CRITICAL READING. What is it? 6.

Reading a long text /using KWL /helps you find the text
Whenever you read something and you evaluate claims, relevance by writing down what you already know (K),
seek definitions, judge information, demand proof, and what you want to know (W) and what you have learned
question assumptions, you are thinking critically. This type after reading the text (L)
of reading goes beyond passively understanding a text
because you process the author's words and make 7. Remembering the text essential information /using SQ3R
judgements after carefully considering the readings /helps you remember general and specific information from
message. But why should you read critically? Reading the text by allowing yourself to survey(S) or preview the
critically means you are thinking critically. This shows that text content and organization, question(Q) or turn headings
you do not simply accept the message on the page. You into questions, read(R) or find clue words that signal the
bring to your reading your own experience and perspective writers train of thoughts, recite(R) or tell yourself the
and use this to separate yourself from the text and judge for answers to the questions you formulated in the Q stage and
yourself what you consider important, logical, or right. review(R) or tell yourself the answers to the questions you
This interaction between the text and the reader is necessary formulated in the Q stage once again
because reading results from a negotiation of meaning
between the text and the reader. By reading critically, you Critical reading entails assessing the validity of the writer's
find out the author's views on something, ask questions, claim. In doing so, it is necessary for you to become aware
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the author's of the fallacies in the arguments, if there are any. Fallacies
argument, and decide to agree or disagree with it. Thus, are errors in reasoning. Below is the list of some common
critical reading allows you to enter into a dialogue with the fallacies and their examples
author -- and this deepens your understanding of the issue 1. Hasty generalization – making a conclusion based on
or topic discussed. Therefore, to arrive at the sufficient limited cases / examples
interpretation of the text you need to become a critical and Paul likes cheeseburger. Mark likes cheeseburger.
active reader. Therefore, men like cheeseburger.
2. Dicto simpliciter – treating a general rule to be a general
The following shows how reading strategies address the truth Milk is good for the bones.
difficulties you may encounter in reading. Everyone should drink milk. (Lactose-intolerant people
should avoid drinking milk.)
Reading Difficulty /Reading Strategy /How the Strategy 3. Post hoc - pointing to something as the effect or cause of
Works something
His parents did not increase his allowance, so he did not go
1. Understanding unfamiliar words /Context Clues /helps to school for three days. (There could be another reason for
you figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word by her absence.)
looking for other familiar word(s) that surround it or by 4. Appeal to pity – making people feel sorry instead of
looking at its structure, synonyms, antonyms, definition, presenting a logical reason. The man should get the job, for
and general context he has five children and a wife to feed.
5. Poisoning the well – intending to discredit or ridicule a
2. Finding the main idea /Skimming /helps you find the person or an idea by presenting an unanticipated
main idea by quickly looking at the text for the most information.
frequently repeated words and finding the writer's overall Don’t listen to her. She is a daughter of two traditional
idea based on the supporting details politicians.
6. Bandwagon – making people believe that popular ideas
3. Finding specific details /Scanning /helps you find the are necessarily right
specific information that you need by allowing your eyes to Seventy percent of housewives in Manila use Brand XXX,
read the text as quickly as possible until the target so you should use it too.
information is spotted

