EAPP  Critical reading is a more active way of reading.

It
11 - PASTEUR is a deeper and more complex engagement with a
text. Critical reading is a process of analyzing,
LESSON 1 interpreting and, sometimes, evaluating.
 Critical reading is an active process of discovery
Definitions of Academic Writing because when you read critically, you are not just
receiving information, but also making an
 Academic writing is neither writing to express your interaction with the writer. The interaction happens
emotions nor writing to impress your readers. It is a when you question the writer’s claims and
process that starts with posing questions, assertions and when you comment on the writer’s
problematizing a concept, evaluating an opinion, idea
and ends in answering the question or questions
posed, clarifying a problem, and arguing for a The following are some suggested ways to help you
stand. become a critical reader:
 Academic writing addresses an audience. The 1. Annotate what you read
audience can be your teacher, your peer who will  One of the first strategies to begin with is annotating a
read and evaluate your work, and the academic text. When you annotate, you underline important parts
community that may also read your work. of the text, such as the thesis statement, topic sentences
 Academic writing is different from personal of body paragraphs and explanatory material.
narrative, creative essay, or a legal document. In Annotating may also include circling key words and
academic writing, the knowledge of the writer is writing comments or questions you have about the
assumed to be greater than that of the readers. material in the margins. This is also a very good way to
 Academic writing requires critical thinking; you mark material that needs to be studied for exams.
cannot just write anything that comes to your mind. 2. Outline the Text
You have to abide by the set rules and practices in  This can be used as a preliminary to summarizing.
writing. You have to write in language that is Outlining allows you to identify the basic structure of a
appropriate and formal. You also have to consider text and the main ideas of the text. In an outline you are
the knowledge and background of your audience. listing the main ideas and supporting evidence of a text
You have to make sure that you can back up your 3. Summarize the Text
statement with strong and valid evidence.  Summarizing creates a new text by synthesizing the
 Writing academic papers requires deliberate, material of the original. After outlining the text, the
thorough, and careful thought and that is why it information is put together again in your own words.
involves research. Summarization fosters understanding of the text, as you
need to be able to recreate the meaning of the text in
Purpose in Writing an Academic Text your own words
 To inform 4. Evaluate the Text
 To argue a specific point  Questioning the author’s purpose and intentions, as
 To persuade well as his/her assumptions in the claims.

Standards in Evaluating an Academic Text: Logical Fallacies

 Content - Clarity of purpose and the thesis  Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that are
statement, relevance of the supporting points to the based on poor or faulty logic
thesis statement, and the writer’s knowledge on the  A logical fallacy is an irrational argument made
subject matter. through faulty reasoning common enough to be
 Structure - Coherence and logical sequence of the named for the nature of its respective logical
ideas failure.
 Langauge and Style - Word choice and sentence Example: Vote for me in the upcoming election
construction because I once experienced what a common
 Mechanics - Grammar, punctuations, Filipino has been experiencing. I know what it feels
capitalization, formatting, and documentation like to not have something to eat on the table. That
qualifies me to be a true leader!

LESSON 3

LESSON 2 What is thesis statement?

What is critical reading?  A thesis statement is the main idea of an essay. It is

