"What we, as advanced students of literature, desperately need is some concrete guidance on how to do close reading and detailed analysis of our literary texts." This is a lament I've heard often from advanced students looking to raise their game and reach their highest potential in literary studies. Making sense of how a text works - in terms of both its meaning and its form - is tricky, and because literary texts are complex and dynamic, using a method which is rigorous and creatively flexible enough for close reading and detailed analysis is vital. Analysing a Literary Text: the A* Way...