4. Distinguishing general from specific ideas /mapping

/helps you determine the main idea from supporting details
by drawing shapes that represent the ideas then connecting
them in a map Identifying and Analyzing Claims
Claims are synonymous to belief, argument, assertion, or
5. Organizing ideas /using graphic organizers /helps you see stand. According to (Tiongson 2016, 20-21), a good claim
how ideas are related through their arrangement in tables, should be argumentative and debatable, specific and
graphs, diagrams, and other visuals focused, interesting and engaging, and logical. These
information can be explicit or implicit. An explicit claim is
directly and clearly stated in the text. It is when you can interpretation are affected by a given set of circumstances.
easily point out the information in the passage. Meanwhile, Thus, context is defined as the social, cultural, political,
an implicit claim is indirectly expressed in the text and you historical, and other related circumstances that surround the
need to look for clues or make inferences to understand its text and form the terms from which it can be better
meaning. understood and evaluated. Knowledge of the text’s context
helps in appreciating the text’s message more deeply. In
Distinguishing Between the Types of Claim discovering a reading’s context, you may ask questions like:
• When was the work written?
1. Claims of fact state a quantifiable assertion, or a • What where the circumstances that produced it?
measurable topic. They assert that something has existed, • What issues does it deal with?
exists, or will exist based on data. They rely on reliable
sources or systematic procedures to be validated. This is Another important technique in analyzing the context of a
what makes them different from inferences. Claims of fact text’s development is defining its intertextual link to
usually answer a “what” question. When determining another text. Intertextuality is the modeling of a text’s
whether something is a claim of fact, the following meaning by another text. It is defined as the connections
questions are useful. between language, images, characters, themes, or subjects
• Is this issue related to a possible cause or effect? depending on their similarities in language, genre, or
• Is this a statement true or false? How can its truthfulness discourse. This is seen when an author borrows and
be verified? transforms a prior text, or when you read one text and you
• Is this claim controversial or debatable? reference another. This view recognizes that the text is
always influenced by previous text and in turn anticipates
2. Claims of value assert something that can be qualified. future texts. A text contains many layers of accumulated
They consist of arguments about moral, philosophical, or cultural, historical, and social knowledge which continually
aesthetic topics. This types of topics try to prove that some adds to and affects one another. Thus, intertextuality
values are more or less desirable compared to others. They becomes a dialogue among different text and interpretations
make judgments based on certain standards on whether of the writer, the audience and the current and earlier
something is right or wrong, good or bad, or something cultural context.
similar. Claims of value attempt to explain how problems,
situations, or issues ought to be valued. To discover this Meanwhile, hypertext is a relatively new way of reading a
explanations, you may ask the following questions: text online. Traditionally, reading was viewed as a linear
• Which claims endorse what is good or right? process where you read from the beginning until the end.
• What qualities should be considered good? Why? However, the advent of the internet and technology has
• Which of these values contend with others? Which ones created new ways of reading and processing a text which
are more important, and why? Whose standards are used? includes hypertext. Hypertext, therefore is a nonlinear way
• What are some concrete examples of such values? of showing information. Hypertext connects topics on a
screen to related information, graphics, videos and music --
3. Claims of policy posit that specific actions should be information is not simply related to text. This information
chosen as solutions to a particular problem. You can easily appears as links and is usually accessed by clicking. The
identify a claim of policy because they begin with ‘should’, reader can jump to more information about the topic which
‘ought to’ or ‘must’. Claims of policy because they defend in turn may have more links. This opens up the reader to a
actionable plans, usually answer ‘how’ questions. The wider horizon of information or to a new direction.
following questions will be useful in evaluating a claim of
policy: A reader can skim through sections of a text freely jumping
• Does the claim suggest a specific remedy to solve the from one part to another depending on what aspect of the
problem? text interests him/her. Thus, in reading with hypertext, you
• Is the policy clearly defined? are given more flexibility and personalization because you
• Is the need for the policy established? get to select the order in which you read the text and focus
• Is the policy the best one available? For whom? According on information that is relevant to your background and
to whose standards? interest. Therefore, you create your own meaning out of the
• How does the policy solve the problem? material.

