Reading and Writing Skills PDF

Reading and Writing Skills Evaluating Written Texts Q1Wk2 Unit Objectives The learner identifies claims explicitly or implicitly made in a written text. a. Claim of fact b. Claim of policy c. Claim of value The learner identifies...

Reading and Writing Skills Evaluating Written Texts Q1Wk2 Unit Objectives The learner identifies claims explicitly or implicitly made in a written text. a. Claim of fact b. Claim of policy c. Claim of value The learner identifies the context in which a text was developed. a. Hypertext b. Intertext The learner explains critical reading as a form of reasoning. The learner formulates evaluative statements about a text read: a. assertions about the content and properties of a text read; and b. counterclaims in response to claims made in a text read. The learner determines textual evidence to validate assertions and counterclaims made about a text read. Performance Assessment The learner writes a 1000-word critique of a selected text on the basis of its claim/s, context, and properties as a written material. What would you do? Why? Your phone vibrates signaling a new message. You open the message. It is from an unknown number, but what catches your attention is its content: You have just won PHP 100,000 from a contest! The only thing you need to do to claim your prize is to provide your personal information along with some credit card details. Would you do it? What is critical Reading? Whenever you read something and you evaluate claims, seek definitions, judge information, demand proof, and question assumptions, you are thinking critically. This type of reading goes beyond passively understanding a text because you process the author's words and make judgements after carefully considering the readings message. Reading Strategies Reading Reading How it works Difficulties Strategies Understanding context clues helps you figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word by unfamiliar words looking for other familiar word(s) that surround it or by looking at its structure, synonyms, antonyms, definition, and general context Finding the main skimming helps you find the main idea by quickly looking at the text idea for the most frequently repeated words and finding the writer's overall idea based on the supporting details Finding specific scanning helps you find the specific information that you need by details allowing your eyes to read the text as quickly as possible until the Reading Strategies Reading Reading How it works Difficulties Strategies Organizing ideas using graphic helps you see how ideas are related through their organizers arrangement in tables, graphs, diagrams, and other visuals Reading a long using KWL helps you find the text relevance by writing down what text you already know (K), what you want to know (W) and what you have learned after reading the text (L) Remembering the using SQ3R helps you remember general and specific information text essential from the information text by allowing yourself to survey(S) or preview the text content and organization, question(Q) or turn headings into questions, read(R) or find clue words that signal the writers train of thoughts, recite(R) or tell yourself the answers to the questions you formulated in the Q stage Fallacies / Logical Fallacies 1. Hasty generalization – making a conclusion based on limited cases / examples Paul likes cheeseburger. Mark likes cheeseburger. Therefore, men like cheeseburger. 2. Dicto simpliciter – treating a general rule to be a general truth Milk is good for the bones. Everyone should drink milk. (Lactose-intolerant people should avoid drinking milk.) 3. Post hoc - pointing to something as the effect or cause of something His parents did not increase his allowance, so she did not go to school for three days. (There could be another reason for her absence.) 4. Appeal to pity – making people feel sorry instead of presenting a logical reason. The man should get the job, for he has five children and a wife to feed. 5. Poisoning the well – intending to discredit or ridicule a person or an idea by presenting an unanticipated information. Don’t listen to her. She is a daughter of two traditional politicians. 6. Bandwagon – making people believe that popular ideas are necessarily right Seventy percent of housewives in Manila use Brand XXX, so you should use it too. Practice. 1. I prayed for something and then it happened. 2. Let’s not smack spot the dog for ransacking the neighbor’s kitchen – he’s just too damn cute. 3. Everyone is going to get the new smart phone when it comes out this weekend. Why aren’t you? 4. I hope I presented my argument clearly. Now, my opponent will attempt to refute my argument by his own fallacious, incoherent, illogical version of history. 5. Four out of five dentists recommend Colgate toothpaste brand. Therefore, it must be great. 6. Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody should exercise. Quiz. 1. I drank bottled water and now I am sick. So the water must have made me sick. 2. Their school’s strategy aren’t effective because their people are ignorant and arrogant. 3. Eventhough it’s only the first day, I can tell this is going to be a boring class. 4. If you were a true Filipino, you would support the rights of the people to choose whoever they want to elect. Quiz. 5. Thompson’s proposal for the product may safely be rejected because last year she was arrested for hunting without license. 6. My father smoked four packs of cigarettes a day from age 14 and lived until the age of 95. So smoking really can’t be that bad for you. 7. Ma’am please consider passing my grade as I might lose my scholarship is not. Quiz. 8. Everybody understands the values in New York City are socially liberal and pro-abortion and that should how the new citizens must live. 9. I really deserve an ‘A’ on this paper, Professor. Not only did I study during my grandmother’s funeral, but I also passed up the heart transplant surgery, even though that was the first matching donor in three years. 