Critical Reading

At the end of the module, the student is expected to:

1. Explain critical reading as looking for ways of thinking

What is Critical Reading?

Critical reading goes beyond recognition of the text’s meaning and restating
it in your own words. A critical reader does not merely skim the text at hand.
According to criticalreading.com, critical reading takes two steps further
from simple reading. To reach a solid interpretation o f a text, the critical
reader must dwell on what the text does by making such remarks beyond
what it says. From this, the critical reader must identify what the text wholly
means based on the previous analysis.
Critical reading advances the understanding of the reader by not taking the
text by its face value. It studies the composition’s every nook and cranny
until you find the author’s inconsistencies, oversights, limitations and other
reasonable arguments that is often overlooked by a normal reader.
The website enumerated the three steps of analysis reflecting the three types
of reading and discussion:
1. What a text says – restatement (wherein the reader merely restates
what is said in the original text)
2. What a text does – description (wherein the reader discusses aspects of
the discussion itself)
3. What a text means – interpretation (wherein the reader analyzes the
meaning of the text as a whole)
Critical reading does not simply ask what the text says but more of how the
topic is presented and why. Critical readers dwell on the distinctive qualities
of the text.
Readers normally read texts to obtain facts and knowledge. A critical reader,
on the other hand, mulls over the unique perspective of the author on a
particular text and how the facts the author presented arrived at his/her
conclusion.

Goals of Critical Reading

Prentice Hall has enumerated the following critical reading skills:
1. The ability to distinguish between fact and opinion
2. The ability to identify the author’s purpose
3. The ability to make inferences
4. The ability to recognize the author’s tone
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 5. The ability to recognize persuasive techniques
Critical reading ultimately examines the author’s choice of content, language
and structure. The basis of recognizing the purpose of an author is their
choice of content and language to use. The critical reader analyzes the tone
and persuasive elements of a text through reviewing the choice of language
used. In recognizing the bias of the text, the critical reader must identify the
nature of patterns of choice of content and language.
Critical reading teaches the reader how to not blindly accept all the
presented facts without further examination. This technique allows you to
confirm and present your own argument. The practical starting point of
every critical reader is to question everything you read.

Statement of Fact vs Statement of Opinion

One of the basic skills a critical reader must possess is to identify which is a
statement of fact and which is a statement of opinion. Whatever the text’s
purpose, it can possibly contain one or both of the statements.
A statement of fact is characterized by its ability to be verified through
experimentation, personal observation or credible sources. On the other
hand, a statement of opinion needs further evidence and other valid
supporting details to be proven true.

Tone
Tone reflects the author’s attitude in approaching the topic. According to
Forlini, “an author chooses words according to his/her attitude toward the
topic and how the author expects the reader to respond to the material.” The
author’s tone may be evident in his/her choice of words either expressing its
connotation or denotation.

Persuasive Techniques
The author uses various persuasive techniques to color the presentation of
facts and to appeal to the reader. Authors use jargons and slanting to make
the readers lean towards their position/argument.
Jargons are “specialized vocabulary used by people in a particular field.”
While often misused to conceal meaning, jargons may prove effective in
solidifying an argument if defined and explained appropriately.
Slanting “is the writing of a passage so that it leans toward one point of
view.” Words with either positive or negative connotations may be used as
slanting. Another example of slanting is purposefully leaving out information
of a different perspective on a similar issue.

Critical Reading Strategies

While people initially read for comprehension of the text, critical reading is
the logical second step that requires the reader to analyze the text
 thoroughly through questions that will eventually reveal the author’s
purpose for writing the text and his/her ideas.

