Critical Reading Strategies

This handout outlines some of the basic strategies for critical reading.

1. Annotating
One of the first strategies to begin with is annotating a text. When you annotate, you underline important parts of the text, such as the thesis statement, topic sentences of
body paragraphs and explanatory material. Annotating may also include circling key words and writing comments or questions you have about the material in the margins.
This is also a very good way to mark material that needs to be studied for exams. See pages 6 and 72-89 in The Presence of Others.

2. Contextualizing.
When you contextualize a text, you place it within its original historical or cultural context. As a reader you should try to identify this context and consider how this context
differs from your own. In order to do this, you need to consider the following:
a. Language or ideas that appear foreign or out of date.
b. Your knowledge of the time and place in which the work was written.
c. The effect these differences have on your understanding and judgment of the reading.

3. Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values.

Sometimes our beliefs about an issue are difficult to express because they are so ingrained. In order to discover these beliefs it is important to explore how a text
challenges you. Does it make you feel disturbed, threatened, ashamed, or inspired? Many of you may have a strong reaction to some of the essays you read. This reaction
is a good example of an occasion when this type of reading strategy can be used. In order to do this, you might try the following:
a. Identify the points in the text where you feel your beliefs are being challenged.
b. Choose one or two of the most troubling challenges and analyze your feelings about them.

4. Paraphrasing.
When you paraphrase a text, you put it into your own words. This can be helpful in understanding a difficult or ambiguous passage. It is also one of the three ways to
incorporate other people’s ideas into your own. The other two are quoting directly and summarizing. Unlike a summary, a paraphrase contains all of the original
information. The purpose of a paraphrase is to simplify without changing any information. You are not changing what is said, but how it is said. See The Bedford Handbook,
pages 561-562.

5. Outlining.
This can be used as a preliminary to summarizing. Outlining allows you to identify the basic structure of a text and the main ideas of the text. In an outline you are listing
the main ideas and supporting evidence of a text. It is especially important to be able to distinguish between the two. Use your own words when outlining a text. See The
Bedford Handbook, page 483.

6. Summarizing.
Summarizing creates a new text by synthesizing the material of the original. After outlining the text, the information is put together again in your own words.
Summarization fosters understanding of the text, as you need to be able to recreate the meaning of the text in your own words. See The Bedford Handbook, page 561.

7. Exploring the figurative language.

Similes, metaphors and symbols are all examples of figurative language. This type of language helps writers illustrate their points and get the type of reaction they want
from the reader.
a. A metaphor indirectly identifies two different things with each other. For example, the ribbon of road winded endlessly before us.
b. A simile makes a more direct comparison through the use of connecting words such as like, as, or appears. The cloud was like a cotton ball.
c. A symbol makes a comparison by making one thing stand for another. For example, when a writer refers to the crown to symbolize monarchy.

8. Looking for patterns of opposition.

A writer may anticipate opposition to his or her views by responding to them in some way. A writer may also have conflicting views about the issues that are presented in
the text. When considering oppositions you might think of opposites like, yes, no; black, white; etc. Writers will often present an argument by favoring one side of opposing
terms. In order to look for patterns of opposition you might do the following:
a. Make two columns on a piece of paper and in the left-hand column list words and phrases that seem to indicate opposition. In the right-hand column write
down the opposite to that phrase. For instance if you wrote down ‘pleasant dreams’ in the left-hand column from Franklin’s essay, you would write down
‘nightmares’ in the right.
b. Make a note next to each pair which one the author prefers.
c. Come to a conclusion about what the writer wants you to believe based on these preferred oppositions.

9. Evaluating the logic of an argument.

The two parts of an argument are claim and support. The claim is what the writer wants the reader to accept. That is, the claim is the idea, opinion, or point of view of the
writer. The support is the reasons and evidence that becomes the basis for that claim. Arguments must pass the ABC test. That is the argument must be,
a. Appropriate
b. Believable
c. Consistent
To test an argument for appropriateness you need to analyze it according to logical fallacies, for instance false analogy, non sequitur, post hoc ergo propter hoc.

To test for believability you will apply other fallacies that relate to reasoning, such as begging the question, generalizations and failing to accept the burden of proof. In
testing for consistency you are checking to make sure there are no contradictory statements. See The Bedford Handbook, pages 506-517.

10. Recognizing emotional manipulation.

Writers are guilty of improper emotional manipulation when they use false or exaggerated appeals. When a writer acts as an alarmist, uses emotionally loaded words, like
racist, or tries to vilify the opposition, you, as reader, should be suspicious. Some of the following are fallacies of emotional appeal.
a. Loaded or slanted language: language meant to get a specific reaction from the reader.
b. Bandwagon effect: everyone else thinks this is true and so should you.
c. False flattery: praising the reader to get them to accept the writer’s view.
d. Veiled threat: alarming or frightening readers into believing author.

11. Judging the writer’s credibility.

There are three ways that writers establish their credibility.

a. By showing their knowledge of subject (using facts and statistics)

b. By building common ground with readers (base reasoning on shared beliefs)
c. By responding fairly to objections and opposing arguments (does the writer respond to objections or ignore them and assume everyone agrees with him or
her)

12. Analyzing the writing in other disciplines.

Other disciplines have traditional ways of writing about their subjects. As a critical reader, you need to be aware of these differences.

a. What is the subject?

b. What kinds of statements tend to be made about subjects in this field?
c. What key concepts does the reader need to be familiar with?
d. What evidence is valued in this field?
e. How are statistics presented?
f. How is field research presented?
g. How much description and narration is normally used? How much interpretation and evaluation?
h. How are quotations cited?
i. How are other scholars cited?
j. How is the author identified in the writing?
k. Where was it originally published?
l. Which genres are most commonly used in a particular field?

