Critical Reading What is the author’s intent or purpose? What is point of view? What is bias? What is tone? How do you distinguish between fact and opinion? What are fallacies?

What Critical Readers Do: Critical readers do not immediately accept the ideas of others, rather they Use direct statements Make inferences Use prior knowledge Use Language Clues To assess and evaluate. They think for themselves, analyze written material, search for truth, and decide how accurate and relevant the printed words are. “If it’s in print, it must be true!”

What do you think? Written by former Singaporean diplomat. It is his belief that the world will be a much richer place when Western minds stop assuming that Western civilization represents the only universal civilization.

The Author's Purpose/Intent Inform. Use of facts to inform educate, enlighten, explain. Textbooks and encyclopedias inform. Persuade. Use of facts and opinions to persuade, argue, condemn, ridicule. Editorials are an example. Entertain. Fiction and non-fiction both can be used to entertain, narrate, describe, shock.  All writing contains a combination of these. For example, entertaining short stories often persuade readers to see the world in a specific way and textbooks may try to persuade students that smoking is bad.

What’s the author’s purpose? 1. Telling secrets in the form of public confessions on television talk shows is harmful to building healthy, satisfying relationships. Such talk shows reveal the worst in human behavior and should be taken off the air. 2. Self-disclosure in communication means revealing information about yourself, usually in exchange for information about the other person. 3. Daytime viewers don’t seem too surprised to find that Sam has been married to two other women while he has been dating Lucinda, who is carrying his third child and is having an affair with Sam’s brother. P I E

Author’s Point of View Point of View: Author’s opinion or position on the subject. Where is the author coming from? Gender (article about female CEOs) Political beliefs (article about President MA) Nationality (article about USA) Relationship (article about IMF chief’s sex scandal: Lawyer, public, his wife, etc.)

Bias Also an opinion or judgment. Is associated with prejudice. Suggests unfair or unequal presentation of information. has a negative connotation  All authors write from a certain point of view, but not all authors have the same degree of bias.

What is the author’s point of view? African animals are endangered and should not be killed for their fur to make coats. Minks, however, are a different story and should be considered separately Minks are farmed animals that are produced only for their fur. Author’s point of view/bias: Is a parent responsible for a child’s actions? Because some parents neglect their parental duties when signs of danger are obvious, public interest in parental duty laws is increasing. Under such laws, parents can no longer look the other way while society suffers the consequences. Author’s point of view/bias: Mink coats are OK because minks are not endangered animals. But many people believe there are other reasons fur should not be used for clothing. This author believes these laws are good and necessary. Parents need to control their children. Parents should be punished if their children behave badly.

Author’s Tone/Attitude The author’s tone describes the writer’s attitude toward the subject. Think about hearing the author’s voice. Pick up clues from word choices, details, etc. An optimistic tone about the Fukoshima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, may make you think more about the author’s purpose, or whether s/he is giving you all the information. An extremely pessimistic tone may likewise indicate an omission of information.

Author’s Tone/Attitude Angry Cheerful Depressed Distressed Formal Frustrated Humorous Objective Optimistic Pessimistic Serious Righteous

Fact and Opinion Readers who cannot distinguish facts from opinions will always be gullible. Critical readers know that almost all writing contains a mixture of fact and opinion and is able to tell one from another. A fact is a statement that can be proved true or false. An opinion is a statement of feeling or belief that cannot be proven right or wrong.

Fact and Opinion Fact: a statement that can be proven true or false Example: The temperature in the class is 78 . Opinion: a statement of feeling that cannot be proven right or wrong Example: This classroom is always hot and stuffy!

Fact and Opinion George Washington was the first president of the United States. George Washington was the second best president of the United States. The author states that George Washington was the second best president of the United States. It is a fact that George Washington was the second best president of the United States after President Lincoln. F O O F

Fact & Opinion Which words are interpretive or evaluative? The rules for who must be paid overtime in America are more complicated than they need to be, and many of the job categories are hopelessly outdated, having been crafted in some cases as long as 65 years ago. Few could doubt that such a situation needs clarifying. But in regard to the foreign workers, a terrible message is being sent, asking Congress to endorse law-breaking by millions of people. They sneak across the borders, usually entering a shadowy world of shabby housing, tax evasion and fear of almost all law enforcement. Most deserve better than that.

Fact & Opinion Which words are interpretive or evaluative? The rules for who must be paid overtime in America are more complicated than they need to be, and many of the job categories are hopelessly outdated, having been crafted in some cases as long as 65 years ago. Few could doubt that such a situation needs clarifying. But in regard to the foreign workers, a terrible message is being sent, asking Congress to endorse law-breaking by millions of people. They sneak across the borders, usually entering a shadowy world of shabby housing, tax evasion and fear of almost all law enforcement. Most deserve better than that.

Judging Validity How valid is the argument? What is the source of evidence? Does it come from an expert? What sort of expert? Does the evidence truly fit the author’s claim? Do any of the writer’s claims contradict each other? Are there gaps in the logic? How biased is the language? Are there any problems with reasoning?

Fallacies in Argument These are just a few common ones Testimonials Bandwagon Transfer Straw Person Misleading Analogy Circular Reasoning

Testimonials Celebrities who are not experts state support. Lebron James Example: Tiger Woods appears in television advertisements endorsing a particular credit card.

Bandwagon You will be left out if you do not join the crowd. Example: All the voters in the district support Henson for Senator.

Transfer A famous person is associated with an argument. Example: George Washington indicated in a quote that he would have agreed with us on this issue.

Straw Person A simplistic exaggeration is set up to represent the argument. Example: The professor replied, “If I delay the exam, you’ll expect me to change the due dates of all papers and assignments.”

Misleading Analogy Two things are compared as similar that actually are distinctly different. Example: Studying is like taking a shower; most of the material goes down the drain.

Circular Reasoning T he conclusion is supported by restating it. Example: Papers must be turned in on time because papers cannot be turned in late.

Practice Purchase her new novel, Growing up Chinese in America, which is written in the tradition of the acclaimed, Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. The first semester in college is like the premiere of a Batman movie because both require the use of imagination. Misleading analogy transfer

Practice Customs booklets warn that firecrackers manufactured in Taiwan are not legally allowed in the United States because the government will not let you bring them into the country. Former English football captain, David Beckham, recommends multivitamins by Zip to add energy to your life and strength to your body. Circular reasoning testimonial

Practice Purchase tickets immediately because everyone in school has signed up for the event and it will soon be sold out. A student who is late for class would probably be late for a job interview and thus be a failure Straw person bandwagon

Practice Use cosmetics advertised by Lin Chi- Ling because she says they work for her. Writing a term paper is like brewing a cup of coffee when your crushed beans turn into a flow of ideas. Misleading anology testimonial

Practice Join a club to meet new friends because you will meet people that you do not know. Former US president George W. Bush points out that the first president of the united States was another George W. Misleading analogy Circular reasoning

Evaluating Internet Information What are the author’s credentials? Who paid for the Web page? What is the purpose of the Web page? How do the biases of the author affect the material?

Brent Staples

Young Thugs

The Brent Staples Skit DIv13U_M&feature=related

Treyvon Martin & George Zimmerman Who looks innocent and who looks guilty?

Treyvon Martin & George Zimmerman Who looks innocent and who looks guilty?