Critical Reading: The Steps

This site focuses on understanding how the written language works to convey meaning. Such a discussion should not, however, downplay the need for good study habits, motivation, and purpose. Critical reading begins before you open a book. What you are reading and why you are reading it greatly influence how you read.
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Critical Reading: The Steps Critical Reading: The Steps This site focuses on understanding how the written language works to convey meaning. Such a discussion should not, however, downplay the need for good study habits, motivation, and purpose. Critical reading begins before you open a book. What you are reading and why you are reading it greatly influence how you read. The Nature Of The Text: What Are You Reading? The Working Environment: Where Will You Read? The Goal or Assignment: How Will You Read? Three Formats For Discussion: A Quick Reminder Finally, we can outline steps in the process of critical reading itself. Steps in Critical Reading The Nature Of The Text: What Are You Reading? The more you know about the text and the topic, the better prepared you are to follow references, anticipate arguments, and understand the discussion. What book or article are you reading? • What is the title? In other words, what does the author claim it is about? • What kind of information or discussion do you anticipate? • What do you know about the topic? What might you want to know? • What background reading might you do first? You can often get a good idea of these matters by scanning the preface or table of contents of a book, or the subheadings of a chapter or article. Remember that most discussions involve a number of interrelated issues Who cares? • Who has a stake in the issue? • Who controls the outcome of the issue? • Who is affected by the issue? The more you know about the issue before reading, the better prepared you will be to recognize bias. Who wrote the text? • What do you know of the author's goal or purpose? The text in question may not be consistant with concerns or biases of an author's earlier works or mirror the author's public statements-- but it might. • When was it published? Where? By whom? Information such as this may help you follow references and associations and possibly suggest a bias. The date of publication can also indicates how up-to-date the information and claims may be. See: The Spoken Word: The Base For Writing and Reading The Working Environment: Where Will You Read? Where will you work? To concentrate, you must be comfortable. Some students work best when free of distractions; others work well with distractions. • Will you read sitting in a chair, at a desk, or elsewhere? • Does your chair offer good support, your desk sufficient room to work? • Is the lighting strong enough to illuminate your work, indirect enough to avoid glare, and adjusted to avoid shadows? • Are you safe from distractions, whether the telephone, television, roommates, or the temptations of a full refrigerator. • What tools and supporting materials will you need to have at hand? o dictionary or other reference material o lab or class notes o pencils, pens, highlighters o note paper and/or computer. Finally, note that diet and exercise can be as important to good study habits as efficient time management and discipline. Energy and a sense of physical well-being are essential for working effectively and efficiently. The Goal or Assignment: How Will You Read? We read differently for different purposes and different forms of accountability. [See: Three Ways to Read and Discuss Texts] To know what to look for, you have to know what you want to find. Your reading should therefore be purposeful: you should know what you are doing, what you want to come away with, and how you intend to achieve that goal. How much are you going to read? • Will you read a specific portion or simply read until you want to stop? • How many pages are involved? You need to know how far you are going to pace yourself. Is there a specific assignment? • Are you reading for entertainment, to memorize formulas and definitions, to gain a broad understanding of ideas, to answer questions, or to do exercises? • Do you need to prepare notes for a paper, memorize terms for a test, or achieve a general understanding for class discussion? How will you be held accountable, by yourself and/or by others? • How will you test your understanding? • How will someone else test your understanding? What schedule will you follow? • When will you work? • When will you take a break? • How will you divide the work to fit the allotted time? • How will you reward yourself along the way? It is often hard to find time for even short assignments. Reading that you find difficult or boring may best be divided into a number of shorter periods. The amount of time available, or allotted, and ho ...