WEEK 2

INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL READING

What is Critical Reading?

Being a critical reader does not require you to be critical about everything you read.
There is no need to find fault and argue with the author on all things that you think are
faulty, unconventional and questionable. What does critical reading mean, then?

In hindsight, critical reading is explained as the manner of engaging yourself in what you
read by asking questions like, “what does the author mean?” “what message is being
conveyed in the text” or “what is the argument raised?” The process of critical reading
involves raising a reasoned, logical and balanced argument that analyzes and
evaluated the text. Thus, being a critical reader means that you have achieved a higher
level of comprehension, have stayed open-minded all throughout, and have continued
to learn and embrace knowledge and wisdom outside your own standards and beliefs.

To critically read a text is to apply your discretion to what you are reading. You do not
take everything you read at face value. You will be faced with the writer’s insights and
interpretations when reading texts for academic purposes. Expectedly, different writers
have their own points of view and biases. For this reason, critically examining
everything you read to check for intentional and unintentional omissions, grounds for
arguments, and inconsistencies is of utmost importance.

You will be expected to understand and interpret different viewpoints in the academe,
which are important in making your own judgments.

Reading critically means reflecting on:

 Content of the text: the reader should be able to interpret and explain the main
points of the text on his or her own words
 Descriptions in the text: the reader should be able to create his or her own
examples based from the described key points and be able to compare them with
other texts of the same topic
 Interpretation of the text: the reader should be able to objectively analyze the
text in parts and in whole

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Introduction to Critical Reading
To summarize, critical reading allows a reader to understand the content of the text, the
descriptions contained, and the interpretation of the author in order to scrutinize the
elements involved, including the style, composition and language.

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Introduction to Critical Reading
CRITICAL READING AS A DAILY ROUTINE

Reading takes a lot of time, especially in higher education where evaluation and
analysis are staple parts of the reading process. This fact makes reading tedious and
cumbersome for most people, which makes studying less motivating and effective.

However, reading for academic purposes need not be challenging. It is, and should
always be, an active process which leads to the development of the reader. This is
bound to happen only when the reader becomes consistently conscious of the nature
and content of the text, and everything that the author implies behind the text.

When we read, we read not only the text, but also the mind of the person who wrote it.
We learn more perspectives in life the more we read. Hence, making reading a habit
widens our horizons and allows us to always look at the bigger picture from a vantage
point.

It is needless to say that making critical reading a habit does not only require you to
read every day but also to absorb as much as you can, to integrate the valuable ones to
your own principles and values, and to adopt the attitude necessary to keep yourself
inspired in reading.

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Introduction to Critical Reading
How Reading Develops

Naturally, reading starts with the understanding of the letters, words, and symbols used
in the text. Children read and understand at face value because they are in the process
of familiarizing from a linguistic point of view. As they grow older and their academic and
intellectual levels go up, the reading process becomes more complicated. They learn
that reading is not just identifying letters, words, and symbols, but also comprehending
the meaning behind those words. Learning is no longer done at the surface.
Connotation is added to denotation. Figurative meaning is combined with literal
meaning. In a span of several years, reading becomes more worthwhile yet more
challenging.

Eventually, we learn to add new words to our vocabulary on a daily basis, and use them
in our own sentences. We start challenging what textbook call “facts” as we adopt a
skeptic attitude, which leads to curiosity and later on, discovery. We start asking and
start answering questions. Finally, we learn to integrate reading and learning in the
truest sense.

However, as we progress down the academic path and absorb more bits of knowledge
and perspectives, our principles, values and beliefs also start crumble, some of which
are permanently changed through the influence of other sources and people. The wide
gamut of information available to us makes thinking more complex as we have to
consider more things than usual. Our accumulating experience also adds challenge,
although these inevitable factors are necessary for learning and progression.

This process of transitioning from mere data gathering to a deeper level of

consciousness that involves analysis and evaluation is crucial for our own personal
development and professional advancement.

