©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Chapter 11: Critical Reading Breaking Through: College Reading, 8/e by Brenda Smith

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers What Do Critical Readers Do? Use direct statements. Make inferences. Use prior knowledge. Use language clues.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Critical Readers Recognize the Author's Purpose or Intent To inform. To persuade. To entertain.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Critical Readers Recognize the Author’s Point of View or Bias Point of View: Author’s opinion or position on the subject. Bias: is an opinion or a judgment associated with prejudice. has a negative connotation. may not tell both sides of the issue.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Critical Readers Recognize the Author’s Tone or Attitude Angry Cheerful Depressed Distressed Formal Frustrated Humorous Objective Optimistic Pessimistic Serious Righteous

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Example of Tone Tiger Woods doesn’t just play golf well, he plays better than anyone in the world. By age 3, the amazing Tiger shot 48 to 9 holes, and at age 8 he won an international junior tournament. The tone is: nostalgic ironic admiring

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Critical Readers Distinguish Fact from 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!

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Critical Readers Recognize Valid and Invalid Support for Arguments Fallacy: an error in reasoning that can give an illusion of support. Example: Everybody has these shoes; so should you. [bandwagon] Propaganda: where fallacies are prevalent, especially in advertisements. Example: Tiger Woods is in an ad for sports shoes to persuade you to buy them. [testimonial]

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Fallacies in Propaganda Testimonials Bandwagon Transfer Straw person Misleading analogy Circular reasoning

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Testimonials Celebrities who are not experts give their support. Example: Celebrities appear in television advertisements endorsing milk, wearing “milk mustaches.”

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Bandwagon You will be left out if you do not join the crowd. Example: All the voters in the district support Henson for Senator.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers 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.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers 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.”

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers 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.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Circular Reasoning The conclusion is supported by restating it. Example: Papers must be turned in on time because papers cannot be turned in late.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Summary Points What do critical readers do? What is an author’s purpose or intent? What is the author’s point of view? What is bias? What is tone?

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Summary Points What is a fact? What is an opinion? What is a fallacy? What is propaganda?

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Reading and Studying Ethics ASK: What is the issue? What positions are presented? What support is fact and what is opinion? What is the conclusion? What is your reaction? Now read the selection: Cosmetic Surgery for Pets.

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers Evaluating Internet Information ASK: 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? Is the reasoning sound?

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