Study Skills p. 24-26 Critical Reading

1. Reading Comprehension Critical Reading

2. Read so you can evaluate Compare with What you know Experiences Previous lessons Other reading material

3. Evaluate writings especially when they challenge the Bible or biblical principles

4. Use 5 critical reading skills when reading textbooks Evaluate author’s qualifications Is what’s written on the level? Differentiate fact from opinion Identify true and false statements Decide if it’s propaganda or bias

5. Check out your authors What’s their background? What’s their education? What experience do they have? Is there “bias” for or against the Bible? (where does the author stand in believing the Bible)

6. Check it out!!!!Is it true??? Evaluate the accuracy Value the source Checkout the copyright date…recent? Science, government, & computer books could be out of style by the time their published Be aware of current events that changes information

7. Critique your text Does the story sound reasonable? What’s the author’s qualifications? What are the true parts? Is there fictional parts? Determine facts & opinions.

8. Critique your text Current information? Exaggerations? What does the author believe? What’s the author’s influence? Any biblical principles?

9. Be the “True/False” Judge Use your life experience Identify qualifiers to avoid misreading All, none, most, never, many, always, usually can lead you off track Non-Christian writers use this “trick” Read CAREFULLY for truth If part of the text is false, you should wonder about the rest

10. Propaganda? Techniques used to sway you to believe a particular way Gets you to believe or persuades you to do something Sneaky

11. Bias Conclusions based on preconceived notions vs. evidence (what is truth?) Writings will ignore evidence to present their side

12. Fact or opinion Fact: Statement can be proven true Opinion: Cannot be proved true or false Caution – Some authors present opinion as fact Look for clues: Author’s credibility

13. Bible Truth Look at the evidence within the Bible Over the years, people have tried to prove it wrong Over the years, others have proven the truth within the Scriptures