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QUESTION
An individual CRIT close reading of one of the Lao She stories.
An individual CRIT close reading of one of the Lao She stories. You can choose the story. And more information in materials. I put the work requirements in materials. And i also upload a sample in materials.
The Close Reading Interpretive Tool (CRIT)
The Close Reading Interpretive Tool (CRIT) offers a systematic approach to literary interpretation,
allowing students to practice the detailed, sustained, and careful analysis of text.
Step 1-Paraphrase
Read the passage carefully. In your own words, give a summary of the factual content of the
passage—what the text directly states—as it proceeds from beginning to end. What situation is
being described here and by whom? What happens in that situation? Respond to this prompt in no
more than three complete sentences.
Step 2-Observe
Read the passage again, this time thinking about what it seeks to accomplish. Then, identify and list
any potentially significant features of the passage’s language or form—that is, those textual
elements that contribute to the passage’s overall meaning, purpose, or effect. Your list of
observations should include specific examples of various kinds of textual elements, such as:
descriptive details; word choice; repetition of phrases, sounds, or ideas; imagery or figurative
language; syntactical structure; changes in vocabulary, rhythm, or tone; characteristics of the
narrative voice or perspective. Note that these observations will have to provide the building blocks
for your analysis in Step 4. Respond to this prompt with a list of features.
Step 3-Contextualize
Think about contexts for the passage. (Contexts are facts or broader circumstances external to a
literary work that are important to its production, reception, or understanding; for instance: literary,
biographical, political, or historical information.) From your own knowledge of any relevant
contextual facts or circumstances, or from information provided by your instructor, identify and list
any potentially significant contexts for the passage—that is, those contextual frames that contribute
to the passage’s overall meaning, purpose, or effect. Note that these contextualizations may provide
additional building blocks for your analysis in Step 4. Respond to this prompt with a list of contexts.
CRIT was developed in the Department of English at The University of Texas at Austin by Professors Phillip
Barrish, Evan Carton, Coleman Hutchison, and Frank Whigham, and Ph.D. students Sydney Bufkin, Jessica
Goudeau, and Jennifer Sapio. CRIT is a product of a Course Transformation Grant generously funded by
the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. CRIT is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Note to instructors: Please feel free to adapt these prompts for your own pedagogical needs. We only ask
that you reproduce the credit above. Please direct all questions to [email protected].
Step 4-Analyze
Review the features and contexts that you identified in Steps 2 and 3 as making potentially
significant contributions to the passage’s meaning, purpose, or effect. Then, select at least four of
these textual elements and/or contextual frames and explain how each is in fact significant. These
analyses should state clearly and forcefully what each item contributes to your understanding of the
passage. Note that these analyses will have to be connected in Step 5, where you will argue for a
unified interpretation of the passage as a whole. Respond to this prompt in one to two sentences per
feature or context. Each analysis should include the phrase: “…is significant because…”
Step 5-Argue
Re-read the work you have produced thus far. Using your observations and analyses in the preceding
steps, write one paragraph (at least five sentences) that conveys your interpretation of the passage.
State the main thesis of your interpretation—that is, the central claim you are arguing for—and then
support that thesis by presenting the evidence you gathered in Steps 1 through 4. Note that your
paragraph should integrate and build upon your responses to the Step 4 prompt; your observations
and analyses should also add up to an interpretive conclusion about the passage as a whole.
Step 6-Reflect
Now that you have advanced an argument, re-read the passage again. Then, answer the following
questions: What aspects of the passage do you still find confusing? What elements of the passage
does your interpretation neglect or set aside? What parts of your argument now appear to you
debatable or dubious—that is, what objections could a reasonable person raise to your
interpretation of the passage? Keep in mind: no interpretation is perfect or can account for every
element of a text. Nonetheless, if these reflections have led you to think that your interpretation is
less than compelling, you are free to revise your CRIT exercise.
AN OLD AND ESTA B L I S H E D N A M E
Translated br William A. Lyell
After Manager Qian left, Xin Dezhi -the senior apprentice who now had quite
a hand in the operation of the Fortune Silk Store-went for several days without
eating a decent meal. Manager Qian had been universally recognized as a
skilled old hand in the silk business just as the Fortune Silk Store was universally
recognized as an old and established name. Xin Dezhi had been trained for
the business under the hands of Manager Qian. However, it wasn't solely personal
feeling that made Xin Dezhi take it so hard when Manager Qian left, nor
was his agitation due to any personal ambition that might have been stimulated
by the vague possibility that he himself might become the new manager. He
really couldn't put his finger on the reason for all the anxiety that he felt; it was
as though Manager Qian had taken away with him something or other that
would be forever difficult to recover.