often a point you want to argue or support in an
 Critical reading means not easily believing essay.
information offered to you by a text.
 The thesis statement explains to a reader the main contains sub points also helps a reader know how
idea of the essay, and the writer’s opinion on that the essay will be organized.
idea.  A thesis statement should contain a topic (main idea
 A thesis statement is usually one sentence. It is of what you are writing about)
often placed in the introductory paragraph of an contain an opinion about the topic (what your
essay. attitude is toward the topic)
 A thesis statement is a claim that could be argued.  A thesis statement contains topic+position +
The essay will contain evidence and opinions that rationale (because-clause) or discussion.
support the argument. Example: (1) Music therapy is useful in relieving
stress, anxiety disorder depression. (2) The problem
of pollution in major cities can be alleviated by
Things to avoid in writing thesis statement limiting the number of cars allowed to drive on city
streets and creating more efficient public
 Thesis statements avoid the following: the first transportation systems.
person (I believe, In my opinion, etc.) unclear
language (It seems, etc.) attempting two topics at LESSON 4
once (even if they seem related). Pick one and stick
with it. Academic Writing Process
 A thesis statement should not be too broad or too
general. 1. Pre-Writing Process
Too Broad: Mountain City Elementary is a good
school. a. Reading
Better: Teachers make Mountain City Elementary
a fantastic school because of their  Critical reading is a requirement in order to become
efforts in facilitating their students in academic and a critical writer.
non-academic endeavor.  It gives you background information and more
 A thesis statement should not be too wordy. knowledge about the topic you are going to write.
Too Wordy: Some problems with Mountain City
Elementary School is that it needs a larger b. Brainstorming
playground, an air conditioned gym, an auditorium,
restrooms connected to each classroom, running  Listing ideas about a topic, even the bad ones, until
water in the classrooms, and a number of other you find one you like.
physical changes to the building.  Generate as many topics as you can, can be done
Better: To make the school better, Mountain City individually/in a group.
Elementary needs several improvements to its
facilities like in science laboratory, speech
laboratory, library and gymnasium.
 A thesis statement should not be a title.
Title: Rising TCAP Scores at Mountain City
Elementary c. Clustering
Better: Good teaching has led to an increase in
TCAP scores at Mountain City Elementary.  Clustering is the process of writing down a broad
topic, then creating a concept map where different
 A thesis statement should not be a fact. clusters of related subtopics are represented visually
Fact: The recycling of one aluminum can saves
enough energy to run a TV for three hours. 2. Writing Process
Better: Recycling is one of the most important jobs
a person can do to prevent land, water and air a. Drafting
pollution.
 It occurs when you put your ideas into sentences
How to write a thesis statement? and paragraphs.
 Process of putting additional ideas, implications,
 Thesis statement is a road map to your essay. After and facts from your research.
you have brainstormed and you  It tends to be a writer-centered.
have some main ideas of what you would like to
write in your essay, you can begin b. Revising
thinking about writing a thesis statement.
 A thesis statement is a complete sentence that  A process of making changes throughout the
contains one main idea. This idea controls the writing of a draft, changes that work to make the
content of the entire essay. A thesis statement that draft congruent with a writer's changing intentions.
 It becomes reader-centered, here you think more Example:“The peso is not weak, because the peso is
about your readers’ needs and expectations. weak. The peso is weak because the dollar is strong. The
dollar is strong for two reasons..,” said Sandro Marcos.
c. Editing
“Tell the truth before the senators affected will have you
 Checking whether the paper is well-organized, if assassinated,” Miriam Defensor Santiago stated.
the transitions between
 paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really “We did not come to fear the future. We came here to
backs up your argument. shape it,” Barack Obama mentioned.
 Editing of the content, overall structure, clarify,
style, and your citations. Intext Citation

3. Post-Writing  Formats in APA (American Psychological
Association) Style, based on the seventh edition
d. Proofreading (2020)
 Include an in-text citation when you refer to,
 Final stage of the writing process summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another
 Checking of smaller details such as grammar, source.
spelling, and punctuations.  For every in-text citation in your paper, there must
be a corresponding entry in your reference list.
LESSON 5  APA in-text citation style uses the author's last
name and the year of publication, for example:
Plagiarism (Field, 2005).
 Deliberate copying of somebody else’s work and  For direct quotations, include the page number as
claiming that work to be his/her well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).
own.  For sources such as websites and e-books that have
 Using somebody else’s work or ideas without no page numbers, use a paragraph number, for
proper acknowledgement or citation. example: (Field, 2005, para. 1).
 Copying the text without paraphrasing it.
Example:

In-text citation
Ways to Avoid Plagiarism
Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and
 Paraphrasing other mental disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).
 Direct Quoting
 Intext Citation Reference entry
Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may
Paraphrasing harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive
activities, study says.
 Rendering the essential ideas in a text using your CNN.https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-
own words. media-mental-health-trnd/index.html
 Paraphrased materials may be shorter or longer than
the original text. In-text citation
 It is more detailed than a summary.
More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by
Steps to follow in paraphrasing a text: depression (World Health Organization, 2018).

1. Read and Reread Reference entry

2. Jot down important information
3. Set the original aside World Health Organization. (2018, March 22).
4. Write on your own version Depression. https://www.who.int/en/news-
room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
Direct Quotation

 Quotations must be identical to the original text.

 A direct quotation is used when the author’s ideas
are so important that paraphrasing them will change
the essence.