Text and Text Connections (Critical Reading)

Discussion Questions:
1. How will you differentiate critical reading from critical thinking?
- The difference between critical reading and critical thinking is that
critical reading has a more in-depth and complicated relationship with a
text. It involves the method of analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating.
On the other hand, when we begin to read critically, we use critical
thinking to question both the text and our own interpretation of it.
These two also differ in terms of purpose, because we use critical
reading to gain a basic understanding of the text. While critical thinking
is used to draw assumptions on how a text works.
2. Can a critical reader be considered a critical thinker? Explain your answer.
- Yes, because both critical reading and critical thinking require the ability
to think rationally and clearly. Another reason why a critical reader can
be considered a critical thinker is that when the reader reads and
understands a certain text (critical reading), critical thinking maintains
the understanding of the reader, critical thinking takes account of
reader understanding. Aside from these, we also examine ideas and
facts (critical reading) and analyze the text's claim (critical thinking) at
the same time. Overall, it shows that when a reader critically reads a
text, critical thinking emerges.
3. What are the three terms usually used in critical reading? Discuss each
briefly.
- The three words often used in critical reading are annotating, contextual
reading, and outlining. To begin, annotating helps in remembering key
details and assessing what the text is about through emphasizing key
points in a text. Following that, contextual reading investigates the
context of the text itself, providing a more in-depth interpretation of the
author's purpose and course in writing. Lastly, outlining helps you to
describe a text's basic structure as well as its main idea. It is often used
to differentiate between a text's main ideas and supporting evidence.