Scribd
Upload
106 views21 pages

Reading Texts Critically

'I'm afraid I don't have enough context to evaluate those claims.'

Uploaded by

Jemina Patricia Mendez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
106 views21 pages

Reading Texts Critically

'I'm afraid I don't have enough context to evaluate those claims.'

Uploaded by

Jemina Patricia Mendez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 21

“Critical reading is an active process of discovery.

”
-Gary Goshgarian

 What does it mean to read critically?

 What did Goshgarian sat that critical reading is


an active process?
Try reading the following statement:

 Girls most likely do well in academics during


high school years but boys get ahead of them in
college?

 Female teenagers are more concerned with their


physical appearance than male teenagers.
 Do you believe and agree with the statement after
reading them?
 Would you question their veracity?
 How would you react after reading the statement?

If you question the validity of the statement by asking


the person to give the basis for his/her assertions, then
you are one step closer to becoming a critical reader.
 Critical reading involves scrutinizing the
information you read or hear.

 Critical reading means not easily believing


information offered to you by the text.

“Read not to contradict and confute; nor


believe and take for granted; nor to find talk
and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”
-Francis Bacon, The Essays
Critical reading is an active process because when
you read critically, you are not just receiving
information but also making an interaction with the
writer.

The interaction happens when you question the


writer’s claims and assertions and when you
comment on the writer’s ideas.
Ramage, Bean and Johnson (2006) identified the
following requirements in critical thinking:
 The ability to pose problematic questions
 The ability to analyze a problem in all its
dimensions-to define its key terms, determines its
causes, understand its history, appreciate its
human dimension and its connection to one’s
personal experience and appreciate what makes it
problematic or complex
 The ability to find, gather, and interpret data,
facts and other information
 The ability to imagine alternative solutions to the
problem, to see different ways in which the question
might be answered and different perspectives for
viewing it
 The ability to analyze competing approaches and
answers, to construct arguments for and against
alternatives, and to choose the best solution in the
light of values, objectives, and other criteria that you
determine and articulate
 The ability to write an effective argument justifying
your choice while acknowledging counter-argument
1. Annotate what you read. One way to
interact with the writer is to write on the
text.

2. Outline the text. Identify the main points


of the writer and list down so you can
also identify the ideas that the writer has
raised to support his/her stand.
1. Summarize the text. Aside from outlining, you
can also get the main points of the text you are
reading and write its gist in your own words.

2. Evaluate the text. Considered the most


challenging part / Question the author’s purpose
and intentions /claims
 the science of thinking
 reasoning conducted or assessed
according to strict principles of
validity
 Fallacies are common errors
in reasoning that will undermine the logic
of your argument.

 Fallacies can be either


illegitimate arguments or irrelevant
points, and are often identified because
they lack evidence that supports their
claim.
 An argument based on an unqualified
generalization
 a fallacy in which a general rule or
observation is treated as universally true
regardless of the circumstances or the
individuals concerned

e.g. Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody


should exercise.
 a fallacy in which a conclusion is not
logically justified by sufficient or unbiased
evidence.

e.g.
 You can’t speak French. Petey Burch can’t
speak French. I must therefore conclude
that nobody at the University of Minnesota
can speak French.

 I guess you can never trust a woman.


 a fallacy in which one event is said to be
the cause of a later event simply
because it occurred earlier

e.g.
“Let’s not take Bill on our picnic. Every time
we take him out with us, it rains.‘”
 involve an argument (generally
considered a logical fallacy) that draws
a conclusion from inconsistent or
incompatible premises

e.g.
If God can do anything, can He make a
stone so heavy that He won’t be able to lift
it?'
 an argument based on a strong appeal to
the emotions.
 Also known as argumentum ad
misericordiam or appeal to pity or misery

e.g.
'A man applies for a job. When the boss asks
him what his qualifications are, he replies that
he has a wife and six children at home, the
wife is a helpless cripple, the children have
nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no shoes
on their feet, there are no beds in the house,
no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming.'
 an argument based on misleading,
superficial, or implausible comparisons

e. g.
Students should be allowed to look at their
textbooks during examinations. After all,
surgeons have X-rays to guide them during an
operation, lawyers have briefs to guide them
during a trial, carpenters have blueprints to
guide them when they are building a house.
Why, then, shouldn’t students be allowed to
look at their textbooks during an
examination?'
 A hypothesis that is not true

e.g.
If Madame Curie had not happened to
leave a photographic plate in a drawer
with as chunk of pitchblend, the world
today would not know about radium.
 a logical fallacy in which a person
attempts to place an opponent in a
position from which he or she is unable to
reply

e.g.
'You can’t go with him, Polly. He’s a liar.
He’s a cheat. He’s a rat.'

You might also like