The more we develop our reading capacity, the more proficient we become in accepting
and rejecting what we read. This, by nature, is practicing critical reading to the best of
our abilities.

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Introduction to Critical Reading
The Goal of Reading

People read every day for different purposes. Some have deeper purposes that root
from critical reasons, like when reading for academic and professional purposes. Some,
on the other hand, read to be entertained, to pass time, or simply to try to learn new
things without pinpointing any particular form of knowledge.

Most of the time, we read factual information, or at least, try to, amidst the world of fake
news and unverified information in the internet. We may also read fiction in order to be
entertained; depending upon the reader, a level of interpretation may be applied, and if
reading fiction as part of an English Literature degree, then analysis of the author’s
writing style, motives, and other elements is imperative.

A lot of people read newspapers in print or online. They do it to be informed. However,

since bias and partisan politics are widespread in mass media, opinions are sometimes
delivered as factual statements. This is damaging to learning as influence is sometimes
brought not by value but by popularity.

One example of this is the proliferation of fake news as told by some social media
influencers who click before they think. This is irresponsible but remains tolerated by
many people until now. Thus, the goal of reading should be to learn, not to be updated
with what famous people are talking about.

When reading for academic purposes, students usually observe two main goals: first is
to learn and develop, and second is to pass the subject. Sadly, many students only aim
to pass and not to learn and develop, thinking that everything is fine for as long as they
pass the subject. What they do not realize is that this mindset and attitude may only be
helpful to a certain degree when still studying, not when venturing in the real world as a
professional. Furthermore, this mindset is the reason why not all students who graduate
display competitiveness and efficiency at work.

Lastly, many students read to memorize, and not read to comprehend, analyze, and
interpret the text. There is memorization but with very minimal learning. The knowledge
is forgotten when the memorized words and sentences are also forgotten. This is the
reason why memorization is considered as the lowest form of intelligence.

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Introduction to Critical Reading
Adopting a Healthy Attitude in Reading

Usually, we find unfamiliar topics, styles and languages hard to follow. This is expected
even for professionals. Consequentially, this can also be disappointing and de-
motivating. Who wants to burden themselves anyway? Sooner or later, the person who
experienced reading as a challenge may quit the habit altogether. Development is then
delayed or denied completely.

On this regard, critical reading is less challenging as there is no need to focus on the
text verbatim. There is no need to pay attention to all details as well as not every detail
in a text possesses value.

In critical reading, you are encouraged to learn meaning and identify value rather than
absorb everything at face value. Being able to follow the flow of the story and predict
what’s bound to happen by drawing conclusions and making inferences is given priority
over being able to familiarize yourself with the specific details.

In order to keep a positive attitude when reading, one has to equip him or herself with
tools that make learning more convenient and less tiresome. Make a quality dictionary
available for access at all times just in case you encounter unfamiliar terminologies that
cannot be understood with context clues alone. There are hundreds of printed
dictionaries to choose from, although downloading updated applications and accessing
them online are now more convenient. One has to keep in mind, though, that denotative
and connotative meanings may be used in the same text by the same author. Hence,
relying on literal meaning is not always helpful.

Another way to maintain a healthy attitude in reading is by emotionally detaching

yourself from the text. Subjective reading clouds judgment. In fact, many authors try to
influence readers by using their own emotions against them. Advisably, one has to
maintain objectivity when reading as this allows a person to analyze the text using logic
and not feelings.

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Differentiating Facts from Interpretations

For non-critical readers, a text is a source of facts. Texts are, then, memorized in order
to absorb these so-called facts.

When studying history, they believe the book that describes events the clearest

For critical readers, on the other hand, a text only provides the author’s own
interpretation of facts. This interpretation may be considered valid or invalid. Hence,
critical readers recognize not only what the text says, but also how the text discusses
the topic.

When studying history, they gather as much information as possible, stitch the different
interpretations together, and validate the ones that are supported by logical or scientific
explanations. They learn to link information from different sources to create a timeline
where the past, present and future connect with each other.

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Introduction to Critical Reading