Text Used
First and Second paragraph page 1
Body of Essay
This close reading essay takes the first two paragraphs of the first page. Among the things of key interest that this essay seeks to observe in these two paragraphs includes its rhetorical features, the structural elements of the text, references of culture alluded in the two paragraphs, and historical elements. These elements will be fundamental in laying out a basis upon which key patterns within the text can be identified. After the identifications of key patterns of the above mentioned elements this close reading essay seeks to give interpretations of these authorial features within the text.
First of all, the text is at the onset of the story. This means that the first two paragraphs work towards building a contextual illustration of the story. The construction of this context works against the forces of culture, community, and history. For example, the author is quick to explain that the lady is new to the area. This means that there is already a community that is existent in the area. The author proceeds to try to establish whether other new persons have arrived in the area before. It is established in the first paragraph that there has been a number of people who had newly arrived in this area in the time frame. The author steps up his contextual construction by identifying the uniqueness of this lady to the area. This means that the author is trying to put the lady into the cultural framework of the area.
One thing that is evident is that the lady has a unique lifestyle. She has a dog that she cherished dearly. It is evident from this paragraph that the lady and her dog are very close. This is because the dog follows the lady everywhere she goes. Due to this uniqueness, the immediate society within in this area refers to her as the lady with the dog(Chekhov 1).The uniqueness of the lady to the culture of the contextual society is not enough to create a comprehensive context that would be more attractive to the reader and the audience of the story. Rhetorical features about the purposes of the lady’s arrival in the area arise.
In addition, the author seems to narrow done to the personal attributes of the lady. It is evident that the lady wore the same beret and was also lonely. This indicates that the life of the lady had some emptiness in it. This structural element plays a key role in sensitizing the audience what type of a person the lady was and the author’s motivations to interact and know more about this new lady. Therefore, the author’s construction of the context of this story sets the stage for the various activities and interactions that the author seeks to discuss in the body of the story. This means that the author has to utilize the introduction in order to comprehensively present the structural, historical, cultural and rhetorical features of the stories context.
Works Cited
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich. The lady with the dog and other stories. New York: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008. Print.
