The document discusses critical reading. It begins with an overview of today's agenda which includes characteristics of a critical reader and critical reading strategies. It then discusses critical reading in more detail, defining it as examining evidence, checking influences and limitations, and deciding how much to accept the author's arguments. Several critical reading strategies are outlined, including keeping a reading journal, annotating the text, outlining the text, summarizing the text, and questioning the text. The document also discusses identifying explicit vs implicit information, different types of claims, and critical reading as a form of reasoning by identifying assertions, formulating counterclaims, and determining textual evidence.

1. What to expect today's discussion
TODAY'S AGENDA
Characteristics of a Critical Reader
Critical Reading

2. Critical Reading
DISCUSSION FLOW
• Critical Reading
• Critical Reading
Strategies
• Identifying and
Analyzing Claims
• Critical Reading as
Reasoning

3. • Critical Reading
most
most characteristic features of critical reading are that
you will examine the evidence or arguments presented,
check out any influences on the evidence or arguments,
check out the limitations of study design or focus,
examine the interpretations made and decide to what
extent you are prepared to accept the authors’
arguments, opinions, or conclusions and goes further
than just being satisfied with what a text says, it also
involves reflecting on what the text describes, and
analyzing what the text actually means, in the context of
your studies.
-Critical Reading is a technique for discovering ideas
and information within a text.
-Critical Reading refers to a careful, active, reflective
and analytic reading.

4. 2. CRITICAL
READING
STRATEGIES
KEEPING A READING JOURNAL
a) When you read a text, you read it through the lens of your own
experience. Your understanding of the words on the page and their
significance is informed by what you have come to know and value from
living in a particular time and place. But the texts you read were all written
in the past, sometimes in a radically different time and place. To read
critically, you need to contextualize, to recognize the differences between
your contemporary values and attitudes and those represented in the
text.
- In a reading journal, you are writing your feelings and ideas in reaction
to your reading assignment. This process allows you to develop your
impressions of the text and connect them to your personal experiences.
This allows you to better relate to the essay and understand the author’s
ideas.
ANNOTATING THE TEXT
b) Annotating the text simply means making notes on
your copy of the reading. This includes highlighting or
underlining important passages and writing notes,
comments, questions, and reactions on the margins. By
doing this, you are entering into a dialogue with the author
and not just passively reading the text.
OUTLINING THE TEXT
c) Outlining is especially helpful strategies for understanding
the content and structure of a reading selection. Whereas
outlining reveals the basic structure of the text. The main
ideas form the backbone, the strand that holds the various
parts and pieces of the text together. Outlining the main ideas
helps you to discover this structure. When you make an
outline, don't use the text's exact words. By locating the thesis
statement, claims, and evidence, and then plotting these into
an outline, you can see how the writer structures, sequences,
and connects his/her ideas. This way you will be able to better
evaluate the quality of the writing.
SUMMARIZING THE TEXT
d) Summarizing synopsizes a selection's main
argument in brief. Summarizing begins with outlining, but
instead of merely listing the main ideas, a summary
recomposes them to form a new text. It consists of
getting the main points of the essay and important
supporting details. Summarizing is a useful skill because
you can better understand the reading if you can
recognize and differentiate major and minor points in
the text.
QUESTIONING THE TEXT
e) These questions are designed to help you
understand a reading and respond to it more fully, and often this
technique works. When you need to understand and use new
information though it is most beneficial if you write the questions, as
you read the text for the first time. With this strategy, you can write
questions any time, but in difficult academic readings, you will
understand the material better and remember it longer if you write a
question for every paragraph or brief section. Each question should
focus on a main idea, not on illustrations or details, and each should
be expressed in your own words, not just copied from parts of the
paragraph.

5. 3. IDENTIFYING and Analyzing Claims
a. Determining 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 ideas that are suggested (implicit).
Implicit Information – means implied or understood though not plainly or directly
expressed. Therefore, implicit, when it is not directly stated but is either suggested in the
wording or necessary to effectuate the purpose. Explicit Information – means to fully and clearly
express something, leaving nothing implied. Something is explicit when it is cleared stated and
spelled out and there is no room for confusion, as in the writing of a contract or statute.

6. b. Claims – or central argument or thesis
statement of the text. A statement essentially
arguable but used as a primary point to
support or prove an argument. A claim
persuades, argues, convinces, proves, or
provocatively suggests something to a
reader who may or may not initially agree
with you.
I. Characteristics of a good claim
• A claim should be argumentative and debatable.
• A claim should be specific and focused.
• A claim should be interesting and engaging
• A claim should be logical.
III. Identifying the context of Text Development
1. Context – is 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.
2. Intertexuality – is the modeling of a text’smeaning 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.
3. Hypertext -- is simply a non-linear way of presenting information.
Rather than reading or learning about things in the order that an author, or
editor, or publisher sets out for us, readers of
hypertext may follow their own path, create their own order-- their own
meaning out the material.
II. Types of Claims
1. Claim of Fact – states a quantifiable assertion or measurable topic. They assert that
something has existed, exists, or will exist based on data. They usually answer a “what”
question.
2. Claim 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. They
attempt to explain how problems, situations, or issues ought to be valued.
3. Claim of Policy – posit that specific actions should be chosen as solutions to a particular
problem. They begin with “should”, “ought to”, or “must”. They defend actionable plans,
usually answer “how” questions.

7. 4. 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.
i. Fact – a statement that can be proven objectively by direct
experience, testimonies of witnesses, verified observations,
or the results of research.
ii. Convention – It is a way in which something is done,
similar to traditions and norms. Conventions depend
on historical precedent, laws, rules, usage, and
customs.
iii. Opinion – It is based on facts, but is difficult to
ebjectively verify because of the uncertainty of
producing satisfactory proofs of soundness.
iv. Preference – It is based on personal choice;
therefore, they are subjective and cannot be
objectively proven or logically attacked.
b.Formulating
Counterclaims
– Counterclaims are claims
made to rebut a previous
claim. They provide a
contrasting perspective to
the main argument.
c. Determining Textual
Evidence
– Evidence is defined as the
details given by the author to
support his/her claim. It can
include facts and statistics,
opinions from experts, and
personal anecdotes.

8. Thank you;
See you=)