1. Reading, Thinking, Writing
Adapted from the
McGraw-Hill Handbook
Chapter 7

2. Here is an analogy: Writers are strangers with candy.
They want to seduce you.
They want you to get in their car, so they can take you where they want to go.
They don’t necessarily have your best interests in mind.

3. It is your job to avoid becoming a victim. Here is your role model:

5. In short, not only do you not get in the car, you take sinister pleasure in picking the bad guy’s mind apart.

6. Critical reading, simply put, is active reading
Critical reading, simply put, is active reading. Critical readers problematize texts. They ask questions of texts and demand answers.

7. Critical Reading: Step One
Preview the piece before you read it by questioning it.

8. Ask questions about the writer and the piece’s context.
Who is the author?
What do we know about his/her values?
What are her/his credentials?
Who is paying the writer?
When and where was the piece first published?

9. Ask questions about the writer’s purpose.
What does the title, headings and last paragraph tell you about the writer’s purpose?
What was the writer’s motivation for writing the piece?
Is the purpose to inform? To interpret? To argue? To entertain? To reflect?

10. Ask questions about the writer’s audience.
Whom do you suspect the writer is trying to influence?
What kind of knowledge does the writer expect his/her audience to have?
Is the writer addressing you and others like you?

11. Critical Reading: Step Two
After reading a text, think about your initial response to the text:
If the text is an argument, what seemed to be the writer’s main opinion? Were you persuaded?
Did you have an emotional response to the text? Were you surprised, amused, or angered by anything in it?
What is your impression of the writer or persona of the text?
What key ideas did you take away from the piece?

12. Critical Reading: Step Three
Analyze and interpret the text.
Analyze: to examine a text in detail, in particular by breaking it down into its significant parts and examining how those parts relate to each other.
Interpret: to explain the meaning of, or to conceive the significance of, a text

13. What is the writer’s stance or attitude toward the subject
Does the writer try to appear objective, or is the writer’s stance more subjective?

14. What is the writer’s voice?
Does the writer seem to speaking at, to or with the audience.
Is the writer’s diction formal or colloquial?
How would you describe the voice of the text? Is the voice friendly? Reserved? Thoughtful? Vehement? Laconic? Cynical? Hopeful?
What effect does the writer’s choice of voice have on the audience.

15. What assumptions does the writer seem to be making about the audience?
Does the writer assume an audience of specialists or a general readership?
Does the writer assume the reader agrees with him/her or does the writer build an argument?
Does the writer choose examples and evidence with a certain audience in mind?

16. What is the author’s primary purpose?
Is it to present findings?
Offer objective analysis?
Argue for a particular action or opinion?

17. How does the writer develop ideas?
What kind of support does he/she rely on to develop the main point?
Does he/she define key terms?
Do you agree with those definitions?
Does the writer use anecdote or analogy?
Are those relevant?
Are the examples and evidence presented logically?

18. Does the text appeal to emotion?
Does the writer use words, phrases, clichés, images, or examples that are emotionally charged?
Is the emotional appeal warranted by the subject?

19. Is the text fair?
Does the writer consider opposing ideas, arguments, or evidence?
Does he/she deal with the opposition fairly?

20. Is the evidence strong?
Is the evidence sufficient for the arguments position?
Where is the argument strongest?
Where is it weakest?

21. Is the text effective?
Has the text changed your beliefs on the subject it addresses?

22. Questions?

24. fin