GRADE 11 READING AN WRITING SKILLS

1. RIZAL COLLEGE OF TAAL
Taal, Batangas
READING AND WRITING SKILLS
Quarter 3 – Lesson 2:
EVALUATING WRITTEN TEXTS BY
ANALYZING CLAIMS
STUDY GUIDE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

2. Critical Reading
Defining critical reading
Whenever you read something and you evaluate claims, seek definitions, judge
information, demand proof, and question assumptions, you are thinking critically. This type of reading
goes beyond passively understanding a text because you process the author’s words and make
judgements after carefully considering the readings message.
But why should you read critically? Reading critically means you are thinking critically. This
shows that you do not simply accept the message on the page. You bring to your reading your own
experience and perspective, and use these to separate yourself from the text and judge for yourself
what you consider important, logical, or right.
This interaction between the text and the reader is necessary because reading results from a
negotiation of meaning between the text and the reader. By reading critically, you find out the author’s
views on something, ask questions, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument,
and decide to agree or disagree with it. Critical reading thus allows you to enter into a dialogue with the
author-and this deepens your understanding of the issue or topic discussed. Therefore, in order to arrive
at a sufficient interpretation of the text, you need to become a critical and active reader.
To show how some critical reading strategies are used, let us first read the following
excerpt from the presidential address of Manuel L. Quezon delivered to students and teachers on
August 29, 1938:
The Policies and Achievements of the Government and Regeneration of the Filipinos”
(an excerpt)
National strength can only be built on character. A nation is nothing more nor less than its
citizenry. It is the people that make up the nation and, therefore, it cannot be stronger than its
component parts. Their weakness is its failings, their strength its power. Show me a people composed of
vigorous, sturdy individuals, of men and women healthy in mind and body; courteous, brave,
industrious, self-reliant; purposeful in thought as well as in action; imbued with sound patriotism and a
profound sense of righteousness; with high social ideals and a strong moral fiber; and I will show you a
great nation, a nation that will not be submerged, a nation that will emerge victorious from the trials
and bitter strifes of a distracted world, a nation that will live forever, sharing the common task of
advancing the welfare and promoting the happiness of mankind.
We are engaged in the epic task of building our nation, to live and flourish, not for a day but for
all time. We must find the flaws, if there be any, in our concept of individual and community life, as well
as in our character, and proceed at once to remedy them.
I have an abiding faith in our people. I know that they have all the faculties needed to become a
powerful and enlightened nation. The Filipino is not inferior to any man of any race. His physical,
Evaluating Written Texts by Analyzing Claims
Lesson
2

3. intellectual, and moral qualities are as excellent as those of the proudest stock of mankind. But some of
these qualities, I am constrained to admit, have become dormant in recent years. If we compare our
individual and civic traits with those that adorned our forefathers, we will find, I fear, that we, the
Filipinos of today, have lost much of the moral strength and power for growth of our ancestors. They
were strong-willed, earnest, adventurous people. They had traditions potent in influence in their lives,
individually and collectively. They had the courage to be pioneers, to brave the seas, clear the forest and
erect towns and cities upon the wilderness. They led a life of toil and communal service. Each one
considered himself an active part of the body politic. But those traditions are either lost or forgotten.
They exist only as a hazy- mist in our distant past. We must revive them, for we need the anchorage of
these traditions to guide and sustain us in the proper discharge of our political and social obligations.
The Filipino of today is soft, easy-going. His tendency is towards parasitism. He is uninclined to
sustained strenuous effort! He lacks earnestness. Face-saving is the dominant note in the confused
symphony of his existence. His sense of righteousness is often dulled by the desire of personal gain. His
norm of conduct is generally prompted by expediency rather than by principle. He shows a failing in that
superb courage which impels action because it is right, even at the cost of self-sacrifice. His greatest fear
is not to do wrong, but of being caught doing wrong. He is frivolous in his view of life. His conception of
virtue is many times conventional. He takes his religion lightly. He thinks that lip-service and profession
are equivalent to deep and abiding faith. He is inconstant; he lacks perseverance; the first obstacles
baffle him, and he easily admits defeat. The patriotism of many Filipinos of today is skin-deep, incapable
of inspiring heroic deeds. There are those who are apt to compromise with ethical principles and to
regard truth as not incompatible with misrepresentation or self-deceit.
This appraisal of the character of our people today may sound too severe. You will realize that I
would be happier if I could only shower praise upon my countrymen. But my responsibility as head of
this Nation compels me to face and state facts, however disagreeable they may be to me or to our
people, for it is only thus that we can remedy existing evils that threaten to destroy the vitality and vigor
of the race. Because I have not lost faith that there is, within us, all the spiritual and moral forces
needed for the building of a great nation, I am ruthless in pointing out our present shortcomings. Our
task—it is a heroic task—is to awaken and apply these faculties so that our people should become what
of right they should be: morally strong, virile, hard-working, refined, enterprising, persevering, public-
spirited.
I want our people to grow and be like the molave, strong and resilient, rising on the hillside,
unafraid of the raging flood, the lightning or the storm, confident of sits own strength. If we have the
will to survive and the will to achieve social efficiency, we cannot delay this task of spiritual
regeneration. Let us begin to mold the typical Filipino.
To insure the accomplishment of this task of national spiritual reconstruction, we shall
formulate and adopt a social code—a code of ethics and personal conduct—a written Bushido—that can
be explained in the schools, preached from the pulpits, and taught in the streets and plazas, and in the
remotest corners of our land. We shall indoctrinate every man, woman, and child in its precepts. By
every means and power at my command, I shall strive to enforce its principles and to require that they
be so universally and constantly observed, that our children may breathe it in the air and feel it in their
very flesh. Every Filipino is a part and an objective of this great national movement, the success of which
depends upon his own success in building up his character and developing his faculties.
This undertaking—the regeneration of the Filipino— constitutes the paramount interest of my
administration. My most cherished ambition is to see it realized. It is the greatest prize that I can crave

4. for my life. I call upon all the teachers, the ministers of every faith, the political and social leaders, and
particularly upon you the young men and young women to be at the vanguard of this crusade.
We have attained our freedom, but our spirit is still bound by the shackles forged from the
frailties of our nature. We owe it to ourselves and our posterity to strike them down. Other peoples of
the world are straining themselves to attain higher levels of progress and national security. We shall not
lag behind. The Filipino people are on the march, towards their destiny, to conquer their place in the
sun!
Critical Reading Strategies
a) Keeping a reading journal – 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.
b) Annotating the text – 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.
c) Outlining the text – Outlining are 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.
d) Summarizing the text – 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.
e) Questioning the text – questioning the text involves asking specific questions on
points that you are sceptical about. These may be topics that do not meet your
expectations or agree with you personal views.
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.

5. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Identifying the context of Text Development
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.
1. Intertexuality - is the modeling of a text’s meaning 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.
2. 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.
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.

6. 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.
Formulating Counterclaims – Counterclaims are claims made to rebut a previous claim. They provide a
contrasting perspective to the main argument.
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.