Greetings!
Below you will find the following:
1. a copy of the handout distributed Wednesday on how to critically read an essay.
2. assignments for Packets 7 and 8 for next week.
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English 5—Summer Bridge Academy--2014
C. Fraga
How to Critically Read an
Essay
Educated adults exist in a delusional state, thinking we can
read.
In a most basic sense, we can.
However, odds are, some of us cannot read, at least not as
well as we would like.
Too many college students are capable of only some types of
reading and that becomes painfully clear when they read a difficult text and
must respond critically about it.
Intelligence and a keen memory are excellent traits and most
students have learned to read in a certain way that is only useful for
extracting information. Thus, students are often fairly well skilled in providing
summary.
However, the act of reading to extract information and to
read critically are vastly different!
The current educational system in American primary schools
(and many colleges) heavily emphasizes the first type of reading and
de-emphasizes the latter.
In many ways, THIS MAKES SENSE.
Reading to extract information allows a student to absorb
the raw materials of factual information as quickly as possible. It is a type
of reading we all must engage in frequently. However, each type of reading calls for different mental habits. If we do not learn to
adjust from one type of reading to another when necessary, we cripple our
intellectual abilities to read critically.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN READING TO EXTRACT INFORMATION AND READING
CRITICALLY.
- They have different goals. When students read to extract
information, usually they seek facts and presume the source is
accurate. No argument is
required. On the other hand,
when students read critically, they try to determine the quality of the
argument. The reader must be
open-minded and skeptical all at once, constantly adjusting the degree of
personal belief in relation to the quality of the essay’s argument.
- They require different types of
discipline. If
students read to learn raw data, the most efficient way to learn is
repetition. If students read
critically, the most effective technique may be to break the essay up into
logical subdivisions and analyze each section’s argument, to restate the
argument in other words, and then to expand upon or question the findings.
- They require different mental
activity. If a
student reads to gain information, a certain degree of absorption,
memorization and passivity is necessary. If a student is engaged in
reading critically, that student must be active!!! He or she must be prepared to pre-read the essay,
then read it closely for content, and re-read it if it isn’t clear how the
author is reaching the conclusion in the argument.
- They create different results. Passive reading to absorb
information can create a student who (if not precisely well read) has read
a great many books. It creates what many call “book-smarts.” However, critical reading involves
original, innovative thinking.
- They differ in the degree of
understanding they require.
Reading for information is more basic, and reading critically is
the more advanced of the two because only critical reading equates with
full understanding.
ULTIMATELY, WHAT WE WANT IS
THE CONSCIOUS CONTROL OF OUR READING SKILLS, SO WE CAN MOVE BACK AND FORTH
AMIDST THE VARIOUS TYPES OF READING.
FIVE GENERAL STAGES OF
READING
1. Pre-Reading—examining the
text and preparing to read it effectively (5 minutes)
2. Interpretive
Reading—understanding what the author argues, what the author concludes, and
exactly how he or she reached that conclusion.
3. Critical Reading—questioning,
examining and expanding upon what the author says with your own arguments. Skeptical reading does not mean
doubting everything you read.
4. Synoptic Reading—putting the
author’s argument in a larger context by considering a synopsis of that reading
or argument in conjunction with synopses of other readings or arguments.
5. Post-Reading—ensuring that
you won’t forget your new insights.
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PACKET 7
"A Place to Call Home: What Immigrants Say Now"
http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/immigrants
PACKET 8 (Q & C #4 due for this packet)
(this TED Talk focuses on the devastating topic of human trafficking)
http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html
