How to do a Close Reading

The purpose of a close reading is to get a better understanding of the text.  When you close read you observe facts and details about the text.  With close reading we are able to dive deeper into the text and truly understand what the writer was trying to accomplish.  I personally struggle with close reading and i am not a fan of it.  I believe sometimes close reading causes us to over analyze the true meaning of the text.  I think some writers are trying to be straight forward and sometimes we try to make something that isn't there.  In a particular south park episode the boys write a disgusting and gruesome story just for the fun of it.  Then their parents find it and the story is published into a novel.  The story was poorly written and extremely straight forward, however all the critics believe the novel is one of the greatest works in American history.  They over analyze the novel to the most extreme extent and draw connections from it that aren't there.  Keeping this in mind i do believe close reading helps when reading difficult texts like those of Ralph Waldo Emerson who i personally believe was just off his rocker and babbles to much.  Close readings can help but overall i believe they aren't effective.