Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills in Reading, Viewing, and Writing

1. Reading, Viewing, and Writing Critical Thinking

2. Everyday • Communication is a complex process involving: the writer/author/designer/artist; the message and medium (genre); the context of the piece • Critical thinking requires putting ideas in context, making connections, and testing their meaning/logic

3. Reading • Read actively: map the text, outline it, summarize, respond, and evaluate • Reading purposefully: remove distractions • Take your time! • Rhetorical situation: 1) where and when was this text written/published? 2) who is the author? 3) what is the purpose of this piece? 4) what are the writer's qualifications? 4) what is your purpose reading this text? • Scan the text for important information: topic sentences, graphics, etc... then ask: what does this mean? • Take notes while reading! • Use your dictionary to look up definitions (necessary in all fields)

4. Evaluating a text 1. judge the credibility, the logic, and the use of emotion in the text; consider the tone, attitude, and bias of the text 2. contextualize the piece; does it match with ideas from other sources? What background, history, and social context helps understand this text? Have things changed? 3. Evaluate the logic and clarity of the supporting details (does the piece “prove” it's thesis?) 4. Reflect on the challenges: does the reading call into question your values or beliefs? Is bias present in your own evaluation? Step out of yourself and absorb the text's message

5. Responding • Honesty is the best policy; let go of your biases and respond to the actual, real effectiveness of the text • Edit after you write. Instead of getting bogged down in the little grammar mistakes, focus on the flow of ideas • Reflect; do not go with your knee-jerk reaction; engage the texts ideas, relate them to your experiences or perceptions • Limit your focus: focus on only a couple or few elements of your response and run with them as you begin a dialogue with the text

6. Viewing an image • Survey the overall image, take your time, absorb it • Inspect the image more particularly to find hints of meaning, details, important information • Question the rhetorical situation of the image: designer, message, medium (genre), audience, context • What is the purpose? Curiosity, entertainment, education, persuasion, etc...

7. Interpretation • Ask yourself what the design is meant to do, say, or show: think more deeply about each rhetorical situation • Designer: who created the image, why, and who else might be involved • Message: what is the subject of the image, how is it portrayed, what is the main purpose • Medium: what is the genre of the image, what visual 'language' does it use? • Audience: who is the audience? What is the relationship fo the audience to the designer? • Context: what is the context? Does the image fit its context or fight it?

8. Evaluating an image • Consider the purpose(s) • How is the quality? • Determine the value, and to whom it may be valuable?

9. Writing Habits • Be curious, constantly ask why and question everything! • Ask “what if?” - do not just assume a text or passage means what it suggests it means • Value your peers' ideas and perspectives • Involve yourself by searching for books, journals, and news regarding the text • Focus on the text's nature, function, and impact • Stick to logic and evidence to deepen your understanding • Explore connections in your own life and that of your perceptions • It's ok if something is confusing – it just requires more research or thought, or is meant to be ambiguous! • Be skeptical about all claims made in regards to evidence • Asses the issues: their history, development, function, and impact... Especially when dealing with literary, historical, or social periods. Gather evidence and come to reasonable conclusions • Revise, share, and reevaluate your papers, writings, thoughts, and critiques

10. Logic • Inductive logic starts with specific details and then makes a generalization • Deductive logic makes a generalization and then invites specific details • Generalizations do not amount to evidence! • To be safe, only make claims that you can prove with reasonable, clear evidence!

11. Analyze, Synthesize, Evaluate, Apply • Analyze: what does the text contain/what doesn't it contain? • How are things grouped, divided, classified? • What the parts or elements? Are the related? How are they broken-up? • Are things similar, different? How? • Cause/effect: why did this happen and what are the results? • What are the stages of the text?

12. Synthesis: how can I make two ideas, texts, or writings fit together? • What can I do with both? What will be the outcome? • Are there connections between the two? • Can I associate or blend them? • Which better or worse? What are the strengths • What should I do with both? • Does one come first or is one just an extension of another? • Can I predict one with the other

13. Evaluation: anything can be evaluated, all things can be measured in worth or judgment • Make judgments with concrete details, evidence, examples, and comparisons • Ask: what are my experiences/perspectives? How do I evaluate my topic based on those/fight against those? What are my standards? How does the text compare to similar things? What would I advise the text

14. Apply: demonstrate, relate or extend ideas. Move from ideas about something to possible actions/conclusions • Know the information you have; relate this information to your particular situation; select facts and detailed evidence to clarify and support the application; then text the application to see if it is reasonable • Like the scientific method, but instead we are audiences reading, writing, and engaging another's idea