HW 9/3

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  • Critical readers must detect the relationship between the claim and its supporting material. They must also evaluate the relevance and validity of the support, and also “read between the lines”.
  • Critical reading means engaging through questioning the text.
  • Strategies for critical reading: Once through is not enough.
  • First encounters: Skimming for context, reading the content.
  • Second encounters: Reading to detect the case.
  • Third encounters: Responding to an argument.
  • Strategy: Before reading, skim (and surf) for context.
  • Strategy: Skim to preview the whole argument.
  • Strategy: Annotate as you read.
  • Strategy: Outlining the case
  • Strategy: Paraphrasing
  • Strategy: Summarizing
  • Strategy: Joining the Conversation
  • Rhetorical context means the background for the text, such as who it.
  • Questions for determining rhetorical context: WHO wrote this argument? What are the writer’s occupation, personal background, and political learnings? TO WHOM is the author writing? Arguments are usually aimed at a specific audience, such as entertainment industry moguls, undecided voters, or parents of teenagers. WHERE does the argument appear? If it is reprinted or inserted into a website, where did it originally appear? Is the source reliable? WHEN was the argument written? If not recently, what do you know about the circumstances in which it was written. WHY was the argument written? What is the Authors Purpose?
  • Analogy two things are compared in the hope that if the audience accepts something as true for one half of the comparison, then they will accept it as true for the other half.
  • Paraphrase requires very close reading and the ability to translate an entire idea into your own words.
  • Paraphrasing is not easy, but it helps you absorb the ideas and makes you think harder about them.
  • guidelines for paraphrasing:
  • 1. Read the whole argument.
  • 2. Look up any unfamiliar words or allusions.
  • 3. Read through the passage slowly, try to explain it to somebody who has not read it.
  • 4. Set the original passage aside.
  • 5. Write your own version of the passage.
  • 6. Use your own words, but do not strain to change every single word.
  • 7. If you take a phrase or a loaded word from the passage enclose it with quotation marks.
  • A summary includes just the main points of the original argument.
  • Chunking the Argument: Set up the topic or issue in a way that gets the readers’ attention. State the claim. Qualify the claim, explaining any exceptions. Define a key term or terms. Give background information on the topic. Give a reason and support it with evidence. Give an opposing view and refute it. Make a concession by agreeing with an opposing point. Conclude by driving home the point.

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