Close Reading

So, in class we've been working on close reading. I must admit to you, reader, I find it very complicated. When you're close reading a passage you have to think of what the author means by every word written. Connotations of words, meanings of verbs, and symbols appear frequently in close readings. I never thought that reading Foster's  How To Read Literature Like a Professor would apply so greatly to a single passage. The most abundant aspect I'm finding in close readings, is how a tone can change the entire meaning of a passage and how the reader can interpret the tone to be something completely different from what the author means it to be. For example, when someone writes "That was the day that I lost my sanity. It was a long road to lose it, but now that it's gone it feels as though I've never had it," the tone could be comical or sad. The tone changes an entire work. In All the Kings Men Jack is at Judge Irwin's funeral discussing it as if it is of the very least importance; however he could have been truly upset depending on how the reader interpreted it. I am a person that generally over thinks everything that I say and do, so when trying to figure out the tone of a piece, I constantly wonder if I am reading a passage in the correct tone or not. For those of you out there that are just like me, my only advice would be to not over think. Typically your first instincts are correct. Trust yourself and let your instincts guide you through your close readings, you're more correct than you think.