Previewing
Before starting to read a text, it is important for a critical reader to get the
initial understanding of the text. Skimming the material enables the reader to
grasp the organization and the content of the text.
Contextualizing
The text is interpreted by the reader through his/her own understanding of
what it is all about. The words do not contain the meaning by themselves.
Since texts are all written in the past, it is vital for the reader to consider
putting the ideas in context by acknowledging the differences between
personal existing values and attitude and the author’s perspective.
Questioning to understand and remember
They say that the best way to learn is through asking questions. Questions
can also become your guide and key to understanding the author’s point of
view. It is recommended that a reader poses a question in each paragraph
that will focus on its main idea. This way, newer knowledge may be obtained
at the end of the analysis.
Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values
Every person has an existing bias or stand in a certain issue or topic. People
have varying beliefs accumulated through years of experience and marking
the parts of the text where your personal beliefs are tested is a strategy in
critical reading. This is done so the reader can track the pattern in the
author’s thoughts and presentation of his/her own beliefs.
Outlining and summarizing
Applying skills in outlining and summarizing can also help a reader think
critically. This is to further examine the author’s paragraph and sentence
structure as well as his/her organization of ideas. The key to perfecting these
skills is to properly identify the main ideas, the supporting details of the text
and the given examples. In outlining, the reader will find out the structure of
the text’s main ideas. Summarizing, on the other hand, restates these main
ideas in a concise form. This will show how well a reader has understood the
text.
Evaluating an argument
A critical reader does not accept everything they read as each text provides
assertions on what a reader can consider true. An argument is composed of
two essential parts: the claim and the support. The claim is “an idea, an
opinion, a judgment, or a point of view that the writer wants you to accept.”
The support consists of reasons and evidence that will prove to the readers
that the conclusion presented is worth accepting. It is worth noting that both

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 claim and support must be equally consistent with each other for the
argument to be deemed acceptable.
Comparing and contrasting related readings
With various resources and researches at the reader’s disposal, it is also
suggested to consult related readings in order to learn how to approach the
same topic in a different way.

Analysis and Inference

Analyzing a Written Text
In analyzing a written text, it is important to take note of the following
elements as well as the guide questions that come with it:
 Purpose/Context – What does the text aim to do? Does it mean to
persuade or does it contribute to a discussion of an existing topic?
What content does the text cover? What purpose does it serve its
readers?
 Author/s – Who wrote the text? What are his qualifications for
writing about the topic?
 Audience – What is its target audience? Where is the text found?
What does the author expect the reader to get from his/her
composition? Are you a part of the author’s audience?
 Topic and Position – Is the author’s argument on the topic at hand
supported by valid evidence? Is the author’s position clear? Is it
presented as objective? Is his/her stand based on other author’s
position or simply from personal observation/experience?
 Research/Sources – Do previous researches have a role in
supporting the author’s argument? Which of the references elicits
further discussion?
 Proof/Evidence – What are the proofs/evidence presented by the
author throughout the text? Did they come from credible sources?
What type of proof is used by the author (e.g. references to other
work, interpretations of other work, original research, personal
experience, author’s opinions, critical analysis, etc.)? Do these proofs
validate the argument? Which of the evidence carries the most
weight?
 Organization – How are the information organized in the text? For
what particular reason are they arranged in this particular way?
Where did the author plainly states his/her stand on the topic? Is the
organization driven more by the content (the information that needs
to be presented), by the authors' argument, by the needs of the
audience, or by some combination of the three?
 Style – What can you infer from the author’s choice of words? From
what perspective did the author write the text? Was he/she inclusive
with his/her choice of words? Did they use jargons or slanted
meanings? If there are, were they properly defined for the reader’s
 convenience and understanding? What other writing techniques did
the author apply in writing the text? Analyze each sentence structure,
figurative language and rhetorical questions existing in the text.
 Drawing Conclusions – What does the author want to highlight?
Compare and contrast the text with other similar ones. Identify the
similarities and differences in their approach of the same topic.

Making Inferences
The text, by itself, does not contain meaning. It is up to the reader to interpret
the meaning of the words, their usage and structure in the text. The reader
infers an interpretation of the text through prior knowledge, social
conventions, shared experience or shared values.
Inferences are essential in both written and spoken communication. A single
sentence may contain a variety of assertions. Reading is “an active, reflective,
problem-solving process.” Readers do not simply read the words, but ideas
from a collection of assertions.
Some examples of inferences are the following:
- A boy is wearing a Led Zeppelin T-shirt, glasses, and his shoes have mud
on them. One can infer he likes Led Zeppelin, his eyesight is poor and he
walked through mud.
- You adopt a puppy from the shelter and he seems nervous and scared. He
hides from loud noises and had some noticeable scars. You can infer that
he was abused by his former owner.

References
Analyzing a written text. Retrieved from:
https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/co301aman/pop7b3.c
fm
Inference reading. Retrieved from:
http://www.criticalreading.com/inference_reading.htm
Critical reading strategies. Retrieved from:
http://www.salisbury.edu/counseling/new/7_critical_reading_strategies.ht
ml
Forlini, et.al., (2004) Prentice Hall: Grammar and Composition.

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