1。2 Close reading and the study of significance

     In literary criticism, the term close reading describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of a text。 A close reading emphasizes the single and the particular over the general, affected by close attention to inpidual words, the syntax, and the order in which the sentences unfold ideas, as the reader scans the line of text。 Close reading was technically developed by the New Critics of the mid-twentieth century, and so became the fundamental method of modern criticism。 文献综述

     Close reading is a kind of reading in semantics and its characteristics are as follows。 Close reading is centered on the text。 It emphasizes that the text itself is an independent existence。 Literary criticism is description and comments on the woks。 When referring the real intention of the authors, researching the works is necessary。 The intention realized in the works is the real intention。 It also stresses the relationship between text language and thought and if the thoughts, feelings, tones and intention of text language can be mastered, the meaning of works can be seen。

     Close reading emphasizes that the context has influence on semantic analysis。 It thinks that context is very important in understanding the deep meaning of words。 In the context there are varies relationships between certain word, sentence or paragraph and context。 This kind of relationship determines the specific meaning of certain word, sentence and paragraph。 It also regards the internal organizational structure of context as the key point。 The research of literary background, environment and external cause can not solve the problems including the description, analysis and comments of the works。

     The Awakening is a controversial fiction with feminism。 The heroine Edna is the main study object。 When researching The Awakening, the author Kate Chopin is always ignored。 The thesis chooses the angle of the love, marriage and family ethics to make an interpretation of the novel using the way of close reading。 People pay less attention on the feelings of Kate Chopin so that no one has yet written it。

2。 Literature Review

     Kate Chopin, is a U。S。 known writer who is good at short stories and novels。 She is now considered as a forerunner of the feminist authors of the 20th century。 Her works are typical feminist works, reflecting the female consciousness awakening。

     The Awakening tells about a married woman who wants to pursue her free life and love。 Once The Awakening appeared in 1899, the work and the author suffered much condemn。 The Awakening attracted much attention until the 1950s。 In 1960s as the feminist movement set off the second high tide in America, The Awakening is regarded as an outstanding work full of female and critical consciousness。 Since then, studies on Chopin’s novels have gone deeply into many aspects, such as feminism, female awakening and female consciousness。 来*自~优|尔^论:文+网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766*

     In domestic, some scholars have paid attention to her works from the following aspects。 Feminism is the most distinct feature of her fictions。 Sun Shengzhong’s article published in Foreign Literature studies the female awakening from the points of dual personality and unreal dream of Edna。 And another article focuses on the novel with the method of ethical literary criticism from the perspective of western feminism。 Ren Haiyan from Nanjing University attempts to reveal that Chopin’s portrayal of the awakening of female consciousness is for the sake of presenting the awakening of subjectivity and human being’s solitude。 Han Hongying praises the awakening of female self-awareness and sex awareness by reciting the theme and social meaning in the novel。 From aesthetic and philosophic perspectives Wan Xuemei analyzes transcending the conflict between life and death by using both Lao Zhuang’s and Thoreau’s ideas on nature。