Critical Reading

Critical Reading Exercise #1

Unit One: Critical Reading

Critical Reading:

Critical reading is an essential skill needed for college. It requires practice, and an adherence to several steps in order for the reader to be successful in reading at a college-level.

Critical Reading Assignment: For this assignment, you will need to demonstrate the ability to read critically at the college level. You will need to do the following: Read through the critical reading steps, and then read the attached essay, carefully following the steps. You will need to submit a copy of your annotated reading to Canvas. A rubric for this assignment has been attached.

To read efficiently and critically, follow the steps below:

Step One: Previewing the text

Previewing the text provides the reader with an idea of what to expect from the text. The preview should identify any key concepts or ideas as well as the basic layout of the argument. To preview the text look at the title, subtitle, any headings, the first and last paragraphs, illustrations, and visuals. Once your preview the article, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Where is the article going? What do you think it is about?
  2. What is its purpose? Audience? Genre?

Step Two: Read through the article and think about your initial response

You will need to read the text several times. The first time your read it, pay attention to the content of the text. This should be a surface level reading only. Afterwards, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What is your initial reaction to the text?
  2. What accounts for your reaction?

Step Three: Annotating

Read the article again, but this time with a specific purpose. Now that you know what the article is about, you need to examine how it makes its point. Identify any patterns in the text by examining the grammar, structure, and diction. Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What do these patterns reveal?
  2. How do these patterns reinforce the explicit meaning of the text?

Step Four: Thinking about how the text works

Reading through the article again, pay attention to what each paragraph says and does. Write these down separately in sentence form. By identifying what each paragraph says in a sentence and putting those sentences together, you will compose a summary of the content in the text. By identifying what each paragraph does in sentence and putting those sentences together, you will compose a summary of the structure of the text

English 101 E-Text: Writing for the Rhetorical Situation by Emily Wicker Ligon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License

Girl reading, Alper Çugun, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License