© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4 Reading Critically Chapter 9 Point of View

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4: Reading Critically Chapter 9: Point of View 2 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Point of view is defined as a mental attitude from which a person views or judges something. Other terms for point of view are perspective and standpoint. A point of view can be favorable, unfavorable, or neutral. A writer’s point of view leads to opinions and beliefs.

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4: Reading Critically Chapter 9: Point of View 3 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 A critical reader must be able to recognize and understand an author’s point of view. While you may not agree with the author’s point of view on a particular subject, it is important to maintain an open and questioning attitude.

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4: Reading Critically Chapter 9: Point of View 4 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Chapter 9 Test Taking Tip— Improving Your Performance on Essay Tests During the test Carefully read the question. You can’t expect to write a good answer to a question you don’t understand. In fact, you might write a wonderful essay, but if it doesn’t answer the question, it will not do you much good. What is the question asking you to do?

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4: Reading Critically Chapter 9: Point of View 5 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Once you understand the question, begin thinking about how best to answer it. It’s probably not a good idea to start writing immediately. Give yourself some time to think first. What material from the course will the answer involve? What do you remember about this material? At this point, you might want to start making some notes or jottings. If you prepared well for the test, the more you think about this material, the more of it you will remember.

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4: Reading Critically Chapter 9: Point of View 6 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Some practical pointers 1.Research shows that neatness counts, so write carefully and legibly. Try to avoid erasures, crossed-out words, and words written between lines and in the margins. You might want to consider using pens with erasable ink. 2. When a question has more than one part, make sure you answer all parts. 3. Give specific examples to illustrate your points. 4. Answer in complete sentences.

© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Art of Critical Reading Mather ● McCarthy Part 4: Reading Critically Chapter 9: Point of View 7 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Check to see if what you have written answers the question words: who? what? where? when? why? and how? 6. Save some time to proofread your essay for spelling and other errors that are likely to produce a bad impression. 7. If you find you have no time to answer questions at the end of the test, write some notes in summary form. These will often earn you at least partial credit.