is allows the reader to use that detail in the future. For example if later on in the story Meyer says that Bella had no chance for defending herself, after that the reader could think about how she knows that Bella is weak and would not be able to defend herself because she cannot even pass high school gym.

      Stephanie Meyer's writing and use of details and imagery make not only this small passage but allows the reader to connect themselves to the story and put themselves in the characters point of view. These are all reasons that make the writing better and easy to read and understand.