Introduction to Critical Reading - University of Doha PDF

COMM1020 Critical Reading An Introduction to Critical Reading: What, Why, & How of Critical Reading www.udst.edu.qa Read to Understand: SQ3R Formula What is Critical Reading? Critical reading is not simply close and careful reading. Reflect on the text....

COMM1020 Critical Reading An Introduction to Critical Reading: What, Why, & How of Critical Reading www.udst.edu.qa Read to Understand: SQ3R Formula What is Critical Reading? Critical reading is not simply close and careful reading. Reflect on the text. What does it say? Recogn ize/ Paraphrase the key points in your notes Analyz Judge What does it describe? e Use examples, and compare and contrast to other readings. Question What does it mean? Analyze and interpret to state a meaning for the whole. Why Read Critically? What Do You See? This could be a plate, egg, moon, or coin. Our perspectives shape our interpretations. Different people have different views  How to Read Critically Readers Must Think Critically When we analyze and interpret we must consider: What does To recognize the author’s the text purpose say? To understand tone and What persuasive elements language How does Each of these requires you to To recognize bias did the the text say infer. author it? choose?What style To infer is to deduce or and conclude (information) from structure evidence and reasoning did the rather than from explicit author  Who is the We must ask Author? ourselves: Why is this person writing? Why not someone else? Do they have qualifications or experience on the topic? Do they show bias? Bias (n.) is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another. These questions allow us to judge a text’s authority and credibility.  Authori ty Authority is the power to influence others, especially because of one's recognized knowledge about something. Experts and professionals have authority in their field o Earned through training, education, experience, ,and recognition Journalists have authority through their use of sources o Not all journalists are equally believable Authoritative or Not? Would you trust the knowledge of this author on the topic of COVID-19? Credibilit y Credibility is the quality of being trusted and believed in, or believable. Would you trust your Communications We believe authors for different reasons Instructor to explain Habit quantum gravity or black Familiarity holes? Authority (experts) Would you trust your dentist to sell you a car? Credibility will vary with context Credible or Not? Is this person credible when he says he’s been fouled?  Bias in Writing To generate trust, good academic writing should be objective. If it is subjective, it is a victim of bias. Bias weakens arguments and can be related to gender, age, class, ethnicity, economic status, ability and more.  Bias in Biased? Writing Consider the following statements: Ahmed spends very little money. Not biased, just an objective observation Ahmed is thrifty. Favorably biased Ahmed is cheap. Unfavorably biased Incident: A large tech company announces a new policy requiring all employees to return to the office three days a week after a period of remote work due to the pandemic. Newspaper Article: Financial Times 1. Is there bias? Title: "Tech Giant's Return-to-Office Mandate Sparks 2. Author's POV? Mixed Reactions Among Employees" 3. Intent? Content: In a significant shift from pandemic-era policies, a major tech corporation announced on Monday that all employees are required to return to the office for three days each week starting next month. The company's CEO stated that this move is designed to enhance collaboration and rebuild the company culture that has been diluted during remote work. While some employees welcome the chance to reconnect with colleagues, others express concerns over work-life balance and commuting challenges. Experts suggest that this could set a precedent for other firms in the industry, potentially marking the end of widespread remote work.  1. Is there bias? Balanced manner, 2. Author's POV? neutral tone, broad 3. Intent? perspective Acknowledgemen Newspaper Article Title: "Tech Giant's Return-to-Office Mandate t of different Acknowledging Sparks Mixed Reactions Among Employees" viewpoints that not all Content: feedback is positive and In a significant shift from pandemic-era policies, a major tech recognizing the corporation announced on Monday that all employees are legitimate required to return to the office for three days each week starting Use of neutral concerns Inclusion of language next month. The company's CEO stated that this move is designed expert opinions to enhance collaboration and rebuild the company culture that has and the broader industry been diluted during remote work. While some employees implications gives welcome the chance to reconnect with colleagues, others readers a wider express concerns over work-life balance and commuting context, moving challenges. Experts suggest that this could set a precedent for beyond the other firms in the industry, potentially marking the end of immediate company-specific widespread remote work. news to consider the potential Incident: A large tech company announces a new policy requiring all employees to return to the office three days a week after a period of remote work due to the pandemic. 