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Critical Reading
Faculty at University of Phoenix Howard Community College Stevenson University American Public University System
Critical Reading
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Critical Reading
will ask himself, For whom was this work intended? If a work were written for elementary school children, a college student may find little content of value in the work, unless he were an elementary education major who was looking for examples to use in a class on elementary pedagogy!
Critical Reading
mystery ends). Reading for pleasure is an act in and of itself; the pleasure comes from the reading process. Academic materials require a different reading pattern. Critical reading requires the student to first create a frame of reference from which the reader may understand the details. Typically, critical reading follows a specific pattern: 1. Read the books title 2. Read the table of contents 3. Read the preface and forward 4. Read the index 5. Read the introduction to the assigned chapter 6. Read the summary of the assigned chapter 7. Read the full contents of the assigned chapter. A reader can only understand the full essence of the assigned chapter after knowing the purpose of the entire book. Having a grasp of the authors intention in writing the textbook, will help a student better understand the details presented in each assigned chapter. College professors assign reading materials that guide students to understanding the particular learning objectives of each class meeting and often these materials will come from multiple textbooks, not necessarily in the order in which the textbook authors wrote the materials. In general, a college student should expect neither to read all of the material in all of his textbooks nor expect to read the material in the order in which it is presented in the textbooks. The course professor is using materials to support the class lectures and discussions, not create class lessons that follow the given textbook. Its a bit of a chicken and egg problem; which came first, the textbook or the class lesson? From the professors perspective, the lesson came first, and the assigned readings support the lesson.
Critical Reading
excellent etymologies.1 Both of these dictionaries are available in all academic libraries. Websters Third New International Dictionary (unabridged) and its companion, the collegiate version, are also available at http://unabridged.merriam-webter.com/. Do not be satisfied with the definitions presented in an abridged dictionary, as these are offer insufficient detail for college work. Abridged dictionaries will likely not offer sufficient details and nuance for college work.
Create context
When reading material for an academic purpose, a student must recognize that all learned material must pass through a lens. This lens is composed of experiences, knowledge, assumptions, judgments, and preferences. That which a reader knows colors that which he learns and seeks to know. A student who is already familiar with literary criticism will find criticizing a short story easier than will a student who is
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Critical Reading
not yet familiar with the process of literary criticism. A student familiar with evolution may find it easier to see the relationships among Charles Darwins arguments in On The Origin of Species than a student who has not yet been exposed to the scientific details of the evolutionary process. Critically reading also requires understanding the authors perspective and biases. An article describing a political debate that is published in a Republican publication will likely highlight and develop different arguments than a description of the same debate that is published in Democratic or Libertarian publications. A reader must also keep in mind that an author is a product of his time and experience. One may not expect work published in 1960 to portend the development and cultural influences of digital social media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Maintain perspective
How a reader perceives a work affects his ability to recall and understand not only the discrete facts of the selection but also the corpus of the selection, as well as understanding the relationships among the constituent details. Understanding how the parts of a work fit together is often as important to a student as understanding the individual parts. For example, when reading poetry, the relationships among repeated phrases, metaphors, and constructions lead the student to fully comprehending the poet's intention. Other forms of literature also ask the reader to seek courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net relationships among details. Flannery O'Connor requires readers to follow the details of familial interactions and religious references in his short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find."
Critical Reading
Why did an historical event occur? What were the contributing factors that led to the event? What if one of the presumed contributing events had not occurred, would the result still have been the same? Students must also evaluate the author's experience and possible biases, asking questions such as: Did the author consider previous scholarship related to this topic? Did the author present an unbiased, disinterested review of the data? How thoroughly has the author addressed the causes, effects, and other elements related to the topic? Does the author present new scholarship or does he simply restate previous work? Students must seek to evaluate and analyze the assigned readings. Analysis requires a thorough understanding of the material, thorough to the degree that the student may ask questions. These questions may include: Is the author truthful in his presentation of facts? Did the author include all relevant facts? What elements are missing from the author's defense of his propositions?
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This component of critical reading requires deep critical thinking: seeking to identify the emotions, assumptions, and logical fallacies that have crept into the arguments set before the student. To become great thinks and writers, students should read the same historic materials that great writers read. Rather than reading only modern interpretations of historic materials, student should seek to explore the same historic texts as the great writers.
Marking Texts
When a question comes to mind, the reader will find it helpful to stop to write out the question in the margin of the textbook, on a sticky note, or in a notebook. This pause in the reading process moves the reader from passivity to activity: engaging the reader more fully in the reading process. Being an active reader is vital to effective critical reading. Noting questions,
Critical Reading
commentseven disagreementshelps to create engagement between the reader and the work that he is reading. Reading a substantially challenging text without a writing implement at hand prevents the opportunity to fully interact with the text.2
Highlighting
Careful readers do not highlight texts; rather, they prepare notes that reflect their understanding the material. Creating an annotated bibliography or using a note taking worksheet such as the one that is available on cogitoveritas.com enables the reader to interact with the textual material. Translating into ones own words forces the reader to analyze and comprehend the arguments and data that are set before her. These additional stepsmechanical and cognitive encourage learning.
Alan Jacobs. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. p. 60. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. 2011. courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
Critical Reading
The principal disadvantage of digital reading devices comes from the technical requirements imposed by digital rights management software. Digital Rights Management (DRM) allows publishers to remotely enforce their copyrights to works that are stored on readers digital devices. A reader may be required to enter a password to open an DRM-protected Adobe PDF file, purchase a text using specific software (e.g., Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, or Barnes & Noble Nook). A copy of the text purchased in one format and for one device may not be opened or converted to another format or device. The DRM software prevents these tricks of digital manipulation, forcing the reader to limit his reading to the prescribed format and device or purchase another copy of the work for a second device. This is not meant to be an argument against a publishers right to protect its copyrights but a description of the principal limitation of using a digital reading device. Another limitation of digital reading devices is a lack of facilitated note taking. A digital reading device may offer highlighting and noting options; however, these are rudimentary at best, given the state of digital technology. Note taking on a digital reader without a pop-up, stylus controlled data entry system requires the reader to switch input screens, open a nearly or wholly separate application, type notes and, using his forefingera poor substitute for a styluslink the note to the highlighted selection in the text. When reading on a digital device readers may find it more convenient to take notes using the tried and true method of pen and paper, a more efficient method of taking notes, compared to using the noting functions on my Kindles and iPad. Although many textbooks are available in both codes and digital forms, students and instructors often prefer to carry a codex to class. Turning pages that are marked by sticky notes is quicker and easier than scrolling through pages of digital text, using a finger. Referring to physically printed material is more easily done than referring to digitally printed text. A student can usually more quickly turn pages in a codex than scroll through digital pages when looking to find previously read material. The exception to this general practice is the student who has thoughtfully prepared digital bookmarks during his pre-class reading sessions.
Reading Slowly
Critical reading, much to the consternation of timestrapped college students, is not an efficient means to reading more quickly. It is exactly the opposite. Critical reading requires the reader to slow down, reading more deeply. The objective of critical reading is to acquire as much knowledge as possible from a text, not most quickly reading the text.