Effective Reading Critique: Steps and Techniques

Criticism is the activity displayed by the reader to identify the strengths, weaknesses, and inconsistencies of a text in order to accept, reject, or suggest modifications.

Criticism fosters progress, achievement, and advances knowledge of the truth.

Steps to Critique a Reading:

1. Synthesize information from different texts and/or experts on the subject.
2. Engage in critical discussion.
3. Accept, reject, or modify the reading's content.
4. Put the reading into practice with prior planning.
5. Enrich the reading by observing and recording the results of practice.

• Critical reading is a technique for discovering ideas and information within a written text.
• Critical thinking is a technique for evaluating information and ideas to decide what to accept and believe.

It is useful to remember that we read each text on its own merits, without imposing the reader's prior knowledge or views on it.

Thinking Critically: Evaluating the Evidence

Critical reading is a complex process requiring different skills:

a) Decrypt the Text

Point out unfamiliar words or expressions and use dictionaries and reference books. Paraphrase the text in your own words.

b) Contextualize

Place the text in context: author, time and circumstances of writing, dominant ideology, author's purpose, etc. Recognize the causes of events and foresee potential consequences.

c) Relate and Extrapolate

Connect the text's information with knowledge from other fields and consider different perspectives.

d) Assess the Text

Evaluate the reliability of sources, subject matter, arguments, quality, rigor, and the text's impact on the reader's interests and emotions.