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What a Text Says, Does, and Means: Reaching for an Interpretation |
What Is Critical Reading?Note: These remarks are primarily directed at non-fictional texts.Facts v. InterpretationTo 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 that text portrays the subject matter. They recognize the various ways in which each and every text is the unique creation of a unique author.
A non-critical reader might read a history book to learn the facts of the
situation or to discover an accepted interpretation of those events. A
critical reader
might read the same work to appreciate how a particular perspective on the
events and a particular selection of facts can lead to particular
understanding.
Critical reading goes two steps further. Having recognized what a text says , it reflects on what the text does by making such remarks. Is it offering examples? Arguing? Appealing for sympathy? Making a contrast to clarify a point? Finally, critical readers then infer what the text, as a whole, means , based on the earlier analysis. These three steps or modes of analysis are reflected in three types of reading and discussion:
Goals of Critical ReadingTextbooks on critical reading commonly ask students to accomplish certain goals:
Analysis and Inference: The Tools of Critical ReadingThese web pages are designed to take the mystery out of critical reading. They are designed to show you what to look for ( analysis ) and how to think about what you 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. Recall that critical reading assumes that each author offers a portrayal of the topic. Critical reading thus relies on an examination of those choices that any and all authors must make when framing a presentation: choices of content, language, and structure. Readers examine each of the three areas of choice, and consider their effect on the meaning. |
Critical Reading v. Critical Thinking Choices: The Ingredients of Texts Inference: Reading Ideas as Well as Words Three Ways to Read and Discuss Texts |
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