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pmla-textual-evidence-and-close-reading

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Use when marshalling textual evidence and close reading as the evidence base of a PMLA (Publications of the Modern Language Association) essay. In literary studies the text is the data — claims are earned through careful reading of language, form, and context, quoted accurately and cited in MLA style. Strengthens the reading; it does not run analyses or invent passages.

When to use

• Selecting and analyzing passages that carry the argument
• Addressing feedback that reading is assertive or thin
• Deciding which edition or source to quote
• Handling translation of non-English sources
• Presenting archival documents with commentary
• Analyzing patterns across a text
• Using genre and form as evidence
• Incorporating material and book history

When not to use

• Running analyses
• Inventing passages

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