Critical Reading

• Critical thinking


  A process that involves a series of complex thought processes which allows an individual to make reasoned judgements, assess the way we think, and solve problems effectively
• Qualities of a critical thinker

  • Inquisitive
  • Investigative
  • Open-minded
  • Evaluates information
• Importance of critical thinking

  • In reading, critical thinking makes you recognize different texts and react to them intelligently
  • In writing, a critical approach provides you with the skills to create well-written text
• Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain


  A framework for categorizing educational goals and objectives into levels of complexity and specificity
• Fallacies of reasoning are errors in reasoning that invalidate the argument
• Hasty generalization


  This occurs when a sample is not significant enough to support a generalization about a population
• Hasty generalization


  • Martha, the foreigner from France is very impolite. French people are very rude.
• Argumentum ad ignoratiam


  This occurs when something is concluded to be true just because it is not proven to be false and vice versa
• Argumentum ad ignoratiam


  • The writer does not talk about the connection of the killer with the victim's sister so there must be none.
• Slippery slope


  This occurs when a series of increasingly superficial and unacceptable consequences is drawn
• Slippery slope


  • If we ban computer shops, then students will not be able to do research. And if they do not have tools for research, these students will fail their subjects.
• Circular reasoning


  This occurs when the reasoning just goes back to itself
• Circular reasoning


  • Game of Thrones is the best show because the best show is Game of Thrones.
• Argumentum ad populum


  This occurs when an idea is proved based on popular belief or because it has been stated by an elite of the society
• Argumentum ad populum


  • If my president said that it is okay to kill people just because I thought they're doing something bad, then it's fine with me.
• Fallacy of composition


  This occurs when it's claimed that a whole is true because a part of is true
• Fallacy of composition


  • Your brain is made up of molecules. Molecules doesn't have consciousness. Therefore, the brain doesn't have consciousness.
• Argumentum ad baculum


  This occurs when the argument appeals to the human emotions specifically fear, by the use of threat and force
• Argumentum ad baculum


  • "Eliza, I'm telling you that you should say your vowels correctly before the end of the day or there will be no lunch, no dinner and no chocolates!" -Mr. Higgins in My Fair Lady
• Argumentum ad hominem


  This occurs when the personality of the person is attacked rather than the validity of the arguments
• Argumentum ad hominem


  • What you're saying is not true. Apparently, you're too stupid to know the difference.
• False dilemma


  This occurs when an arguer presents his/her argument as one of only two options despite the presence of multiple possibilities
• False dilemma


  • Either you fully devote yourself to the company or you quit.
  • It is either we will live or we will die tonight.
• Complex question


  When two or more points are rolled into one and the reader is expected to either accept and reject both at the same time, when one point may be satisfactory while the other is not
• Complex question


  • Are you done copying your classmate's answers?
  • Have you stopped cheating on exams?
• Appeal to force


  This occurs when a threat, instead of reasoning, is used to argue
• Appeal to force


  • If you did not admit that evolution is not real, we're going to remove you from our group.
• Appeal to pity


  This occurs when the element of pity is used instead of logical reasoning
• Appeal to pity


  • Please don't fire me for being absent all month; I have a sick mother and a special child to support.
• Appeal to consequences


  This occurs when unpleasant consequences of believing something are pointed out to show that the belief is false
• Appeal to consequences


  • You can't believe that colonialism is bad, because if it were, then we would not be civilized.
• Bandwagon


  This occurs when an argument is considered to be valid because it is what the majority thinks
• Bandwagon


  • Most Filipinas want to have fair skin because they think they look beautiful. Therefore, having fair skin must be the real standard of beauty.
• Anonymous authority


  The authority in question is not mentioned or named
• Anonymous authority


  • Experts claim that eating peanuts causes pimples.
• False analogy


  This occurs when a writer assumes that two concepts that are similar in other ways
• False analogy


  • Drugs are like massages - they make you feel good.
• Accident


  This occurs when a general rule is applied to a situation, even when it should be an exception
• Accident


  • Jaywalking is not allowed, so you should not have done that even when you were being chased by terrorists.
• Post hoc ergo propter hoc


  This occurs when the arguer claims that since event A happened before event B, A is the cause of B