ANSWER:

There weren’t any 
stairs, it was a 
one storey house.
Mr. and Mrs. Mustard 
have six daughters and 
each daughter has one 
brother. How many 
people are in the 
Mustard family?
ANSWER:

There are nine Mustards 
in the family. Since each 
daughter shares the 
same brother, there are 
six girls, one boy and 
Mr. and Mrs. Mustard.
You are participating 
in a race. You 
overtake the second 
person. What 
position do you 
finish?
ANSWER:

If you said “first”, you are 
wrong! You arrive 
second. If you overtake 
the second person and 
you take his place, you 
arrive second.
Which hand is
best for stirring
sugar into a
cup of tea?
ANSWER:

It’s better 
to use 
a spoon.
My name is Roger, I live 
on a farm. There are four 
other dogs on the farm 
with me. Their names are 
Snowy, Flash, Speedy and 
Brownie. 
What do you think the 
fifth dog’s name is?
ANSWER:

Roger 
• It is critical thinking: when we read, we think as
well.
• It is an active process of discovery: you not just
receive information but also make an interaction
with the writer.
• Involves scrutinizing any information that you
read or hear.
• The process of reading that goes beyond just
understanding a text.
• It means not easily believing information offered
to you by a text.
Critical Reading involves:
a.Carefully considering and evaluating
the text
b.Identifying the reading’s strengths and
implications
c.Identifying the reading’s weaknesses
and flaws
d.Looking at the ‘big picture’ and
deciding how the reading fits into the
greater academic context
• Ability to pose problematic questions

• Ability to analyze a problem in all its dimensions

• Ability to find, gather, and interpret data, facts

and other information relevant to the problem.
• Ability to imagine alternative solutions to the
problem, to see different ways in which the
question might be answered and different
perspectives for viewing it.
• Ability to analyze competing approaches and
answers, to construct arguments for and against
alternatives, and to choose the best solution in
the light of values, objectives and other criteria
that you determine and articulate.

• Ability to write an effective argument justifying

your choice while acknowledging
counterarguments.
1. Before you read
Scan the piece to get an idea of what it is about
and what the main argument is. This may
include reading an introduction if there is one,
or the subheadings.

2. While you read

Keep running a dialogue with the author
through annotation by recording your thoughts,
ideas and questions. You may underline,
highlight or circle important parts and points
and write comments in the margins.
3. After you have read
Look over your annotations to get an overall
idea of the text. You may also choose to write a
summary to solidify your understanding.

4. Responding to the text

After finding out the author’s argument and
line of reasoning, you are also able to analyze
the author’s argument and methods. Then you
can develop your own ideas – perhaps into an
essay of your own.
1. ANNOTATE
• Underline questionable
ideas, circle or highlight
unfamiliar words, phrases
or sentences that contain
important details
• Write marginal notes
asking questions or
commenting on the ideas
of the writer.
2. OUTLINE THE TEXT
•Identify the main points
of the writer and list
Thesis Statement:
them down
•Identify the ideas to
Supporting Details:
support the writer’s •Point 1:
stand
•You may write the •Point 2:
outline in bullet or in
number. •Point 3:
3. SUMMARIZE THE TEXT
•You may write a gist of the text in
your own words.
•Putting ideas together in a
condensed form.
•Summary is usually one paragraph
long.
EXAMPLE:
SAMPLE SUMMARY
4. EVALUATE THE TEXT
To do this, you need to consider
•the reading's background
•its purpose and overall conclusion (claim)
•the evidence used in the reading
•the logical connections between the claim and
the evidence
•the reading's balance
•its limitations
•how it relates to other sources and research
•if the reading is based on research, how this
research was conducted
“ Read not to contradict and confute: nor to
believe and take for granted; nor to find talk
and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”

