We are going to go through the stages of reading through an opinion piece (op-ed) to

help understand the reading critically

1. Text Survey - Get an idea of the who, what, when and where of the article. Where
something is published, who wrote it, and when it was published will all affect the
message.

What is the title? What does this tell us about the article?

Where and when was the article published (include which page it was on)?

Who wrote the article? Do you know anything about the author?

Who is this article written for? Scientist? Regular people? Government officials?

2. Focus your mind - Reading is difficult and our mind often wanders. It is a good idea to
ask yourself what you know about the topic, and ask some questions that the article may
answer. Here are some examples:

What do I already know about the topic?

Are there any other recent news stories that relate to the topic?

Your Questions:

1.

2.

3.

3. General overview - Check to see if the article answered your questions (It is OK if they
didn’t) Then write a single sentence or possibly two sentences that states the main idea
of the article.
This article is about…
The author is trying to…

4. Main ideas of the paragraphs - Read through the article again. This time try to state
what the main idea of each paragraph is in a single sentence.

Note on New Vocabulary: You are going to see many words or phrases you may not
understand, that’s OK. First try to use the context around to help you understand, after
you can use a translation app, ask me, or ask a partner. Make a note of this new
vocabulary so you can try to study it later.

Example: - There was a recent disruptive social action - research shows there is a strategy

Your
turn:________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

5. Resummarize - Look back at your summary in step three. Make changes to summarize
the overall main idea of the article.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Assess - Ask yourself your opinions of the article or talk about it with a friend.
Discussing often helps with a deeper understanding.

a. The author believes that work on climate change has been too slow. Do you agree?
b. The previous COP and the next one were and will be hosted by oil rich countries and oil
companies. Do you think this affects the talks?
c. Who do you think this type of activism is trying to influence? Public opinion or
government organizations?
d. Do you think this action is effective?

A Closer Look
Now that we have an understanding of what the article is saying, it is good to look at how
they said it. This will help us recognize if the author is trying to manipulate us in a
negative way. To do this we look at the three appeals that the author may have used.

Logos - the appeal to logic. Look at the following paragraph. Where does the author use
logos?

Go through the article and highlight other examples of logos

Ethos - the appeal to the credibility of the author. Can you find any examples where the
author shows that she is a reliable source?
Pathos - the appeal to emotion. Pathos is often appealed to by the use of vocabulary that
holds emotion or shows the true opinion of the author. For example, read the following
paragraph and take note of the word “overrun”. Then read the definition. Why do you
think the author chose this word? Can you think of any other words she could have used
instead?

Look at the following paragraph. How is the author trying to appeal to pathos through
word choice and grammar
Generally an overuse of appealing to pathos is thought of as negative, or makes the
writing less credible in academia. Do you believe that the author used too much appeal to
pathos?