MODULE 2- Text and Context Connections ( Critical Thinking)

Critical Reading - Text and Context Connections

• Whenever you read something and you evaluate claims, seek
definitions, judge information, demand proof, and question assumptions,
you are thinking critically (Tiongson & Rodriguez, 2016).
• It means not taking anything at face value. It is watching out for the
author’s limitations, omissions, oversights, and arguments in the text.
• It is a skill that goes beyond the reading of the written text. The
reader takes an effort to create images and pictorial concepts through his
sense impressions of the words written by the author.
I. Critical Reading As Ways Of Thinking
A. Critical Approach to Reading
1. Readers should always bear in mind that no test, however well-written
and authoritative, contains its own predetermined meaning. Everything is
subject to the reader’s own interpretation, understanding, and acceptance
of the text material.
2. To be a critical reader, one should interact with the material being
read. Look for the connections between the texts. Ask questions; and then,
respond to the questions; or expand the ideas by giving more
examples.
3. To create meaning for the text read, use a variety of approaches,
strategies, and techniques to connect to the presentation of the text.
B. Identifying and Analyzing Claims
1. Defining explicit and implicit information
Critical reading also means that you are able to distinguish the
information that is clearly stated (explicit) in the text from the ideas that
are suggested (implicit). This
will help you make inferences about what you read.
2. Defining Claim
The claim is the most important part of the text. The quality and
complexity of the reading depend on the claim because the claim defines
the paper’s direction and scope. The claim is a sentence that summarizes
the most important thing that the writer wants to say as a result of his/her
thinking, reading, or writing.
a. Characteristics of good claims:
 A claim should be argumentative and debatable.
When the writer makes a claim, he/she is making a case for a
particular perspective on the topic. Readers expect to be able to raise
objections to your claim and they can only raise objections if the claim
is something that can be reasonably challenged. Claims that are only
factual or based on opinion, thus, are not debatable.
 A claim should be specific and focused.
If the claim is unfocused, the paper will be too broad in scope and will
lack direction and a clear connection to the support provided. It may
also lead to overgeneralizations and vague assertions.
 A claim should be interesting and engaging.
It should hook the reader, who may or may not agree with you, to
encourage them to consider your perspective and learn something
new from you.
 A claim should be logical.
It should result from reasonable weighing of support provided. Here
are some questions to help you determine the writer’s claim while you
are reading a text:
i. What is the author’s main point? ii. What is the author’s position
regarding it?
3. Distinguishing Between the Types of Claim
a. Claims of Fact
• It states a quantifiable assertion or a measurable topic. They assert
that something has existed, exists, or will exist based on data. They rely
on reliable sources or systematic procedures to be validated; this is what
makes them different from inferences.
• Claims of fact usually answer a “what” question. When determining
whether something is a claim of fact, the following questions are useful.
i. Is this issue related to a possible cause or effect?
ii. Is this statement true or false? How can its truthfulness be
verified?
iii. Is this claim controversial or debatable?
b. Claims of Value
• Assert something that can be qualified. They consist of arguments
about moral, philosophical, or aesthetic topics. These types of topics try to
prove that some values are more or less desirable compared to others.
They make judgments, based on certain standards, on whether something
is right or wrong, good or bad, or something similar.
• Attempts to prove that there are things that are more or less valuable
and desirable. It involves judgments, evaluation, and appraisals.
• Claims of value attempt to explain how problems, situations, or issues
ought to be valued. In order to discover these explanations, you may ask
the following questions:
i. What claims endorse what is good or right?
ii. What qualities should be considered good? Why is that so?
iii. Which of these values contend with others? Which ones are more
important, and why? Whose standards are used?
iv. What are some concrete examples of such values?
c. Claims of Policy
• Posit that specific actions should be chosen as solutions to a particular
problem. You can easily identify a claim of policy because they begin with
“should,” “ought to,’ or “must.” Claims of policy, because they defend
actionable plans, usually answer “how” questions.
• The following questions will be useful in evaluating a claim of policy:
i. Does the claim suggest a specific remedy to solve the problem?
ii. Is the policy clearly defined?
iii. Is the need for the policy established?
iv. Is the policy the best one available? For whom? According to
whose standards?
v. How does the policy solve the problem?
C. Identifying the Context of Text Development
• Context - is defined as the social, cultural, political, historical, and
other related circumstances that surround the text and form the terms
from which it can be better understood and evaluated.
• In discovering a reading’s context, you may ask questions like:
1. When was the work written?
2. What were the circumstances that produced it?
3. What issues does it deal with?
• Intertextuality
▪ It is the modeling of a text’s meaning by another text. It is defined as
the connections between language, images, characters, themes, or
subjects depending on their similarities in language, genre, or discourse.
▪ In this strategy, the author borrows a prior text from another author
and integrates it in his writing. This way, the readers are able to see the
interrelationship among texts and are able to generate a deeper
understanding of the topic being discussed.
• Hypertext – is a non-linear way of showing information. It connects
topics on the screen to related information, graphics, or videos that are
related to the text. This information appears as links and is usually
accessed by clicking. The reader can jump to more information about a
topic, which in turn may
have more links. This opens up the reader a wider horizon of information
or to a new direction .
II. Critical Reading as Reasoning
A. Identifying Assertions
Assertions are declarative sentences that claim something is true about
something else. It
is a sentence that is either true or false.
Four (4) Types of Assertions
• Fact – is a statement that can be proven objectively by direct
experience, testimonies
of witnesses, verified observations, or the results of research.
Example: The Sampaguita’s roots are used for medicinal purposes, such
as an
anesthetic and sedative.
• Convention – is a way in which something is done, similar to
traditions and norms. It depends on historical precedent, laws, rules,
usage, and customs.
Example: The Sampaguita belongs to the genus Jasminum of the family
Oleaceae.
• Opinion – is based on facts but are difficult to objectively verify
because of the uncertainty of producing satisfactory proof of soundness.
Example: The popularity of Sampaguita is most evident in places of
worship.
• Preference – is based on personal choice; they are subjective and
cannot be objectively proven or logically attacked .
Example: Sampaguitas are the most beautiful and most fragrant of all
flowers.

B. Formulating Counterclaims
Counterclaims are claims made to rebut a previous claim. They provide a
contrasting perspective to the main argument.
The following questions will help you formulate a counterclaim:
• What are the major points on which you and the author can disagree?
• What is their strongest argument? What did they say to defend their
position?
• What are the merits of their view?
• What are the weaknesses or shortcomings in their argument?
• Are there any hidden assumptions?
• Which lines from the text best support the counterclaim you have
formulated?
C. Determining Textual Evidence
The evidence is defined as details given by the author in order to support
his/her claim. The evidence provided by the author substantiates the text.
It reveals and builds on the position of the writer and makes the reading
more interesting.
1. Evidence can include the following:
• Facts and statistics (objectively validated information on your subject)
• Opinion from experts (leading authorities on a topic, like researchers
or cademics).
• Personal anecdotes (generalized, relevant, and objectively
considered)
2. The following are some questions to help you determine evidence
from the text:
• What questions can you ask about the claims?
• Which details in the text answer your questions?
• What are the most important details in the paragraph?
• What is each one’s relationship to the claim?
• How does the given detail reinforce the claim?
• What details do you find interesting? Why so?
• What are some claims that do not seem to have support? What kinds
of support could they be provided with?
• What are some details that you find questionable? Why do you think
so?
• Are some details outdated, inaccurate, exaggerated, or taken out of
context?
• Are the sources reliable?
3. The following are the characteristics of a good evidence:
• unified
• relevant to the central point
• specific and concrete
• accurate; and
• representative or typical