While we must evaluate ideas as we read,

we must not distort the meaning within a
text. We must not allow ourselves to force a
text to say what we would otherwise like it
to say—or we will never learn anything new!
UNDERSTANDING CLAIMS
 Claims form the basis of any argument
 Categories for claims helps us understand the 
purposes and special features of argument
 Allows us to predict and anticipate features of 
the type of argument presented
CLAIMS AND THESIS STATEMENTS
 Every thesis statement will make a claim about 
your topic.
 Understanding the types of claims you can make 
will lead to more focused and effective thesis 
statements.
CLAIM OF FACTS
 Types of Claims
 Claims of Fact. (existence of something/definition 
or classification/facts ­­ inferences about past 
present or future)
 Types of factual claims (generally "objective")
 Factual / historical
 Relational ­ causal connections
 Predictive

 proof requires:
 sufficient and appropriate grounds
 reliable authority
 recent data

 accurate, typical data

 clearly defined terms ­no loaded language

 a clear distinction between fact and inference.
 Questions answered by claims of fact:
 Did it happen?
 It is true?
 Does it exist?
 Is it a fact?
 Types of support
 Factual
 Inductive reasoning – cites examples and then draws 
probable conclusions 
 Analogies– comparisons
 Signs – past or present state of affairs
 Expert opinion

 Possible organizational strategies
 Chronological order
 Topical order
 Often stated near the beginning of the argument
 A  claim  of  fact  posits  whether  something  is  true 
or untrue, but there must always be the potential 
for  controversy,  conflict  and  conversion.  i.e.  The 
sun  is  shining  today  is  not  a  claim  of  fact,  but 
signs and symptoms of a medical emergency can 
be, as well as a defendant accused of a crime. 
 For  your  papers,  think  of  the  claim  of  fact  as  a 
problem to be solved with the claim of policy.
 Claims of fact must be specific as to time, place, 
people involved, and situation. 
 Can you investigate your claim of fact through 
original research such as interviews or field 
work? 
 If it is a text, how thoroughly, closely and 
critically can you read it to determine its flaws 
and strengths? 
 Using descriptive and analytical writing, explore 
every angle of your problem, or claim of fact, to 
assess its level of truth.
CLAIMS OF VALUE
 (taste & morals / good­bad) [make value 
judgments/ resolve conflict between values/ 
quasi policy (rightness of it; relative merit)]
 proof requires:
 Establishing standards of evaluation (i.e. a 
warrant that defines what constitutes instances 
of the relevant value)
 note the priority of the value in this instance.
 Establish the advantage (practical or moral) of 
your standards.
 Use examples to clarify abstract values
 Use credible authorities for support.
 Questions Answered:
 Is it good or bad?
 How bad?
 How good?
 Of what worth is it?
 Is it moral or immoral?
 Who thinks so?
 What do those people value?
 What values or criteria should I use to determine its goodness or badness?
 Are my values different from other people’ s values or from the author’ s values?
 Types of Support
 Appeals to values
 Motivational appeals
 Analogies
 Literal
 Figurative
 Quotations from authorities
 Induction
 Signs
 Definitions

 Organization Strategies
 Applied criteria
 Topical organization
 Narrative structure
 Claims of value involve judgments, appraisals, 
and evaluations. 
 Everyone has a bias of sorts, often embedded in 
social, religious, and/or cultural values. 
 At this point, you can OPEN UP your topic by 
comparing and contrasting your problem with a 
similar one in another time and/or place. 
 When you “fight” with friends and colleagues 
over intellectual issues, you are usually debating 
claims of value.
 For example, you determined that the Menendez 
brothers killed their parents with a shotgun in 
the claim of fact, but the claim of value 
investigates all the reasons, good and bad, for 
this act, in order to establish intent and/or 
mitigating circumstances.
CLAIMS OF POLICY
 (action / should or ought) ­ usually involves 
sub­claims of fact and value
 proof requires:
 Making proposed action clear
 need (justification)
 plan, (must be workable)
 benefit (advantages)
 consider opposition / counter arguments
 Questions Answered:
 What should we do?
 How should we act?
 What should future policy be?
 How can we solve this problem?
 What concrete course of action should we pursue to solve the problem?

 Claims of policy tend to focus on the future
 Types of support
 Data
 Statistics
 Moral and commonsense appeals
 Motivational appeals
 Appeals to values
 Literal analogies
 Argument from authority
 Definition
 Deduction
 Types of support
 Data
 Statistics
 Moral and commonsense appeals
 Motivational appeals
 Appeals to values
 Literal analogies
 Argument from authority
 Definition
 Deduction
 Claims of policy typically provide a solution or 
another series of questions in response to the 
claims of fact. 
 Claims of policy are often procedural, organized 
plans. 
 A counterclaim of policy posits that the problem 
exists, it’s good to solve it a certain way, but 
there is a better solution than the one you have 
proposed.
 https://department.monm.edu/cata/mcgaan/classe
s/cata335/o­claims.335.html