Close Reading Eleanor and Park

Eleanor & Park 

Close Reading Inquiry

The book Eleanor and Park by: Rainbow Rowell is an inspiring book about two teenagers Park and Eleanor that know that first love never last, but despite knowing this; they fall in love. This book shows how hard it can be to be in love at seventeen knowing that it will most likely not last and how especially hard it is for Eleanor and Park in their Romeo and Juliet like love. The excerpt I choose from Eleanor and Park was from one of the first chapters of the book and I close read the word choice from this section where Eleanor first appears on the school bus and Park grudgingly shares his seat with her. The close reading inquiry I did made me see many things I hadn't before like; different emotions and motives of the characters and ways Eleanor and Park where resisting the kids in their school. 

Close reading Eleanor and Park helped me notice different motives and emotions the characters had that I didn't see before. For example when first reading this text the reader can see Park as rude for cursing at Eleanor or being resistant to sharing his seat with her but really the reader mistakes rude for sympathetic. Park kept "trying to look away" where the other kids were "licking their chops,” Doing a close reading inquiry helps the reader notice how Park is way more sympathetic towards Eleanor then the other kids who "are not about to give up their seats, especially not to someone like this." or are preparing to bully Eleanor. 

Doing the close reading inquiry also helps the reader notice Eleanor's resistance. Reading the story with no lens makes it just seem like Eleanor is just someone who wouldn't stand up for herself. The reader sees that she immediately gets up from a bus seat because Tina tells her to. And that "she looks like she is crying." but with a lens the reader sees how Eleanor is resisting bullies. The way she dresses shows how she doesn't care what people think. Park says: "It was like she wanted people to notice her." The close reading inquiry makes the reader see Eleanor as more than just a bullying target, but someone who can stand up for themselves/rebel through her clothing. 

Doing the close reading inquiry also helps the reader notice Park's resistance. Park at first seems like someone who just wants to blend in and survive high school but doing a close reading inquiry shows a different side to Park. He shows a way to resist to their classmates by thinking and acting a different way than everyone else. For example; Park instead of looking at Eleanor as a meal like the other kids he feels bad for her and wants to save her he uses words like "walking right into the belly of the beast" to describe her trying to find a seat in the back of the bus where all the popular kids are. He acts a different way than all the other kids who either bully her or refuse to give up their seats by moving their bags to take up the seat next to them. Instead of acting like the other kids he gives up his seat. All these things show how Park resists everyone by thinking and acting another way then the other kids and feeling sympathetic towards Eleanor and sharing a seat with her. Doing a close reading inquiry helps the reader see these aspects of Park.

In conclusion, doing a close reading inquiry helps the reader see different parts of characters actions then before. Doing a close reading inquiry shows the reader more positive aspects to the characters in Eleanor and Park and also shows them connecting to social justice issues such as bullying and standing up for what you believe in.