CRITICAL READING: IS IT IMPORTANT FOR US?
A. Types of reading
These three steps or modes of analysis are reflected in three types of reading and discussion:
• What a text says – restatement – talks about the same topic as the original text
• What a text does – description – discusses aspects of the discussion itself
• What a text means – interpretation — analyses the text and asserts a meaning for the text as a whole.
B. Goals of Critical Reading
Textbooks on critical reading commonly ask students to accomplish certain goals:
» Recognizing purpose involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language
» Recognizing tone and persuasive elements involves classifying the nature of language choices
» Recognizing bias involves classifying the nature of patterns of choice of content and language
Critical reading is not simply close and careful reading. To read critically, one must actively recognize and analyse evidence upon the page.
C. How to be a critical reader?
1. Prepare to become part of the writer's audience.
After all, authors design texts for specific audiences, and becoming a member of the target audience makes it easier to get at the author's purpose. Learn about the author, the history of the author and the text, the author's anticipated audience; read introductions and notes.
2. Prepare to read with an open mind.
Critical readers seek knowledge; they do not "rewrite" a work to suit their own personalities. Your task as an enlightened critical reader is to read what is on the page, giving the writer a fair chance to develop ideas and allowing yourself to reflect thoughtfully, objectively, on the text.
3. Consider the title.
This may seem obvious, but the title may provide clues to the writer's attitude, goals, personal viewpoint, or approach.
4. Read slowly.
Again, this appears obvious, but it is a factor in a "close reading." By slowing down, you will make more connections within the text.
5. Use the dictionary and other appropriate reference works.
If there is a word in the text that is not clear or difficult to define in context: look it up. Every word is important, and if part of the text is thick with technical terms, it is doubly important to know how the author is using them.
6. Make notes.
Jot down marginal notes, underline and highlight, write down ideas in a notebook, do whatever works for your own personal taste. Note for yourself the main ideas, the thesis, the author's main points to support the theory. Writing while reading aids your memory in many ways, especially by making a link that is unclear in the text concrete in your own writing.
7. Keep a reading journal
In addition to note-taking, it is often helpful to regularly record your responses and thoughts in a more permanent place that is yours to consult. By developing a habit of reading and writing in conjunction, both skills will improve.