Identifying the Context of Text Development Identifying Assertions

Becoming a good critical reader means that you are able to
Being a critical reader also involves understanding the texts logically evaluate the claims of the writer. Any writer would
are always developed with a certain context. A text is want the reader to consider - and possibly agree with - the
neither written nor read in a vacuum; its meaning and claims that he or she puts forward. In expository writing,
assertions become the primary channel for a reader to assent The fourth type of assertion is a PREFERENCE.
to a claim. Assertions are declarative sentences that claim Preferences are based on personal choice; therefore, they
something is true about something else. Simply put, it is a are subjective and cannot be objectively proven or logically
sentence that is either true or false. Read the following attacked. Sampaguitas are the most beautiful and most
examples: fragrant of all flowers. This is statements is a preference
• The sampaguita’s roots are used for medicinal purposes, because it says a lot about the type of flowers to the writer
such as an anesthetic and a sedative. likes, instead of objectively comparing the qualities of
• The sampaguita belongs to the genus Jasminum of the sampaguita as to death of other flowers.
family Oleaceae.
• The popularity of sampaguita flowers is most evident in Formulating counterclaims
places of worship.
• Sampaguitas are the most beautiful and most fragrant of To be an effective critical thinker, it is not enough just to be
all flowers. able to identify claims and assertions. The ability to analyze
an argument is essential to understanding the text more
There are four common types of assertion, which are deeply, but understanding the claim is not the only facets of
classified according to the degree of certainty they can be the argument. You must also learn how to analyze the
judged as true or false. How would you classify the counterclaims and evidence provided by the text. Being
previous statements? able to recognize and formulate counterclaims in reaction to
an argument is a characteristic of a good critical reader.
The first type of assertion is a FACT. This is a statement
that can be proven objectively by direct experience, COUNTERCLAIMS are claims made to rebut a previous
testimonies of witnesses, verified observations, or the claim. They provide a contrasting perspective to the main
results of research. Because statements of fact can be argument. By being able to locate and provide
double-checked for accuracy, there is general agreement counterclaims to an argument, you show a deep competence
about the truth they posit. The sampaguita’s roots are used and familiarity with the writer’s topic. It shows that you are
for medicinal purposes, such as an anesthetic and a examining different perspectives and not just passively
sedative. This is statement is a fact because it can be accepting the writers claim. It shows that you have
directly verified by experience or reliable research report. thoroughly considered the topic, and are willing to engage
different viewpoints from your own, thus remaining
The second type is an assertion of CONVENTION. A objective. It also helps if you clarify what your personal
convention is a way in which something is done, similar to position is on the topic. The following questions will help
traditions and norms. Conventions depend on historical you formulate counterclaims:
precedent, laws, rules, usage, and customs. Thus, their • What are the major points on which you and the author
truthfulness is verified by how commonly held definitions can disagree?
and beliefs are interpreted. Something to note about • What is their strongest argument? What did they say to
conventions is that they may sound factual due to their defend their position?
being derived from customs, but because they are socially • What are the merits of their view?
accepted ways of doing things, they cannot be verified • What are the weaknesses or shortcomings in their
objectively by measurements. The sampaguita belongs to argument?
the genus Jasminum of the family Oleaceae. This is • Are there any hidden assumptions?
statement is a convention because it is based on a • Which lines from the text best support the counterclaim
classification system made up by scientist and is susceptible you have formulated?
to the scientific community. Determining textual evidence
The third type of assertion is an OPINION. Opinions are
based on facts, but are difficult to objectively verify To better evaluate the author's argument, you should be able
because of the uncertainty of producing satisfactory proofs to determine the evidence from the text. This will allow you
of soundness. Opinions results from ambiguities; the more to validate the assertions of the author and your own
ambiguous a statement, the more difficult it is to verify. counterclaims as a response to reading. Evidence is defined
Thus, they are open to dispute. The popularity of as the details given by the author to support his/her claim.
sampaguita flowers is most evident in places of worship. The evidence provided by the writer substantiates the text.
This statement is an opinion because it is based on an It reveals and builds on the position of the writer and makes
observation that needs to be proven by studies and repeated the reading more interesting. Evidence is crucial in swaying
observations; if there are too many factors involved that the reader to your side. A jury or judge, for example, relies
makes explicit judgment difficult. on evidence presented by a lawyer before it makes a
decision regarding a case. When you give comments on the
text read, you should support your claim by quoting an idea
presented in the text. Since your evidence is in the form of
text, it is called TEXTUAL EVIDENCE.

In using textual evidence, you have to make sure that you

cite both the objective and subjective evidence. Objective
evidence is the information from the text that is considered
as solid support because it includes specific information
such as scores, quantity, and percentages. On the other
hand, subjective evidence is the textual evidence that is
immeasurable or unspecific. This includes assertions and
inferences that can be used to prove the evaluation of the
reviewer.

Evidence can include the following:

• facts and statistics (objectively validated information on
your subject);
• opinion from experts (leading authorities on the topic,
such as researchers or academic); and
• personal anecdotes (generalizable, relevant, and
objectively considered).

The following are some questions to help you determine

evidence from the text:
• What questions can you ask about the claims?
• Which details in the text answer your questions?
• What are the most important details in the paragraph?
• What is each one's relationship to the claim?
• How does the given detail reinforce the claim?
• What details do you find interesting? Why?
• What are some claims that do not seem to have support?
What kinds of support today be provided with?
• What are some details that you find questionable? Why do
you think so?
• Are some details updated, inaccurate, exaggerated, or
taken out of context?
• Are the sources reliable?

The following are the characteristics of good evidence:

• unified;
• relevant to the central point;
• specific and concrete;
• accurate; and
• representative or typical.