Meet Tillie Olsen and the topic of your close reading assignment

The sun is shining, the creek has quit rising and with any luck you are all enjoying spring break. When you return to class, you will begin work on a close reading of Tillie Olsen's short story "I Stand Here Ironing" which can be found by following this link:

http://members.multimania.co.uk/shortstories/olsenironing.html

In a close reading, you choose a passage (usually a few paragraphs) and analyze it as if you are looking at it through a magnifying glass. Before you can choose a passage, you must actively read the work several times and decide which part of it jumps out at you for analysis. Active reading involves printing the essay and reading it with a pencil and highlighters in hand. Mark it up. Make notes in the margins about every thought you have while you are reading then look at the piece again and choose a passage to study. Once you decide on a passage, ask yourself why it jumped out at you. What do you notice about the writing? Does it create a certain mood?

You will get an assignment sheet in class with more instructions. For now, print, read and think about the short story.

Olsen's body of work is small and she didn't start publishing until she was 50 years old, which may or may not interest you in a contextual sense.

If you follow this link, you will find examples of close reading assignments from students who were working with a different piece of Olsen's work.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/olsen/north.htm

Enjoy!