Why Read Critically? How will learning to read critically help me?

What is “critical reading”? Critical reading differs from casual reading. This type of reading does not take a text at face value, but involves an examination of claims put forward by the author. It involves considering the text as whole, involving not just the printed words but clues provided by the construction of the work presented as well.

The purpose of critical reading 0 To recognize an author’s purpose 0 To understand tone and persuasive elements 0 To recognize bias

The purpose of critical reading 0 To recognize an author’s purpose … 0 involves inferring a basis for why the author chose a particular topic 0 To understand tone and persuasive elements… 0 involves classifying the nature of language choices and literary style 0 To recognize bias… 0 involves classifying the nature of patterns of choice of content and language

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Determine why the reading is important 0 How will the reading benefit you? 0 How is it relevant to your class, learning or life? 0 What does your teacher expect you to gain from it?

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Preread the text looking for clues like… 0 How is the reading structured? Are there subtitles? Boldfaced words? Words you are unsure of?

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Using the title or subtitle… 0 Make predictions about the message of the text. 0 Try reading the first and last paragraphs and make a guess as what the body will be attempting to communicate.

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Look at the author and publication information 0 Do you know anything about the author? Who are they? What do they do for a living? What are their political views? 0 Do you know anything about the publication? You would probably read articles from a newspaper, People magazine or the National Enquirer differently!

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Mark the text 0 Begin by numbering the paragraphs 0 This will help in later discussions about the text.

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Ready… set… 0 READ

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Next… 0 RE-READ 0 This time…

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Mark the text some more. 0 Circle key terms, things that are… 0 Repeated 0 Defined 0 A central concept 0 Relevant to your reading purpose

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Mark the text some more. 0 Look for data and statistics 0 Circle any numbers mentioned (in both number and word form) 0 Underline context of statistics. 0 Create a “scorecard” of research groups, recording the data reported from each.

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Mark the text some more. 0 Underline author’s claims 0 A claim is an arguable statement made by the author that expresses his opinion 0 Can appear anywhere in the text 0 Author may make several 0 May be inferred by author

Steps to effective critical reading 0 Ready… set… 0 RE-RE-READ

Steps to effective critical reading 0 As you read again, use the margin to… 0 Write key information from paragraphs. 0 Write your ideas about the author’s purpose. 0 Write questions for later discussion.