10. (Give your own example.) Identifying and Analyzing Claims Claims are synonymous to belief, argument, assertion, or stand. According to (Tiongson 2016, 20-21), a good claim should be argumentative and debatable, specific and focused, interesting and engaging, and logical. These information can be explicit or implicit. An explicit claim is directly and clearly stated in the text. It is when you can easily point out the information in the passage. Meanwhile, an implicit claim is indirectly expressed in the text and you need to look for clues or make inferences to understand its meaning. Distinguishing Between the Types of Claim 1. CLAIMS OF FACT state a quantifiable assertion, or a measurable topic. They assert that something has existed, exists, or will exist based on data. Excessive television viewing has caused the steady decline on the reading ability of children and teenagers. 2. CLAIMS OF VALUE assert something that can be qualified. They consist of arguments about moral, philosophical, or aesthetic topics. It is immoral for medical researches to use placebos on pregnant women infected with HIV. 3. CLAIMS OF POLICY posit that specific actions should be chosen as solutions to a particular problem. Puerto Rico should not be given representation in Congress unless it becomes an official state of the USA. Practice. 1.Financial aid based on students’ grades leads to grade inflation. 2.Christians should not read the Twilight books or go see the Twilight movies. 3.It is better for school systems to shorten the academic year than to request tax increases for more funding. IDENTIFYING THE CONTEXT OF TEXT DEVELOPMENT A text is neither written nor read in a vacuum; its meaning and interpretation are affected by a given set of circumstances. Thus, context is defined as the social, cultural, political, historical, and other related circumstances that surround the text and form the terms from which it can be better understood and evaluated TECHNIQUE IN ANALYZING THE CONTEXT INTERTEXTUALITY is the modeling of a text’s meaning by another text. It is defined as the connections between language, images, characters, themes, or subjects depending on their similarities in language, genre, or discourse. HYPERTEXT, is a nonlinear way of showing information. Hypertext connects topics on a screen to related information, graphics, videos and music -- information is not simply related to text. This information appears as links and is usually accessed by clicking. IDENTIFYING ASSERTIONS In expository writing, assertions become the primary channel for a reader to assent to a claim. Assertions are declarative sentences that claim something is true about something else. Simply put, it is a sentence that is either true or false. TYPES OF ASSERTIONS 1. FACT. This is a statement that can be proven objectively by direct experience, testimonies of witnesses, verified observations, or the results of research. The sampaguita’s roots are used for medicinal purposes, such as an anesthetic and a sedative. 2. CONVENTION. A convention is a way in which something is done, similar to traditions and norms. Conventions depend on historical precedent, laws, rules, usage, and customs. Thus, their truthfulness is verified by how commonly held definitions and beliefs are interpreted. The sampaguita belongs to the genus Jasminum of the family Oleaceae. TYPES OF ASSERTIONS 3. OPINION. Opinions are based on facts, but are difficult to objectively verify because of the uncertainty of producing satisfactory proofs of soundness. The popularity of sampaguita flowers is most evident in places of worship. 4. PREFERENCE. Preferences are based on personal choice; therefore, they are subjective and cannot be objectively proven or logically attacked. Sampaguitas are the most beautiful and most fragrant of all flowers. FORMULATING COUNTERCLAIMS COUNTERCLAIMS are claims made to rebut a previous claim. They provide a contrasting perspective to the main argument. Claim: Obesity is caused by the bad food choices that the food industry offers. Counterclaim: Obesity is probably the bad food choices that the food industry offers. A hedge is a word or phrase that minimizes the negative impact of a criticism. DETERMINING TEXTUAL EVIDENCE When you give comments on the text read, you should support your claim by quoting an idea presented in the text. Since your evidence is in the form of text, it is called TEXTUAL EVIDENCE. 1. Objective evidence is the information from the text that is considered as solid support because it includes specific information such as scores, quantity, and percentages. 2. Subjective evidence is the textual evidence that is immeasurable or unspecific. This includes assertions and inferences that can be used to prove the evaluation of the reviewer. EVIDENCE Evidence can include the following: facts and statistics (objectively validated information on your subject); opinion from experts (leading authorities on the topic, such as researchers or academic); and personal anecdotes (generalizable, relevant, and objectively considered). WRITING A CRITIQUE What is a critique? A critique is a response to a body of work, be it a performance, concept, argument, scholarly article, poem or book. If you write a critique, you can present your opinion of the work or provide an alternative opinion. Parts of a Critique Description of the work, including its purpose, the creator and the intention Analysis of the work's structure, function or content Interpretation of the work's significance or meaning Assessment of the work's worth