Support the following argument by doing a two-paragraph textual analysis of the eBay site: “eBay employs narratives about community as a means of engaging buyers and sellers in the site and its products.” Your analysis should incorporate the argument into the text and include your original research of the site. Please remember to spend some time on this assignment, which will help you develop vital skills in close reading.
A definition of textual analysis, or close reading, is included in the syllabus and below. Your post should also employ correct endnote citations of the eBay site and any other referenced texts. Each reference should be sequentially numbered in the text and in the notes. Please consult the Chicago Manual of Style available in the library and the Style Sheet included under Files for more assistance. The professor and students will discuss some of the associated textual analysis posts in class.
Brief description of close reading: Close reading, which is also referred to as textual analysis, is the process of studying and then precisely describing specific aspects of a text as a means of elucidating such things as the ways it works and what it represents. This analysis should be in support of a focused argument. Such close readings are a productive method of digital study because they are related to everyday technological engagements, including the ways people employ computers and online interfaces to analyze posts and memes, the bodies of influencers, and the veracity of URLs. Reading is also mandated in personal and programmed reminders to attend to unread emails and update social media accounts. New media scholar N. Katherine Hayles has chronicled the varied ways individuals read and analyze digital texts, including close, hyper, and machine reading. Hayles defines close reading as the “detailed and precise attention to rhetoric, style, language choice,” and other literary and visual features of texts.[1] She relates close reading to people’s deep focus and acceptance of boredom as part of their study. In a related manner, English scholar Nicole Shukin argues that reading is a form of time intensive labor, especially when trying to meet expectations about academic acuity and scholarly coverage.[2] When starting to closely read an online site, I recommend attending to site names, URLs, logos and other identificatory images, color choices and additional design elements, “about” and frequently asked questions pages, the ways readers are addressed and represented, options for personalization and posting, content and the ways it is arranged, emotional and other icons, and repeated terms and punctuation.
[1] N Katherine Hayles, How We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technogenesis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012), 58.
[2] Nicole Shukin, “The Hidden Labour of Reading Pleasure,” English Studies in Canada 33, nos. 1–2 (March–June 2007): 23–27. ! I really need it in 2 and a half hours!
Requirements: two paragraphs