When Manager Zhou arrived to take things over, Xin Dezhi realized that
his anxiety had not been unfounded. Previously he had only felt sorrow at the
departure of the old manager, but now he felt downright fury at the arrival of
the new one. Manager Zhou was a hustler. The Fortune Silk Store-an old
and established name of years standing!-now demeaned itself into employing
every kind of trick to rope in customers. Xin Dezhi's mouth hung so far open
in dismay that his face began to look like a dumpling that had split apart while
boiling. An old hand, an old and established name, old rules-all had vanished
along with Manager Qian, perhaps never to return again Manager Qian had
been very honest and gentlemanly, so much so, in fact, that the Fortune Silk
Lao She: An Old and Established Name 75
Store lost money. The owners, for their part, weren't all that impressed by
Manager Qian's upright demeanor; they were only concerned with having dividends
to split up at the end of the year. Hence, they had let him go.
For as long as anyone could remember, the Fortune Silk Store had maintained
an air of cultured elegance-a simple sign with the name of the store
in black characters against a gold background, green fittings in the shop itself,
a black counter with blue cloth cover, large square stools sheathed in blue
woolen cloth, and fresh flowers always set out on the tea table. For as long as
anyone could remember, except for hanging out four lanterns with big red
tassels upon the occasion of the Lantern Festival, the Fortune Silk Store had
never exhibited a trace of that vulgar ostentation so prevalent among ordinary
merchants. For as long as anyone could remember, the Fortune had never
engaged in such base practices as haggling with customers, letting the customer
pay to the nearest dollar, pasting advertisements all over the place, or running
two-week sales. What the Fortune Silk Store sold was its old and established
name. For as long as anyone could remember, the Fortune had never set free
cigarettes out on the counter as a come-on to customers; nor had any of the
apprentices in the shop ever spoken in loud tones; the only sound in the store
had been the gentle gurgle of the manager's water pipe intermingled with his
occasional coughing.
As soon as Manager Zhou walked through the door, Xin Dezhi saw only too
clearly that these precedents, as well as many other old and valuable customs,
were all going to come to an end. There was something improper about the
new manager's eyes. He never lowered his eyelids, but rather swept the whole
world with his vision as if he were searching out a thief. Manager Qian, on the
other hand, had always sat on a stool with his eyes closed, and yet if any of the
apprentices did the slightest thing wrong, he knew about it immediately.
Just as Xin Dezhi had feared, witl1in a few days Manager Zhou had transformed
the Fortune into something akin to a carnival sideshow. In front of the
main entrance tl1e new manager set up a garish sign bearing tl1e words GIANT
SALE. Each word was five feet square! Then he installed two bright gaslights
whose flames lit up faces in such a way as to turn them green. As if all this
weren't enough, he had a drum and bugle set up by the main entrance, which
made a din from dawn until the third watch at night. Pour apprentices in red
hats stood at the door and roamed up and down the sidewalk passing out handbills
to anyone who came within their reach.
But Manager Zhou still wasn't satisfied. He appointed two clerks to the
specific task of providing customers with cigarettes and tea; even someone who
was buying only half a foot of plain cloth would be dragged to the back counter
and given a cigarette. Soldiers, street-cleaners, and waitresses stood about firing
up their tobacco until the shop was so smoked up tl1at it looked like a Buddhist
temple lost in incense fumes. Manager Zhou even went a step further; if a
customer bought one foot of material, he'd give him an extra one free and
throw in a foreign doll for the kids. And now all the apprentices were expected
| Subject | Nursing | Pages | 7 | Style | APA |
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Answer
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CRIT Reading of The Grand Opening
Step 0
Pages 4, 5, 9
Step 1- Paraphrase
Page 4: I often gave excuses not to attend to those I thought were extremely untidy. We met and decided to re-think the strategy we earlier had of targeting the poorer masses. We had to target people who had a higher income because our main customer base had very little income. Wang came up with a clever plan of hiring a car then we would use our relatives as props to make people think we were finally a vibrant hospital after all.
