Lesson 5 Critical Reading Skills
Lesson 5 Critical Reading Skills
Lesson 5 Critical Reading Skills
CRITICAL
READING SKILLS
By the end of the lesson
you will have been able to:
Explain critical reading as looking for ways
of thinking and as reasoning
Identify claims explicitly made in a written
text
Formulate evaluate statements about a text
read
Determine how central claims are develop
and argued
Determine the audience the text is
written for
Identify the context in which the text is
developed
Examine the evidence that the text uses
Evaluate the validity of arguments in
the text
Determine textual evidence to validate
assertions and counterclaims made
about a text read
Strategies For
Effective Critical
Thinking
You have to read a text with an open
mind
Remember to think critically all
throughout the reading process and ask
higher-order questions whenever possible
The statements in the text must also be
evaluated
Examine the facts and example; try to
check if there are gaps and
inconsistencies
Check for the accuracy and reliability of
the sources and distinguish fact from
opinion
Aside from evaluating, look for what isn’t
presented well
Assess if the conclusion are acceptable,
based on all the facts presented
Remember to evaluate the credibility of
the writer
Analyze the motivation for writing the text
by looking at the writers sociopolitical,
cultural, economic and personal situation.
Intertext
Claim Of Fact
Claim Of Values
Claim Of Policy
Observe the ff. words
oSufficient
oAccurate
oRecent Evidences
Claim Of Fact
Example:
Either you fully devote yourself to the
company or you quit
Appeal to Ignorance
Occurs when something is instantly
concluded to be true just because it is
not proven to be false and vise versa.
Example:
The writer does not talk about the connection
between the victims killer and his sister, so there
must be none
Slippery Slope
Occurs when a series of increasingly
superficial and unacceptable
consequence is drawn
Example:
If we ban computer shops, then students will
not be able to do research. And if they do not
have tools for research, these students will
fail there subjects
Complex Question
Occurs when two or more points are rolled
into one and the reader is expected to either
accept or reject both at the same time, when
one point may be satisfactory while the other
is not
Example:
"Have you stopped cheating on exams?"
Appeal to force
Occurs when a treat, instead of
reasoning, is used to argue
Example:
If you do not admit that evolution is
not real, we will isolate you from the
group
Appeal to Pity
Occurs when the element of pity is
used instead of logical reasoning
Example:
Please do not fire me for being absent all month; I
have a sick mother and a special child to support.
Appeal to Consequences
Occurs when an unpleasant
consequences of believing something
are pointed out to show that the belief
is false
Example:
You can’t believe the colonialism is bad, because if
it were, then we would not be civilized.
Bandwagon
Occurs when an argument is
considered to be valid because it is
what the majority thinks
Example:
Most Filipinos want to have fair skin because
they think they look beautiful.Therefore, having fair
skin must be the real standard of beauty
Attacking the Person
Occurs when someone tries to refute
an argument by attacking the
character of the person instead of
attacking the ideas of the argument.
Example:
I cannot accept your argument because unlike
me you are not educated at Harvard Univesity.
Appeal To Authority
Occurs when the argument quotes an
expert who is not qualified in the
particular subject matter
Example:
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft,
recommends the effective fabric softening
properties of Downy Fbric Softener.
Aunonimous Authority
Example:
Experts claim that eating peanuts causes
pimples.
Hasty Generalization
Example:
Martha, the foreigner from France is very
impolite.French people are mean and rude.
False Analogy
Example:
Drugs are like massages,they make you feel
good.
Accident
Example:
Jaywalking is not allowed, so you should have
done that even when you were being chased by
terrorists.
Post Hoc
Example:
Dina saw a black cat when they went home.Along
the way, they crash into a tree.The black cat must
be the reason why they met an accident
Wrong Direction
Example:
Liver damage leads to alcoholism.
Complex Cause
Occurs when the explanation for an
event is reduced to one thing when
there are other factors which also
contributed to the event.
Example:
We we’re not able to solve the problem because
of limited time. Even if all the other groups we’re
able to do so.
Irrelevant Conclusion
Occurs when an argument which is
supposed to prove something
concludes something else instead
Example:
We must support the fight for gender equality
between men and women.Women have suffer
enough violence at home.Violence against women
must be stop.
Straw Man
Occurs when the position of the
opposition is twisted so that it is
easier to refute.
Example:
Opponent : We should relax the law governing
the allowed smoking areas in the city
Fallacy : We should not do so, because the
number of smokers might increase.
Affirming the Consequent
Example:
We must support the fight for gender equality
between men and women.Women have suffer
enough violence at home.Violence against women
must be stop.
Denying the Antecedent
Any argument of the form: If A is true
then B is true; if A is not true then B is
not true.
Example:
Example If you are drinking wine, you have a
problem. Therefore, if you are not drinking wine.
You do not have a problem.
Inconsistency
Example:
Frank is older than Jake, Jake is older than Noli,
and Noli is older than Frank.
Isorena, Jonathan
Del Rio, Cherry Mae
Hadji Jamel, Samerah