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An Introduction to Critical Reading

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Title: An Introduction to Critical Reading


1
An Introduction to Critical Reading
  • Presented by
  • Paul Krauss
  • Traci Scherdell
  • The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

2
Exercise 1
  • Take 2-3 minutes to read the following passage
    entitled Higher Levels of Reading and Higher
    Education.
  • When you are finished, please turn over the paper.

3
What is critical reading?
  • Preface Critical is not intended to have a
    negative meaning in the context of critical
    reading.
  • Definition An active approach to reading that
    involves an in depth examination of the text.
    Memorization and understanding of the text is
    achieved. Additionally, the text is broken down
    into its components and examined critically in
    order to achieve a meaningful understanding of
    the material.

4
Passive vs. Active Reading
  • Passive Reading - (4 traits)
  • 1. Largely inactive process.
  • 2. Low motivation to examine the text critically
    or at an in-depth level.
  • 3. Important pieces of data and assumptions may
    be glossed over and missed.
  • 4. Data and assumptions that are perceived by the
    passive reader are accepted at face value or are
    examined superficially, with little thought.

5
Passive vs. Active Reading
  • Active Reading - Active reading involves
    interacting with the text and therefore requires
    significantly more energy than passive reading.
  • Critical reading ALWAYS involves active reading.
    The active reader invests sufficient effort to
    understand the text and commit important details
    to memory.
  • The active reader identifies important pieces of
    data, the assumptions underlying arguments, and
    examines them critically. They rely on their
    personal experiences and knowledge of theory to
    analyze the text.

6
Techniques of Critical Reading
  • Previewing
  • Writing
  • Critical Reading (at least two times)
  • Summarizing
  • Forming a Critical Response
  • Finding a Focus for Your Paper

7
Previewing
  • Form meaningful expectations about the reading.
  • Pace yourself decide how much time you will
    dedicate to the reading.
  • Skimming.
  • Look for Title, Section Headings, Date
  • Expectations about the Author (previous works)
  • Define the important vocabulary words
  • Brief summaries of chapters
  • The goal is to obtain a general grasp of the text

8
Writing
  • Writing While Reading
  • a. Margin
  • b. Divided Page Method
  • c. Landmark/Footnote Method
  • d. Reading Journal
  • e. Online Documents

9
Writing - Margin
  • Mark, highlight, or underline parts of the text
    that you think are very important.
  • Option 1 - Write a few words in the margin that
    capture the essence of your reaction.
  • Option 2 Write a few words that will help you
    to remember the passage. This is useful for
    learning definitions or parts of a theory.

10
Example - Margin
  • Please turn to the handout titled, Example 1
    Margin.

11
Divided Page Method
  • On a separate piece of paper, divide your page
    into two columns.
  • Label one column text (meaning from your
    reading) and the other response (meaning your
    response).
  • Write down a part of the text you think is
    important in the text column and then write a
    reaction to it in the other column.

12
Example Divided Page Method
  • Please turn to the handout titled, Example 2
    Divided Page Method.

13
Landmark/Footnote Method
  • On a separate piece(s) of paper or in your
    reading journal, dedicate an adequate amount of
    space to an article, book, chapter, etc, you are
    reading.
  • Highlight, mark, or underline a critical part in
    your reading. In the margin, indicate that you
    are going to write a footnote. For example, write
    a 1 or a (or whatever you want).
  • In your reading journal, write a 1 or a (or
    whatever symbol you chose) and then write your
    critical response.

14
Example Landmark/Footnote
  • Please turn to the handout titled, Example 3
    Landmark/Footnote Method.

15
Reading Journal
  • In addition to the other uses described above,
    use the reading journal to track what you are
    reading and to form critical responses to
    articles, chapters, etc you have read in their
    entirety.
  • Try to summarize the entire article, describe the
    main points, define key terms, and express your
    reactions.
  • Remember, do NOT refer back to the text until you
    absolutely have to! Give your memory a workout!
    Force yourself to learn the material as you read
    and be able to write it down clearly afterwards.
  • Also, put concepts into your own words.
  • A general rule is 3-5 pages of notes per 100
    pages of text.

16
Online Documents
  • Two ways to write while reading online documents
  • Reading Journal
  • Cut and Paste in Word Processor, then insert
    comments
  • For example

17
Read 1
  • Read in an environment where you will be free
    from distractions.
  • Read steadily and smoothly. Try to enjoy the
    work.
  • Write notes, but do so sparingly.
  • What works best for you?
  • We suggest avoiding your cell phone, television,
    computer, and most music (besides instrumental).

18
Read 2
  • Re-read the material more slowly than during your
    first read.
  • The two most important objectives are
  • Understand the content of the material
  • Understand the materials structure

19
3 Responses to Texts
  • Restatement- Restating what a text says talking
    about the original topic.
  • Description- Describing what a text a does
    identifies aspects of text.
  • Interpretation- Analyze what a text means
    asserts an overall meaning.

20
Summarization
  • Summarization Pull out the main points of the
    text and write them down.
  • The summarys complexity and length will vary
    according to the complexity and length of the
    text you have read!