Page 5: Once we have the cars ready and parked outside, we will periodically honk to make the patients already inside think that more patients are coming in. The hired relatives would be fed and allowed to get back home. This plan was complemented by an article by Wang that described the heavy traffic in front of our hospital. Wang’s strategy instantly paid off, for the next day, an army officer came to us for treatment.
Page 9: The old lady narrates how the services she had received in the hospital before left her dissatisfied. I misjudge her age, thinking she is way older than she is. I assure her that good food will make her well in no time. At the mention of food, tears of joy fill her eyes.
Step 2- Observe
The story is deeply humorous, with several scenes that involve poking fun at the ignorance of selected characters.
The common thing about all the selected sections is that it is clear that everyone—regardless of their social class, can be fooled. The writer uses humour to achieve this effect.
It is interesting to see how the patients accept the instructions without question, even when it looks like the “doctors” themselves have no idea what they are doing.
The language is simple and straightforward. One may imagine that the writer is even “playing with language” at some points.
The brazen nature of criminal activity, added to the addition of the relatives into the fray, makes us wonder how long this criminal act can go on, and how many more will be fooled.
The honking of hired old cars is metaphorical, something about empty vessels making the loudest noise.
It is ironical how the narrator seems to accuse the other doctors of exactly that which he is guilty of in page 9
In page 5, the narrator seems to imply that Wong is so much blinded by his own wrongdoing that nothing can distract him, not even his own pain.
Step 3: Contextualize
The first person perspective of narration is a common feature of Chinese fiction
Lao has the background of both Chinese and Western education. The story had treatment that involved both practices.
His reputation for ideological neutrality shows in how he portrays a kind of capitalist greed and socialist idiocy seen in the masses.
His simple language and style are reminiscent of the Beijing dialect for which he was popular Yan (2009).
The influence of the true stories told to him by his mother seen in the realist aspects of his story.
Lao She was born in 1899 to a guard soldier. He adored Dickens.
Step 4: Analyze
The use of playful humorous language is significant because it is through it that we see the folly of the exploited and cheated masses. We also see the greed of the narrator and his companions in great detail.
The fooling of the extremely poor and well-to-do masses alike is significant because through it, we see that desperation and ill luck affects all people alike, and everyone is susceptible to tricks and charm when they are at their most desperate.
The simple ring of the narrator’s style and the first person perspective is significant because it makes us see that the writer usually favoured the Beijing dialect.
The perception of his ideological neutrality and sometimes indecisiveness is significant because it makes us clearly see that Lao was a man who had experienced a feel of two worlds and clearly had the worst of their experiences as well as the bad.
Step 5: Argue
“The Grand Opening” can be read a humorous depiction of greed by those in authority and the susceptibility of the masses, regardless of class, to fall to their machinations. Through a carefully arranged series of events and happenings, the author makes it almost impossible to have sympathy for the conned masses. The reader is instead astounded by their ignorance. Similarly, it is not easy to blame the narrator and his band of crooked friends—we only laugh at the extent of their greed and the extents to which they are willing to go. The success of these ill-intended actions paint a rather hopeless situation for the society, but the inclusion of their friends and relatives into the criminal enterprise signals a potential end to their activities. The idea of a “Hospital of the masses” that would make use of oriental and Western methods of treatment signals the height of Lao’s ideological neutrality. It is neutrality that would prove rather fatal to him. Looked at deeply, “The Grand Opening” laughs at the ultimate ideals of the major world systems that have been looked at for decades—capitalism and socialism. In his world, they are two sides of the same coin.
Step 6: Reflect
Is there an inherent significance in the narrator’s regret of the name they used for the hospital? Is it regret for something deeper that could be explored in other analyses?
The oldest one in the pack seems to be the brains behind the team’s success in their quack hospital. Is this a metaphor for something bigger and different?
Why did the writer choose to include details of a wedding procession at the last part of the story? Is there a way in which he perceives weddings? And is this perception favourable. Or is the inclusion of wedding in the illegal actions that now thrives another accidental inclusion?
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References
Yan. C. (2009).The Style of Lao She and modern Chinese: A study of Lao She’s literary language in his fictional works. University of London.
She, L. The Grand Opening, In The Stories of Lao She, translated by William A. and Sarah W. University of Hawaii Press.