CRITICAL READING

Read Actively

Respond to what you read. One reading IS NOT ENOUGH.

Some tips for critical reading:

• Read the passage AT LEAST three times.

• On the FIRST reading, pay attention to:

• TITLE
• SUBHEADINGS
• INTRODUCTION
• CONCLUSION

• By the end of the first reading you should have identified the author's thesis.

• On the SECOND reading:

1. Mark the text
   Pay attention to:
   1. Thesis statement
   2. Support and development of that statement
   3. Evidence - statistics, examples, descriptions, quotations from authorities, comparisons, diagrams, graphs
   4. Transitions - words, phrases, paragraphs
   5. Section summaries (if they exist)
2. Annotate the text
   1. Restate main ideas in your own words
   2. Mark and define unfamiliar vocabulary
   3. Consider author's purpose
   4. Consider tone and voice
   5. Distinguish main ideas from supporting points
   6. Evaluate evidence
   7. Find, examine and respond to assumptions
   8. Identify emotional appeals
   9. Distinguish between fact and opinion
   10. Ask questions
   11. Express doubts

• On the THIRD reading:

• Turn your textual notes into notes in a reading journal