CRWT111 WK2

• The process of critical reading involves Raising a reasoned, logical and balanced argument that analyzes and evaluated the text.
• It is the manner of engaging yourself in what you read. Some questions to be asked may include: "What does the author mean?", "What message is being conveyed in the text"?, "What is the argument raised?".

  Critical Reading.
• What can a critical reader achieve?

  • A higher level of comprehension
  • Open-mindedness
  • Continuation to learn and embrace knowledge and wisdom
• Reading Critically means reflecting on the three things:

  • Context of the text
  • Description in the text
  • Interpretation of the text
• The reader should be able to interpret and explain the mainpoints of the text on his or her own words

  Content of the text
• The reader should be able to create his or her own examples based from the described key points and be able to compare them with other texts of the same topic.

  Descriptions in the text
• The reader should be able to objectively analyze thetext in parts and in whole.

  Interpretation of the text
• Reading takes a lot of time, especially in higher education where evaluation and analysis are staple parts of the reading process. Nevertheless, reading for academic purposes needs not the be challenging.

  It should be an active process which leads to development
• From familiarizing ourselves with a linguistic point of view.


  The reading process becomes more complicated as our academic and intellectual levels go up.
• We learn to add new words to our daily vocabulary.

  • We start challenging what textbooks call "facts" as we adopt a skeptical or curious attitude.
  • We start asking and start answering questions.
  • We learn to integrate reading and learning in the truest sense.
• The wide range of information available to us makes thinking more complex as we have to consider more things than usual.
• The more we develop our reading capacity, the more proficient we become in accepting and rejecting what we read.
• The goal of reading should be to learn.
• Students usually observe two main academic goals:

  1. To learn and develop
  2. To pass the subject
• It is considered as the lowest form of intelligence

  Memorization
• You are encouraged to learn meaning and identify value rather than absorb everything at face value.
• Being able to follow the flow of the story and predict what's bound to happen by drawing conclusions and making inferences is given priority over being able to familiarize yourself with the specific details.
• In order to keep a positive attitude when reading, one has to equip him or herself with tools that make learning more convenient and less tiresome.
• Another way to maintain a healthy attitude in reading is by emotionally detaching yourself from the text.
• Subjective reading clouds judgment. Authors try to influence readers by using their own emotions against them. Advisably, one has to maintain objectivity when reading as this allows a person to analyze the text using logic and not feelings.
• Verifiable facts


  Objective
• Opinions or biases


  Subjective
• For non-critical readers, a text is a source of facts.
• For critical readers, a text only provides the author's own interpretation of facts.
• Critical readers recognize not only what the text says, but also how how the text discusses the topic.
• It is a process of recognizing and understanding the meaning of written words.

  Reading