1. Is there bias? Blog Post: TechWorkerDaily.com 2. Author's POV? Title: "Back to the Office? Big Tech’s New Policy Feels Like a Step Backward" Content: 3. Intent? Monday brought unsettling news for employees at one of the tech world's behemoths: the corporate decision to drag everyone back to the office three days a week. The announcement, couched in terms of 'enhancing collaboration,' seems to ignore the huge strides made in productivity and employee satisfaction during the remote work phase. This feels less like a step toward rebuilding company culture and more like a retreat to outdated working models that ignore the needs of modern workers. Many of us are questioning whether this is about control rather than collaboration, signaling a potentially regressive trend for tech employment.  Evidenc e is Another word for proof evidence. Evidence is the facts that support a belief or a plan. Evidence can be qualitative or quantitative Without evidence, our arguments lack credibility and authority.  Evidenc Evidence given? e (Washington Post, I’ve never trusted 2021). I just don’t Donald Trump. I believe anything just think he’s he says. unreliable. Look at his face…there’s no way he’s an honest person. Evidence given? During his time as president, Donald Trump made 30, 573 untruths  Inference and Assumption Inferences When we read critically, we will infer from the text. We must be careful that our inferences are reasonable. If they are not reasonable, we might fall into the ASSUMPTION trap Assumptions Assumptions are things that are accepted as true, BUT they lack proof. Which is Correct? It depends on your point of view! -or- The interpretation of the evidence.  Quantitative Evidence Quantitative evidence, or data, can be measured objectively. Data Numbers Equation results Measurements Statistics Effectively describes who, what, where, and when.  Qualitative Evidence Descriptive information used to talk about individual's social reality. Non-numerical information from: Interviews Surveys Focus groups Art Used to describe how or why something happens.  Qualitative or Quantitative? Which type for which situation? If you wanted to know why people like the iPhone? Qualitative interviews, surveys with open-ended questions would reveal why people like it. If you wanted to know why the Bugatti Chiron was faster than the Veyron? Quantitative evidence could explain why one car is faster than the other – measure the weight of the car, the power of the engine, etc. If you wanted to know why people dislike dentist visits? For dentist visits we could do both - interview patients but also conduct tests to see if there’s correlation to pain  Evidence Gathering The following are types of textual evidence:  Factual statements (things you can verify)  Expert opinion  Data (Includes statistics, measurements, etc…)  Descriptions of observations  How do authors use evidence? Authors use evidence to support their assertions or claims. An assertion or claim is a statement of the truth of something.  Claims Authors will always have claims. A claim is: a statement or theory that requires proof. focused on a main idea but will have smaller claims. All claims must be supported by good reasoning and evidence that is relevant to the thesis.  Pick a Good Claim Increasing the state tax on cigarettes will negatively affect not only the nicotine addict, but his or her family as well. State tax on cigarettes will begin in 2017. Taxing cigarettes has been done in other countries, as has fining people for smoking, and it has not reduced the number of smokers.  Intent The claim will usually reveal the intent (or purpose). Remember purpose from COMM1010: Inform Persuade Instruct Entertain  What is the author’s intent? The word is terracide. It is not committed with guns and knives, but with relentless The author’s intent is to: bulldozers, roaring dump a) inform you about the trucks, and giant shovels like purposes of strip mining. mythological beasts. Dynamite b) describe a strip mining cuts and rips apart mountains operation. to reach the minerals inside, c) persuade you that strip mining is bad for the leaving nothing but empty, environment. naked hills. The land is left d) define terracide. wasted and allowed to slide down upon houses and into streams, making the land  What is the author’s intent? To make a delicious New The author’s intent is to: England pie, proceed as a. tell the steps in making a follows: take some water and pie. flour; then construct a bullet- b. make fun of (satirize) New proof dough. Make this into a England cooking. disk-shaped object. Dry it for c. persuade the reader to buy a couple of days in a mild New England pie. temperature. Pour on d. describe New England pie. stewed dried apples and slabs of lemon; leave it in a safe place until it turns to stone. Serve cold at breakfast and invite your  Remember when reading What does... the text say? What does the text mean? What’s the author’s point of view? Opinion? What is the claim? What assumptions has the author made about the topic? About their reader? Are the authors experts? Are they credible? Why?  Remember when reading What type... of evidence is used to support claims? Is it credible evidence? Is it relevant to the topic, or does it just sound/look good? Is the evidence biased? Is the author biased? What was the author’s intent when writing? Do you agree or disagree with parts/all of the text? Does it matter? COMM1020 Critical Reading An Introduction to Critical Reading: What, Why, & How of Critical Reading www.udst.edu.qa