B. share your surveyanswerswith a partner anddiscusswhat youthinkthereadingwill beabout.Then circle thenumber of the statementbelow whichmatchesyourprediction.I. The passagewill describecritical reading and whatcritical readersdo.2. Thepassagewill explaincritical reading and whencritical readersuseit.3. The passagewill listthereasonscritical reading is importantand whencritical reading is used.Nowreadthe passageto seeif your predictionis correct.Tryto readas quickly asyou can.Do not stopto look up words in yourdictionary.readersfirstidentilythemainidea.Findingthemainc.turREEREEF.EEDtEREE,,'lat1!e-ere.Whatls Critical Reading?Critical readingdoes not mean criticizingorfindingmistakesin a text or an article.Criticalreadingmeansnoflcing techniquesthat writersuseto convincereadersto acceptideasor information. Readerswhorecognize thesetechniquescanevaluatea readingselection moreeasily.Criticalreadingisa skillusedin everydaylite.For example, in college,choosingan answeronamultiplechoice test requirescriticalreadingskilis.Purchasingaproductonlineis anotherexample of atask thatrequirescritical reading skiils.CriticalreadersCriticalreadersdo not automaticallybelievethareveryhingtheyreadistrue. Theyaskthemselvesquestions about thetext.Forexample,theymightaskif the authoris well-known. Theymightaskif theauthoris an expert on the subject.Theyalsoask whatthe author'spurposeis forrwiting.Isit topresent factsor statistics,or is it topersuadeor convincethereadertobelieve somerhing? ln addition, critical readersareawareof the author'sapproach. Istheinformationpresented in an objectiveorneutralway?DoestJle writerrevealasubjecrive (positive or negative)attitudetoward the subject?ldentifyingandevaluatingthe main ideaCriticalreading meansanalyzing ideasand thendecidingwhetherto acceptthem,rejectthem,orthinkabout them furrher. In order to analyzeideas, goodidea iskey to underslandingthewriter'sargument.Goodreadersskimthereadingandfind themainideabeforereadingthe entire article.This resultsin fasterandmore elfectivereading.Criticalreadersalsoevaluatethe mainidea. Thevdo this by askingquestions.Does the mdn ideaseemimportant?Doesit seemlogical?Doesit allow forotherviewpoints? Doestheauthor insist thatthisviewpointis theonlyvalidone?If themain ideadoesn'tseemimportant or logical,criticalreaders pay closeattentiontothedetailstheauthorrrsestosupportit.ExaminingsupportforthemainideaPayingcloseattentionto the detailsmeansexaminingtheevidencetheauthorusestosupportthe mainidea.Evidencemayincludefacts,statistics,examples,experience, and opinions.The critical readeraskstrvokey guestions. Thefirstis,"Istheevidenceadequate?"The readerdecideswhetherthe authorhas providedenough supportfor the mainidea.Oneortwoexamplesare usually notenough to $upporta viewpoinl. If the supportis inadequate,thecriticalreaderwill ,o, u.a"r,the author'sopinionastrue.The secondkey questionis, "Doesthe evidenceseemaccurate?"The readerconsiders thesourceoftheinformation.Thereaderalso considers themethodstha[wereused to co]lectthelacts.Ifthe sourceis questionable,thesupportmayalsobequestionable.If themethodis unreliable,thefactsmaybe unreliableaswel[.Reading 21 . The StudentExperience:SuccessinCollege13Analyzingthe presentation of evidenceCriticalreading alsorequires thereadertorecognizeerrorsin the author's thinking'Errorsweakenthe author'ssupportand,thus,theauthor'sideas. Forexample,the authormay usecircularreasoning.This is simplyrepeating the mainideain differentwordswithoutadding any reasonsorevidenceto supporttheidea.Theauthormayalsotry to distract the readerwitha redherring' A redherringisanicleaor statementthat distracts orleads thereader awayfromthe issue'Finally'theauthormay makea hasty generalization' Thismeansthe authorbasesa conclusionon verylittleevidenceor support.Putting it alltogetherCritical readersundersl'andbothwhatatexlsaysandhotuitsaysit. Criticalreading, then,meansthreethings. It meansrecognizing thetechniquesauthorsuseto convince the readerto acceptthe ideasaspresented. It meansevaluatingthetext in light of thesetechniques. It also meansdecidingwhetherto acceptor reiectthe text,orto gathermoreinformationbeforemakinga decision.Key ConcePtWordscircular reasoning - (n.)repetition ofthe same ideausing differentwordscritical reading- (n') anallticalreading n'hichleadsto makingadecisionhastygeneralization- (n.)a rapidly drawn,often inaccurate'conclusionredherring - (n.)somethingusedasa distractionGlossedWordsdistract- (v.)draw attentionaway ftom something;evidence- (n.)somethinghelpflrlincomingtoaconclusion;inlightof _ (idiom) inconsiderationof; text _ (n.)mainpart of ar,r,rittenwork;viewpoint- (n.) an attitudeor opinionSummarizingShareWhat You ReadA. Usetwo or threesentences to tell your partner what youthought thereadingw;about.Thenlistentoyourpartner,SsentenCes'Next,readthefollow|ngstatemerandcircle the number of the statement that best summarizesthereading'l.Criticalreadingisimportantfordeterminingwhethertheevidenceisadequateandaccuratewhenlookingatfacts,Statistics,andopinions.2. Criticalreading meansunderstanding the author,sargument,evaluating tsupport,andmakinga decisionabout theinformation'3.CriticalreadingmeansreadingtodeterminewhatiswTongwithatextthatries to persuadeorconvince thereaderto accepta viewpoint'B.DidyouchooseStatement2?lfyouchoseadifferentanswer,gobackandrevielyour survey answers.Try to determine whythey lead to summarystatement 2'14Key Concepts1:ReadingandWritingAcross theDisciplines