Chapter Guide

Reading Critically

Reading critically involves both summarizing and evaluating a piece of writing. For academic writing, you seek information on a topic. Sources for a topic are not equally valuable, however, so you must learn to discern what is and isn't useful to you. To determine validity in your source material, ask yourself the following questions about the passages, articles, and books that you read:

• What is the author's purpose in writing?
• Does he or she succeed in this purpose?
• To what extent do you agree with the author?

What Is the Author's Purpose?

• Identify the author's thesis.
• Identify the author's purpose: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain?
• Determine how successful the author has been.

Does He or She Succeed in This Purpose?

Informative Writing.

If the author's purpose is to inform, first consider answers to any Who, What, Where, When, and How questions related to the subject matter of the article. Next, consider its accuracy, significance, and fair interpretation.

Persuasive Writing.

If the author's purpose is to persuade, assess its validity by determining whether the author has accomplished the following:

• Clearly defined key terms.
• Used information fairly.
• Argued logically and not fallaciously.

Logical Fallacies.

• Emotionally Loaded Terms-using terms with powerful connotations to sway the reader's emotions
• Ad Hominem Argument-rejecting the opposing views by attacking the person who holds them
• Faulty Cause and Effect-assuming one event caused another without proving it
• Either/Or Reasoning-assuming only two possibilities for a given situation exist
• Hasty Generalization-drawing conclusions from too little evidence or unrepresentative evidence
• False Analogy-assuming two things that are similar in one way are also similar in other ways
• Begging the Question-assuming as a proven fact the very thesis being argued
• Non Sequitur-concluding with a point that does not logically follow from a premise
• Oversimplification-offering easy solutions for complicated problems

To What Extent Do You Agree With the Author?

First, it is important that you clearly understand the author's viewpoint. Summarizing the author's position before hand will help you clarify that position. Distinguish between the argument's merits and your agreement or disagreement with the author's views. You may agree with an author's views, but you might find that the work contains flaws in logic or inaccuracies in statements of fact. On the other hand, you might find that although you disagree with the author's point of view, you find that the work is logically sound and reasonable. The best approach to your critique, then, is twofold. First, you will identify the author's purpose and design; second, you will respond with points of agreement and disagreement as you evaluate the validity of the argument. As you respond to the work, you should state your position clearly and provide evidence for your position.

Oftentimes, it is helpful to read source material that takes a different viewpoint from the source you are critiquing in order to define your agreements or disagreements. Each topic chapter of your textbook provides articles with contrasting, if not opposing, positions on a single topic.

For example, a model critique of Greg Crister's "Too Much of a Good Thing," from Chapter 11 is presented in this chapter. This critique is followed by a paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown of the critique. Notice that although the focus of the critique is on Crister's article, sources (including Worley's article, also in Chapter 11) are used. While it may not be necessary to specifically cite another author, knowing other arguments helps the to define points of agreement and disagreement.

Notice too that the model critique gives an assessment, which is the writer's thesis, at the end of the second paragraph. Thus, in the first two paragraphs, students should identify both the author's thesis and state their own thesis. Don't become bogged down when summarizing the source's main claim. In a critique, the purpose is to summarize only the main points, particularly those that will be discussed in the critique, and that the analysis of the presentation should comprise the bulk of the paper.

The Discussion and Writing Suggestions at the end of most of the topic readings provide critical questions that promote critique writing.

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