R&W 5

• Critical reading


  • Examine the reliability of the material
  • Distinguish facts from opinions
  • Draw inferences from the material
• Critical Reading Strategies


  1. Previewing: Learning about a text before really reading it

  2. Contextualizing: Placing a text in its historical, biographical and cultural contexts

  3. Questioning to understand and remember

  4. Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values: Examining your personal responses

  5. Outlining and summarizing: Identifying the Main Ideas and restating them in your own words

  6. Evaluating an argument: testing the logic as well as its credibility and emotional impact

  7. Comparing and contrasting related readings: Exploring likenesses and differences between texts to understand them better
• Implicit information


  Ideas that are suggested in the text
• Explicit information


  Information that is clearly stated in the text
• Inference


  A conclusion that you make based on explicit information and your reasoning and previous background
• Claim


  • The writer's point or position regarding the chosen topic
  • The central argument or the thesis statement of the text
  • What the writer tries to prove in the text by providing details, explanations, and other types of evidence
  • The most important part of the text, because the claim defines the paper's direction and scope
• Characteristics of a good claim

  • It should be debatable or arguable. It should make a point about the topic
  • It should express the writer's unique view about the topic
  • It is not neutral. It asserts the writer's position about a particular topic
  • It should be clearly worded and specific
  • It should be logical and rational
• Claim of Fact


  A type of claim that can be verified as either true or false no matter how difficult it is. It normally tells "what is" and "what is not".
• Claim of Value


  Evaluative statements that can be qualified. They assert which conditions are better, more important, or more desirable. It gives an idea of what is good or bad.
• Claim of Value


  • Women are better leaders than men
  • Filipinos are the best workers in the world
  • It is better to have loved than to not love at all
• Claim of Policy


  Statements that espouse for a specific action to be taken as solution to a particular problem. This is normally introduced by the modals, "should", "must", "ought to". They are very action-oriented claims that aim to provide alternatives, specific action plans, or recommendations to the usual societal problems or issues.
• Argumentation


  The process of forming reasons, justifying beliefs, and drawing conclusions with the aim of influencing the thoughts and/or actions of others
• Rhetorical Appeals


  • Ethos (ethical appeal) - establishing your credibility and authority
  • Pathos (emotional appeal) - persuading the audience on the basis of their emotions
  • Logos (logical appeal) - persuading the audience on the basis of sound reasoning/logic
• Assertion


  Claims that the writer wants the reader to reconsider and possibly agree with
• Assertion of Fact


  Can be proven objectively by direct experience, testimonies of witnesses, verified observations, or the results of research
• Assertion of Convention


  Depends on historical precedent, laws, rules, usage, and customs
• Opinion


  Based on facts but difficult to objectively verify due to ambiguities
• Preference


  Based on personal choice, subjective and cannot be objectively proven or logically attacked
• Counterclaim


  Rebuttal, disagreement, and alternative to the claim raised by the writer. They offer new and contrasting perspectives about the topic or the issue.