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Chapter 11: Critical Reading

Breaking Through: College Reading, 8/e

by Brenda Smith

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers

What Do Critical Readers Do?

Use direct statements.

Make inferences.

Use prior knowledge.

Use language clues.

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Critical Readers Recognize the Author's Purpose or Intent

To inform.

To persuade.

To entertain.

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Critical Readers Recognize the Author’s Point of View or Bias

Point of View: Author’s opinion or position on the subject.

Bias: is an opinion or a judgment associated with prejudice.has a negative connotation.may not tell both sides of the issue.

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Critical Readers Recognize the Author’s Tone or Attitude

Angry

Cheerful

Depressed

Distressed

Formal

Frustrated

Humorous

Objective

Optimistic

Pessimistic

Serious

Righteous

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Example of Tone

Tiger Woods doesn’t just play golf well, he plays better than anyone in the world. By age 3, the amazing Tiger shot 48 to 9 holes, and at age 8 he won an international junior tournament.The tone is: nostalgic ironic admiring

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Critical Readers Distinguish Fact from Opinion

Fact: a statement that can be proven true or false

Example: The temperature in the class is 78.

Opinion: a statement of feeling that cannot be proven right or wrong

Example: This classroom is always hot and stuffy!

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Critical Readers Recognize Valid and Invalid Support for Arguments

Fallacy: an error in reasoning that can give an illusion of support.

Example: Everybody has these shoes; so should you. [bandwagon]

Propaganda: where fallacies are prevalent, especially in advertisements.

Example: Tiger Woods is in an ad for sports shoes to persuade you to buy them. [testimonial]

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Fallacies in Propaganda

Testimonials

Bandwagon

Transfer

Straw person

Misleading analogy

Circular reasoning

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Testimonials

Celebrities who are not experts

give their support.

Example: Celebrities appear in television advertisements endorsing milk, wearing “milk mustaches.”

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Bandwagon

You will be left out if you do not join the crowd.

Example: All the voters in the district support Henson for Senator.

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Transfer

A famous person is associated with

an argument.

Example: George Washington indicated in a quote that he would have agreed with us on this issue.

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Straw Person

A simplistic exaggeration is set up to

represent the argument.

Example: The professor replied, “If I delay the exam, you’ll expect me to change the due dates of all papers and assignments.”

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Misleading AnalogyTwo things are compared as

similar that actually are distinctly different.

Example: Studying is like taking a shower; most of the material goes down the drain.

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Circular Reasoning

The conclusion is supported by

restating it.

Example: Papers must be turned in on time because papers cannot be turned in late.

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Summary Points

What do critical readers do?What is an author’s purpose or intent?What is the author’s point of view?What is bias?What is tone?

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers

Summary Points

What is a fact?What is an opinion?What is a fallacy?What is propaganda?

©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers

Reading and Studying Ethics

ASK:What is the issue?

What positions are presented?

What support is fact and what is opinion?

What is the conclusion?

What is your reaction?

Now read the selection: Cosmetic Surgery for Pets.

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Evaluating Internet Information

ASK:What are the author’s credentials?Who paid for the Web page?What is the purpose of the Web page?How do the biases of the author affect the material?Is the reasoning sound?

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Visit the Companion Website

http://www.ablongman.com/smith