Reference no: EM133320747

Question: Choose one passage from Song of Solomon and construct an argument about its meaning and its significance based on close reading. This interpretation should not be a paraphrase or summary of the meaning of the lines. Instead, by analyzing the syntax, diction, tone, connotation, figurative language, rhetorical devices, etc., of the passage, uncover a more complex meaning of the lines and make an argument about why that more complex meaning matters to our reading of the novel as a whole.

Alternatively, you can choose a single word in the novel and discuss the word's meaning in the text. In that case, you will have to track the different connotations (and even denotations) that the word takes on in a few passages of the novel and show what that shifting meaning indicates about the meaning of the story as a whole.

Your interpretation of the passage or word must reveal real insight into the novel. You should present an interpretation that would not be obvious to most readers and would make them consider the novel in a new light. In other words, in addition to showing what devices and connotations are used in the text, you want to explain how these details support a particular argument (that is, an interpretation) about the text's meaning. Consider what a reader might miss or not understand about Song of Solomon or Morrison if she ignored the subtle meanings you elucidate.