English Critical Reading 1

Text and Context Connections

PREPARED BY:

MR. ADMAR DAKETAN LUPASI

SUBJECT TEACHER

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Context of Text Development- Hypertext and Intertext
Specifically, this lesson consists of the following lessons:
• Lesson 2- Critical Reading as Reasoning

Explaining Critical Reading

as a Form of Reasoning

How do you practice critical reading? A senior high school student like you
will be faced with reading activities that will ask you to not just read to know
what the author is saying. Most importantly, you need to go further from reading
various sources of a topic and reflect on the different authors’ viewpoints. From
there, you make your own judgement based on what you have read. This is
critical reading as a form of reasoning. So, let’s head on and warm our brains up!

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

Learning Objectives

In this lesson, you will be able to:

1. identify guide questions during critical reading as a form of reasoning;

2. analyze statements that manifest critical reading; and,
3. formulate answers and evidences to the questions raised about the article.

WHAT I KNOW
Pretest

Identify whether the question in each item guides you in critical reading of a text.
Write C if it involves critical reading and N if not.
_____1. What is the main idea?
_____2. How do I scan for keywords?
_____3. Who is involved in the article?
_____4. How long is the article? How many pages?
_____5. Who is the author?

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 WHAT’S IN
Recapitulation

In the previous lesson you have learned that:

Context can be developed into paragraphs using hypertext and intertext. Text and
context connections refer to critical reading which is the technique for discovering
information and ideas within a text.

WHAT IS IT
Discussion

Today, let’s learn about critical reading as a form of reasoning.

Critical Reading

- means engaging in what you read by asking yourself questions such as,
‘what is the author trying to say?’ or ‘what is the main argument being
presented?’

- means being able to reflect on what a text says, what it describes and what
it means by scrutinizing the style and structure of the writing, the language
used as well as the content.

As a critical reader you should reflect on:

What the text says: after critically reading a piece you should be able to
take notes, paraphrasing - in your own words - the key points.

What the text describes: you should be confident that you have
understood the text sufficiently to be able to use your own examples and
compare and contrast with other writing on the subject in hand.

Interpretation of the text: this means that you should be able to fully
analyze the text and state a meaning for the text as a whole.

In summary: What questions should guide you in critical reading?

The following questions are categorized as questions about: the overall text, the truth
claims made within the text, how the text could be different, political statement, and
personal engagement.

Note: You do not need to use all of these questions every time you read.
Choose two or three which make the most sense to you, and start there.
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Questions about the overall text
(a) What is the purpose/aim of this text? How do you know? How might this
Influence the way it is written?
(b) Can you see any justification (direct or implied) for the research?
decisions? Do the justifications seem reasonable?

Questions about the truth claims made within the text

(c) Are any assumptions being made in this text?
Assumptions might include:
_______________________ is important.
_______________________ is possible.
_______________________ might influence
_______________________ is a positive thing.
_______________________ is a negative thing.

(d) Do these assumptions seem reasonable in this context? Why or why not?
(e) Are any generalizations being made? Are these generalizations
reasonable here?
(f) Do any claims seem too certain?
(g) Are there suitable examples?
(h) Are there claims which are based on authority for support? What kind of
authority is it? Does this seem reasonable?
(i) Are there claims which are based on evidence for support? What kind of
evidence is it? Does this seem reasonable?
(j) Are any concepts being conflated?

Questions about how the text could be different (k) What is missing from the text?
(l) How could the text be not like this / different?
(m) Is anything being used out of context in the text?

Political Questions
(n) Is there anything problematic in the text?
(o) Are any groups being excluded or marginalized in the text or in the
implications of the claims?
(p) Is there any exclusionary language used in the text?
(q) What would the implications be, if we were to take the claims seriously?
i.e. What would happen next?

Personal Engagement
(r) How does this text relate to my personal experience?
(s) How does my personal knowledge and experience affect the way I
read the text?
(t) Can my personal experience help me to evaluate the claims?
(u) What status does my personal experience have, in relation to
the published research?
(v) Can I find anything in the literature to help me relate this to my personal
experience?

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5
6
 WHAT’S MORE
Enrichment

Activity 1.2
List five questions from the concept notes that guide you in reading the text about
the environmental issue in Bohol.

Example: What is the purpose/aim of this text?

1. ___________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________

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 WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
Generalization Reflection:

Activity 1.3. Share your thoughts by completing the statements:

What sparked my interest in this lesson was

____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
I learned that
____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

I feel _______________________________ because

____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

I think I have to read more about

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.

WHAT I CAN DO
Application

Activity 1.4
Directions: Pick one topic from Activity 1.2. This would be the context of your
written text. Develop a text using the references that you have listed. (50 points)
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________

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 ASSESSMENT
Posttest

Directions: Write T if the statement is true and F if false.

______ 1. Critical reading is a passive consumption of the article read.
______ 2. Critical reading is an interaction and engagement between the reader and
the text.
______ 3. Critical reading is knowing what the topic is all about.
______ 4. Critical reading is reflecting on what the author’s argument is with
evidences.
______ 5. Critical reading is reading with an open mind.

APPLICATION (PROJECT: 50%)