Critical Reading & Writing Tips Tricks Advice Standards

What is “critical”? Critique: “a detailed analysis and assessment of something, especially a literary, philosophical, or political theory.” Not (necessarily) criticism: “the expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes.”

Critical Reading Active reading. As you read, you are constantly questioning, comparing, agreeing, disagreeing, and evaluating. You should never read something and digest it as fact until you have read critically. Authors are human and they have human emotions, biases, and motivations.

Why bother? Critical reading takes massive brain power and undivided attention. It’s crucial for: determining the value of reading material, detecting logic that is faulty on the part of the author, separating fact from opinion, calling out illogical or sensational claims, and determining whether to accept the information being presented or reject it.

CR Questions Author: Are they qualified? Why did they write it? Who has a viewpoint on this? Which viewpoints are represented in the article, and how? Biased/critiquing/etc Which viewpoints are left out? Why might that be? What is the goal of the article? Inform/persuade/comment? What kind of language is used? Emotional/sensational/etc. Are the evident biases that are detectable right away? After reading the whole article?

Critical Writing It’s all about the thesis. The thesis is the main point you are trying to get across in your paper. The intro leads to it Every point you make supports it The conclusion solidifies it Thesis = anchor for your writing

Concrete Steps for Writing Establish your thesis Create an outline Do a draft Revise (x2, 3, 4, etc)

Outlines are CRUCIAL

Generic Outline Introduction Body paragraph 1  Point number1 Thesis Body paragraph 1  Point number1 Evidence; link evidence to point 1 More evidence; link evidence to point 1 Link evidence, point 1 and thesis [[[ Same thing for P’s 2 - ? ]]] Conclusion

Introductions & Conclusions

Citation Easybib and similar sites are great for ordering things correctly. They WILL NOT proof your citation. See “ND.” Some professors prefer MLA, some prefer APA, others may want Chicago or other formats. Correct citation means BOTH in-line citation and bibliographies.

References for this ppt Aimes online writing lab: http://www.aims.edu/student/online-writing-lab/common-formatting/mla-format/format-in-detail.php Purdue online writing lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Hancock, Ophelia. Reading Skills for College Students. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007. Bloomfield College reading skills tutorial: users.bloomfield.edu/department/tutorial/ReadingSkills/PPT/CriticalReadingSkills.ppt