Critical Reading

analysis

what are the patterns of the text? analysis means looking at the parts of something to detect patterns. in looking at these patterns, your critical thinking skills will be engaged in analyzing the argument that the author is making

critical reading

a more active way of reading, it is a deeper and more complex engagement with a text. critical reading is a process of analyzing, interpreting and, sometimes, evaluating

keep a reading journal

in addition to note-taking, it is often helpful to regularly record your responses and thoughts in a more permanent place that is yours to consult. by developing a habit of reading and writing in conjunction, both skills will improve

evaluation

how well does the text do what it does? what is its value? evaluation is making judgments about the intellectual/cognitive, aesthetic, moral or practical value of a text

use the dictionary and other appropriate reference works

if there is a word in the text that is not clear or difficult to define in context: look it up. every word is important, and if part of the text is thick with technical terms, it is doubly important to know how the author is using them

direction - difference between reading and critical reading

reading: WITH the text (taking for granted it is right) critical reading: AGAINST the text (questioning its assumptions and argument, interpreting meaning in context)

activity - difference between reading and critical reading

reading: absorbing/understanding critical reading: analyzing/interpreting/evaluating

response - difference between reading and critical reading

reading: restatement, summary critical reading: description, interpretation, evaluation

purpose - difference between reading and critical reading

reading: to get a basic grasp of the text critical reading: to form judgments about HOW a text works

focus - difference between reading and critical reading

reading: what a text SAYS critical reading: what a text DOES and MEANS

questions - difference between reading and critical reading

reading: what is the text saying? what information can I get out of it? critical reading: how does the text work? how is it argued? what are the choices made? the patterns that result? what kinds of reasoning and evidence are used? what are the underlying assumptions? what does the text mean?

deep structure

the underlying meaning of a sentence; that is, logical consistency, tone, organization, and a number of other very important sounding terms

consider the title

this may seem obvious, but the title may provide clues to the writers attitude, goals, personal viewpoint, or approach

interpretation questions

• what debates were the author and the text engaging with at that time? • what kinds of reasoning (historical, psychological, political, philosophical, scientific, etc) are employed? • what methodology is employed and what theory is developed? • how might my reading of the text be biased? am I imposing 21st century ideas or values on the text? if so, is this problematic?

analysis questions

• what is the thesis or the overall theory? • what are the supporting points that create the argument? how do they relate to each other? how do they relate to the thesis? • what are the examples used as evidence for the supporting points? how do they relate to the points they support? to each other? to the thesis? • what techniques of persuasion are used (appeals to emotion, reason, authority, etc.)? • what rhetorical strategies are used (e.g. definition, explanation, description, narration, elaboration, argumentative, evaluation)? • what modes of analysis are used? (illustration, comparison/contrast, cause and effect, process analysis, classification/division, definition)?

read slowly

again, this appears obvious, but it is a factor in a "close reading." by slowing down, you will make more connections within the text

become part of the writers audience

authors design texts for specific audiences, and becoming a member of the target audience makes it easier to get at the author's purpose. learn about the author, the history of the author and the text, the authors anticipated audience; read introductions and notes

read with an open mind

critical readers seek knowledge; they do not "rewrite" a work to suit their own personalities. your task as an enlightened critical reader is to read what is on the page, giving the writer a fair chance to develop ideas and allowing yourself to reflect thoughtfully, objectively, on the text

critical reading

critical reading means that a reader applies certain processes, models, questions, and theories that result in enhanced clarity and comprehension

make notes

jot down marginal notes, underline and highlight, write down ideas in a notebook, do whatever works for your personal taste. note for yourself the main ideas, the thesis, the author's main points to support the theory. writing while reading aids your memory in many ways, especially by making a link that is unclear in the text concrete in your own writing

read to understand

one of two steps for preparing to read critically. when we read to understand, we do these three things: • examine the text and context: who is the author? who is the publisher? where and when was it written? what kind of text is it? • skim the text: what is the topic? what are the main ideas? • resolve confusion: look up unfamiliar words or terms in dictionaries or glossaries. go over difficult passages to clarify them

self-reflect

one of two steps for preparing to read critically. when you self-reflect, you ask: what experiences, assumptions, knowledge, and perspectives do I bring to the text? What biases might I have? Am I able to keep an open mind and consider other points of view?

interpretation

what do the patterns of the argument mean? interpretation is reading ideas as well as sentences. we need to be aware of the cultural and historical context, the context of its authors life, the context of debates within the discipline at that time and the intellectual context of debates within the discipline today

evaluation questions

when we are considering it's intellectual/cognitive value, we ask questions such as these: • how does it contribute to the discipline? are it's main conclusions original? • does the evidence and reasoning adequately support the theory/theories presented? • are the sources reliable? • is the argument logically consistent? convincing? • are any experiments, question series, statistical sections, etc designed and executed in accordance with the accepted standards of the relevant discipline? • what are the strengths and weaknesses of the theory? • how would competing theories criticize this text? how could the author reply? • overall, is the theory/approach in this text better than competing theories/approaches? in other words, what are its comparative strengths and weaknesses? in reading critically, we need to keep competing theories in mind