Reading to develop detailed understanding, involving the identification of distinctive language features such as vocabulary, imagery, and structure, and how these contribute to meanings, implications, and effects. For example, close reading of a poem may also involve examination of rhythm and sounds; close reading of a film may include examination of the structure of a scene, and analysis of the combination of elements such as dialogue, acting, editing, and camera work.

The careful and vigorous examination of literary texts; a technique advocated by the New Critics.

In literary criticism, close reading describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. Such a reading places great emphasis on the particular over the general, paying close attention to individual words, syntax, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold as they are read.