Heather Love begins her essay: "There is perhaps no term that has more value in the humanities than " rich ". In literary studies, in particular, wealth is an uncontested good – although largely uncontested…” (371). She uses the word richness several times because it is related to interpretation and close reading, but the critic loses the richness when he practices shallow reading. Love states at the beginning of his essay that "richness means qualities associated with the complexity, the versatility of texts and with the warmth and depth of experience" (371). One definition of wealth is, according to the OED, “the abundance of a good constituent; luxuriance; depth, fullness” (“richness”). It recognizes that texts with depth and fundamental principles have intrinsic value. Texts associated with wealth typically have multiple meanings and are open to a number of different interpretations, but they must also speak to the human experience. There is a whole science around the richness of a text, called hermeneutics, which means “The study or analysis of the way in which texts, statements or actions are interpreted” (“hermeneutics”). Different methods for evaluating the depth of a text have been applied. “Hermeneutical activity – the practice of close reading” (373) is what Love evaluates next. The practice of close reading became the framework of hermeneutics at the beginning of the 20th century and has since constituted the basis for the evaluation of texts, regardless of the different literary approaches and cultural changes present, since "the richness of texts continue to serve as support. for a supposedly outdated humanism” (373). His own claim regarding the interpretation of texts can be interpreted seven...... middle of article ......emerge with the use of sociological scientific methods. However, one method need not exclude the other, as Love seems to suggest in his final sentence: "Who among us is willing to exchange the fat and the living for the skinny and the dead?" (388). Descriptive reading could improve in-depth reading. Description leads to interpretation and is part of the richness. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick and David W. Blight. Account of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: With Related Materials. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print."hermeneutics, n." OED online. Oxford University Press, March 2014. Web. April 30, 2014. Love, Heather. “Close but not deep: literary ethics and the descriptive turn.” » New Literary History 41.2 (2010): 371-91. Muse Project. Internet. April 30, 2014. "wealth, n." OED online. Oxford University Press, March 2014. Web. May 1 2014.