Critical Reading and Ways of

Thinking
Before you proceed, decide whether you agree or disagree
with the following statements:
1. There is evil in every person.
2. Government expenditure for infrastructure has to stop.
3. Facebook is bad.
4. Athletes are disciplined persons.
5. Christianity is the best religion.
Critical Reading

Its component is the ability to interpret

and construct for improved clarity and
readability of the text of reading material.

It involves reaction to or evaluation of

the author’s purpose or focus of the text and
the kind of information found in the text.
 To read critically is to think critically.

Critical thinking is a technique for evaluating information and ideas, for

deciding what to accept and believe.

These ideas require critical thinking!

1. Government expenditure for infrastructure has to stop.

2. Athletes are disciplined persons.
3. There is evil in every person.
 We may choose to accept or reject a
presentation, but we must know why.

We have a responsibility to ourselves, as well as to others, to

isolate the real issues of agreement or disagreement. Only
then can we understand and respect other people’s views. To
recognize and understand those views, we must read critically.
In actual practice, critical reading and critical
thinking work together.

Critical thinking allows us to monitor our

understanding as we read. If we sense that
assertions are ridiculous or irresponsible
(critical thinking), we examine the text more
closely to test our understanding (critical
reading).
Note: See attachments for examples and additional readings.
People develop a stand in an issue by considering their beliefs,
ideals, upbringing, and others. A stand simply refers to one’s
position in a certain issue or argument. It normally classifies a
person as for or against a certain idea or proposition.

CLAIM, however, refers to a person’s statement

regarding his/her stand. By understanding a
person’s claim, we can already tell what stand the
person has on a particular issue.
 Remember!

CLAIM is a statement that is consistent with the

writer’s stand.

Explicit information is directly stated in the text.

Implicit information are the ideas which you need to infer.

Note: See attachments for examples of stands and claims of the authors.
FACT Claim
is an argumentative thesis which makes a quantifiable
assertion whether something is true or untrue;
must not necessarily be a fact because it must have a
potential for controversy.

YouTube exposes kids to acts of violence because it

does not effectively filter videos.
Environment destruction results to more flooding
especially in low lying areas.
VALUE Claim
is an argument about the moral, aesthetic, or
philosophical topic.
is a statement concerning the relative merits of
something which is measured subjectively.

It is wrong to put your parents in a convalescent home in

their old age because a family’s care helps them to
recuperate faster.

Among Van Gogh’s paintings, only “Starry Night” can be

considered a masterpiece because of its prominence.
POLICY Claim
is an argumentative thesis that makes an assertion about
the course of action the reader should take;
is often a procedural, organized plan regarding an
actionable topic.

The best way to lower bad cholesterol in the body is

through water therapy.

Because of signs of abuses on the part of the police,

Tokhang operations should once again be put on hold.