Although you’ll be asked to write in scads of different genres for your English classes, close readings are the foundation on which all English writing rests. Close readings are essentially papers that ask you to move beyond saying
that something exists in a text (for instance, alliteration), to
how it’s used: That is, what it suggests in relation to other elements of the text, and why that realization matters. Longer papers in English classes can take the form of open-ended research papers, or analysis of the relationships between a text and its historical moment; however, these longer papers are built upon extended close readings for which you will have developed a theoretical framework. Other genres in English include many kinds of creative writing, such as personal essays, memoirs, and poetry, as well as book reviews or letters. You may be asked to write in these creative genres in traditional English classes as well as creative writing English classes.