21
Exercise 2
  • Take 4-6 minutes to read the following article
    entitled Graduate Students debate the merits of
    unionizing.
  • Use what you have learned about critical writing
    during this read.
  • When you are finished, please turn over the
    paper.

22
Forming Your Critical Response
  • Analysis
  • Interpretation
  • Synthesis
  • In forming your critical response, you will now
    go beyond what the author has explicitly written
    to form your impressions of the text.

23
Analysis
  • Analysis is the separation of something into its
    parts or elements, which helps to examine them
    more closely.
  • To analyze reading, you can take at least these
    two approaches
  • Choose a question to guide analysis.
  • Look at the authors argument structure.

24
Analysis (continued)
  • Examine the argument structure.
  • Claims Statements that require support by
    evidence.
  • Assumptions The writers underlying beliefs,
    opinions, principles, or inferences that connect
    evidence to the claims.

25
Analysis (continued)
  • Types of evidence
  • Facts Verifiable evidence.
  • Opinion Judgments based upon facts.
  • Expert Opinion Judgments formed by authorities
    on a given subject.
  • Appeal to Beliefs or Needs Readers are asked to
    accept a claim in part because they already
    accept it as true WITHOUT factual evidence or
    because it coincides with their needs.
  • Appeal to Emotion A claim that is persuasive
    because it evokes an emotion within the reader,
    but may or may not rely on factual evidence.

26
Analysis (continued)
  • To judge the reliability of evidence, look at the
    following areas
  • Accuracy
  • Relevance
  • Representativeness
  • Adequacy

27
Analysis (continued)
  • Logical Fallacies Errors in reasoning.
  • Examples
  • Red herring-introduction of an irrelevant issue
    in an argument.
  • Non sequitur- linking two or more ideas that have
    no logical connection.
  • Making broad generalizations without proven
    empirical evidence.
  • Learn to identify logical fallacies by visiting
  • http//www1.ca.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/inde
    x.html

28
Interpretation
  • After breaking down the text into its components
    and examining them, ask yourself about the
    conclusions you can draw from this evidence.
  • What claims does the author make?
  • What evidence supports these claims?
  • Can you infer anything beyond what the author has
    explicitly written that either strengthens or
    weakens the claims made by the author?
  • See Critical Reading Checklist Handout

29
Synthesis
  • Now that you have broken down the text into its
    parts, analyzed them, and interpreted it all, you
    should make new connections with what you know.
  • Ask yourself again What are the main points of
    this text? Were my expectations for this article
    met? If I read in between the lines do I learn
    anything else about what the author is saying?
    Overall, what can I conclude from this text?

30
Delivering Your Critical Response
  • By this point, you will have everything you need
    to create a critical response. At The Chicago
    School of Professional Psychology, your delivery
    will typically be in the form of a written paper
    or oral presentation.
  • If you want assistance on this task, please feel
    free to stop by the Academic Support Center.

31
Finding a Focus for Your Paper
If you are delivering a critical response in the
form of a written paper, we have some tips for
finding a focus for your writing and getting
started.
32
Step 1Finding Your Focus
  • Start early. Give yourself enough time.
  • Understand the assignment requirements.
  • Know the material.
  • Choose a topic that interests you has potential
    future value.
  • Make sure the topic is relevant and researchable
    (appropriate available research).
  • Develop a controlling idea that is congruent with
    your angle on a topic or what you read.

33
Step 2Developing your angle and establishing a
controlling idea
  • Developing an angle and establishing a
    controlling idea is important for every type of
    paper.
  • Be as specific as possible.
  • Use it to focus direct the paper.
  • Make a statement instead of a question
  • State a point that you can further develop,
    explain, or substantiate.

34
Developing Your FocusExamples
  • Angle Controlling Idea
  • Homelessness. The causes of homelessness
  • Cultural bias in testing. Problems, solutions,
    the
  • clinicians role
  • Professional Ethics. Bridging the gap between
  • professional ethical
  • standards and personal morals

35
Step 3Getting Started
  • Start-up Styles
  • Outline Intro, body, conclusion
  • Brainstorm Write down points ideas you have
    regarding your topic.
  • Find relevant research writing regarding your
    topic and highlight important quotations.
  • Start writing organize it later.
  • Different strategies work for different people!

36
The Writing Process
  • Rough Draft
  • Final Draft
  • Edit
  • Edit Again
  • If you need assistance you can bring your paper
    to the Academic Support Center (room 631) for
    review.

37
References
Adler M. J., Van Doren, C. (1972). How to read
a book. Touchstone New York. Fowler, H. R.,
Aaron, J. E. (2001). The little, brown handbook.
Longman New York. Godfrey, A., Krauss, P.
(2006). The art of essay writing back to
basics. Presented in March and July, 2006. The
Chicago School Chicago. Kurland, D. (2000). How
language really works The fundamentals of
critical reading and effective writing.
Retrieved 5 July 2006 from http//www.criticalrea
ding.com
38
References continued
Stover, A. (2005). An introduction to critical
reading. Presented October, 2005 and March,
2006. The Chicago School Chicago.
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