*This material was adapted by Beth Gilmartin, a former writing instructor at Seton Hall, from "A Catalog of Critical Reading Strategies" in Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R.
Cooper, Reading Critically, Writing Well: A Reader and Guide, Fifth Ed., New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.

Critical Reading and Reading Strategy

What is Critical Reading?

Reading critically does not, necessarily, mean being critical of what you read. Both reading and thinking critically don’t mean being ‘critical’ about some idea, argument, or
piece of writing - claiming that it is somehow faulty or flawed.

Critical reading means engaging in what you read by asking yourself questions such as, ‘what is the author trying to say?’ or ‘what is the main argument being presented?’
Critical reading involves presenting a reasoned argument that evaluates and analyses what you have read. Being critical, therefore - in an academic sense - means
advancing your understanding, not dismissing and therefore closing off learning.

To read critically is to exercise your judgement about what you are reading – that is, not taking anything you read at face value.

When reading academic material you will be faced with the author’s interpretation and opinion. Different authors will, naturally, have different slants. You should always
examine what you are reading critically and look for limitations, omissions, inconsistencies, oversights and arguments against what you are reading. In academic circles,
whilst you are a student, you will be expected to understand different viewpoints and make your own judgements based on what you have read.

Critical reading goes further than just being satisfied with what a text says, it also involves reflecting on what the text describes, and analysing what the text actually means,
in the context of your studies.

As a critical reader you should reflect on:

 What the text says: after critically reading a piece you should be able to take notes, paraphrasing - in your own words - the key points.
 What the text describes: you should be confident that you have understood the text sufficiently to be able to use your own examples and compare and
contrast with other writing on the subject in hand.
 Interpretation of the text: this means that you should be able to fully analyse the text and state a meaning for the text as a whole.

Critical reading means being able to reflect on what a text says, what it describes and what it means by scrutinising the style and structure of the writing, the language used
as well as the content.
Critical Thinking is an Extension of Critical Reading
Thinking critically, in the academic sense, involves being open-minded - using judgement and discipline to process what you are learning about without letting your
personal bias or opinion detract from the arguments.

Critical thinking involves being rational and aware of your own feelings on the subject – being able to reorganise your thoughts, prior knowledge and understanding to
accommodate new ideas or viewpoints.

Critical reading and critical thinking are therefore the very foundations of true learning and personal development.

Developing a Reading Strategy

You will, in formal learning situations, be required to read and critically think about a lot of information from different sources. It is important therefore, that you not only
learn to read critically but also efficiently.

The first step to efficient reading is to become selective.

If you cannot read all of the books on a recommended reading list, you need to find a way of selecting the best texts for you. To start with, you need to know what you are
looking for. You can then examine the contents page and/or index of a book or journal to ascertain whether a chapter or article is worth pursuing further.

Once you have selected a suitable piece the next step is to speed-read.

Speed reading is also often referred to as skim-reading or scanning. Once you have identified a relevant piece of text, like a chapter in a book, you should scan the first few
sentences of each paragraph to gain an overall impression of subject areas it covers. Scan-reading essentially means that you know what you are looking for, you identify
the chapters or sections most relevant to you and ignore the rest.

When you speed-read you are not aiming to gain a full understanding of the arguments or topics raised in the text. It is simply a way of determining what the text is about.

When you find a relevant or interesting section you will need to slow your reading speed dramatically, allowing you to gain a more in-depth understanding of the
arguments raised. Even when you slow your reading down it may well be necessary to read passages several times to gain a full understanding.

Following SQ3R
SQ3R is a well-known strategy for reading. SQ3R can be applied to a whole range of reading purposes as it is flexible and takes into account the need to change reading
speeds.

SQ3R is an acronym and stands for:

Survey
Question
Read
Recall
Review
Survey
This relates to speed-reading, scanning and skimming the text. At this initial stage you will be attempting to gain the general gist of the material in question.

Question
It is important that, before you begin to read, you have a question or set of questions that will guide you - why am I reading this? When you have a purpose to your reading
you want to learn and retain certain information. Having questions changes reading from a passive to an active pursuit. Examples of possible questions include:

What do I already know about this subject?

How does this chapter relate to the assignment question?
How can I relate what I read to my own experiences?

Read
Now you will be ready for the main activity of reading. This involves careful consideration of the meaning of what the author is trying to convey and involves being critical
as well as active.

Recall
Regardless of how interesting an article or chapter is, unless you make a concerted effort to recall what you have just read, you will forget a lot of the important points.
Recalling from time to time allows you to focus upon the main points – which in turn aids concentration. Recalling gives you the chance to think about and assimilate what
you have just read, keeping you active. A significant element in being active is to write down, in your own words, the key points.

Review
The final step is to review the material that you have recalled in your notes. Did you understand the main principles of the argument? Did you identify all the main points?
Are there any gaps? Do not take for granted that you have recalled everything you need correctly – review the text again to make sure and clarify.