Critical Reading

Ways to Locate the information in Critical Reading.

1. Finding the Argument 2. Finding the assumption 3. Finding the Conclusion

1. Finding the Argument

● Argument can be found in Author's: position, reasons, line of reasoning, Conclusion, persuasion, signal words & phrases.

3. Finding the Conclusion (Where)

● Start of Passage ● End of passage ● Interpretive summary ● Signal words ● Challenges & Recommendations ● Words indicating a deduction

2. Finding the assumption (ways)

● Taking the context into account ● Differentiating denoted and connoted meanings in argument. ● Looking for gaps in argument ● Identifying false premises ● Finding what the missing link in the line of reasoning. ● Checking whether conclusion is supported by hidden assumptions.

What is Critical Reading?

●Critical Reading is a process that involves reading beyond just understanding a text. ● It requires readers to first attend and absorb the reader's points of view critically and then try to understand hpw its part relate to the whole. (Walker and Reid (2012)

Characteristics of Critical Reading

●Examining the authors evidence or arguments presented ●Checking how evidence or arguments were made ●Identifying limitations of the author's arguments. ●Reading between lines of Autbor's written text. ●Examining the interpretations made ●Judging why author's arguments, opinions/conclusion are accepted/rejected.