“Reading furnishes the mind only with mater ia ls of knowledge; i t is th inking that makes what we read ours.” – John Locke

CRITICAL READING

Goal: Do you understand?Writing to

InformReporter Questions: who, what, when, where, why,

how

Accuracy of Information

So what?

Author’s interpretation

Goal: Are you convinced?Writing to Persuade

Clearly Defined Terms

Fair Use of Information

Clear Logic

Emotional Weight

EXPOSITORY FORMS

Genres: Summary or Explanatory Synthesis

Genres: Critique or Analytic Synthesis

All critical reading begins with an

accurate summary.

Why are you reading this text? Your purpose

influences which aspects of the text are important

to your summary and which are distractions.

STEP 1: SUMMARY

Highlight or underline key

points

Brackets around

quotable passages

Connect related ideas

with lines

Outline main ideas in the margin (like

Cornell Notes)

Circle words needing

definition or investigation

Comments and questions in the margin

Annotations refl ect your observations of details in the text, questions the text

raises, new ideas it

suggests, and

personal reactions.

AN

NO

TAT

ION

&

NO

TE

-TA

KIN

G

Ways to Annotate

Does the author have a particular bias (stated or unstated) that affects the presentation of evidence?

Does the author have more than one purpose? Which purpose has priority? Do the purposes conflict?

Is the text:

Aesthetic/Entertaining

Persuasive (like an argument)

Descriptive/Informative (like a

summary)

STEP 2: AUTHOR PURPOSE (SPIN)

Summary: Sam-I-Am offers breakfast to an unnamed narrator. The narrator refuses to eat under any circumstances. Finally, he surrenders and tries the food, discovering that he likes it.

Description: A children’s story told in rhyme and repetition that describes a persuasive argument between Sam-I-Am and the narrator.

EXAMPLE: GREEN EGGS AND HAM

Dr. Seuss may intend the narrator (whose lack of a name makes him universally identifi able) to represent a child unwilling to try new things, no matter what enticement or logical reasoning is off ered. The repetition of increasingly silly situations shows children that their objections can easily become unmoored from logical reality.

Based on the apparent age diff erence between Sam-I-Am (shorter and younger than the narrator), I also think that the story might be a social satire on how older people reject the ideas of the younger generation out of hand. The book was written in 1960 (as the Beat writers were challenging the political status quo), and Dr. Seuss himself was a political cartoonist known for injecting social satire in his work on other occasions.

PURPOSE AND INTERPRETATION

Identify points of

agreement or

disagreement

Why do you agree or

disagree on each point?

STEP 3: DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE?

Divide and Conquer

Read for General Overview

Read Deeper

One Sentence per Major Idea

Thesis Statement

Put the Pieces Together

Check for Accuracy

Revise!

SUMMARIZING: 8 EASY STEPS

Document!

Weave into your argument

Compare to confirm meaning

Combine or divide sentences

Change up the language to fit

Change the order to fit your purpose

Locate the major ideas

SUMMARIZING: 7 EASY STEPS

Virtual-reality systems can represent physical space by using cyberspace, even to the extent that people can feel telepresent in a scene that is transmitted, perhaps Mars or the deep ocean (Heim 80).

We can achieve the illusion of being present in remote locations, for example the planet Mars or deep parts of the ocean, by using virtual-reality equipment that creates a cyberspace representation of the real world (Heim 80).

SUMMARIZING IN ACTION

Original Version:

Virtual-reality systems can use cyberspace to represent physical space, even to the point that we can feel telepresent in a transmitted scene, whether Mars or the deep ocean.

This article covers the topic of measuring the extent of global deforestation. The article discusses the reasons for concern, the technique, the results, and the project’s current goal.

According to the author of “Seeing the Forest,” the extent of global deforestation was diffi cult to measure until satellite remote sensing techniques were applied. Measuring the extent of global deforestation is important because of concerns about global warming and species extinctions. The technique compares old infrared LANDSAT images with new images. The authors conclude the method is accurate and cost effective.

SUMMARIZING IN ACTION