Critical Reading:Restatement and Inference

What Is Critical Reading?

To non-critical readers, texts provide facts. Readers gain knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text.

To the critical reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts, one individual’s “take” on the subject matter. Critical readers thus recognize not only what a text says, but also how the author convey the message.

Goals of Critical Reading

1. to recognize an author’s purpose           

2 . to understand tone and persuasive e lements

3. to recognize bias  

More specifically;

1. recognizing purpose involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language

2 . recognizing tone and persuasive elements involves classifying the nature of

language choices3. recognizing bias involves classifying

the nature of patterns of choice of content and language

Restatement VS. Inference

What is the difference between these two words?

Three types of reading and analysis:

Non-critical reading is satisfied with recognizing what a text says and restating the key remarks.

What a text says     – restatementWhat a text does    – descriptionWhat a text means – inference

Inference: Reading Ideas as Well as Words

Consider the following statement: “The Senator admitted owning the

gun that killed his wife.”What can be inferred from this statement? There is a Senator. He owns a gun . He is married. His wife is dead . That gun caused her death. The Senator admitted owning that gun.

“The Senator admitted owning the gun that killed his wife.”

Now, what can’t be inferred? We do not necessarily know if the

Senator's admission is true. We do not really know whether the

Senator is in any way responsible for his wife's death, nor do we know that she died of gun shot wounds.

We do not even know if it was murder—it might have been suicide or an accident .

Read the following story.

A man and his son are driving in a car .The car crashes into a tree, killing the father and seriously injuring his son . At the hospital, the boy needs to have surgery . Upon looking at the boy, the doctor says (telling the truth), "I cannot operate on him . He is my son.“

How can this be?

Analysis and Inference: The Tools of Critical Reading

A critical reader know what to look for ( analysis ) and how to think about what

to find ( inference ) . The first part —what to look for—

involves recognizing those aspects of a discussion that control the meaning .

The second part —how to think about what you find— involves the processes of inference, the interpretation of data from within the text .

Restatement VS. Inference

What is the difference between these two words?