Dr. DeRochi

English 203

How to Read Critically

The more I teach writing classes and literature classes, the more I realize that what I am really teaching is reading.  While all students can read, the skill many students need work on is critical reading.  Students read essays (or poems, plays, novels, etc) as if they were watching a movie or reading a “beach read” novel—for simple pleasure.  “To read” a work is to experience it in a general way.  “To read critically” is to comprehend a work as engagedly and as fully as possible.  Critical reading is at the core of our intellectual and social development, for the more we ask questions of all texts (actively engaging with them at all times) the more we will come to understand ourselves, others, and the world around us. 

Here are a few suggestions to help you critically read.

1. Find a quiet place: You must be able to concentrate to read critically.  Turn off the TV, stereo and cellphone; feel free to kick the roommate out. 
2. Read with pen in hand**:  You should always have a writing utensil handy, and you should use it.  Don’t be afraid to mark up your book: underline, write in the margins, draw arrows, etc.  Although many students use highlighters, merely highlighting has been shown to have little effect on a students understanding of reading material.  If you use highlighting, that’s fine, just remember what it’s doing—it’s highlighting something important.  But, why is it important? Only if you’ve written down an explanation of the texts significance at that point will you be engaged with the text at the moment and in the future.
3. Ask questions as you read:  Stop often and ask questions.  This might be questions that have to do with authorial intention: why is this the title? why does the writer emphasize this point? what does the first paragraph do for the rest of the text? why did he/she not address “X” point?  Or, these questions might have to do with various literary elements of the text: what’s revealed by certain characters in this scene? in this dialogue? in this specific line? What is suggested by certain images or moments in the text? Why are they significant?  Writing these questions in your book as you read will help guide your studying later. 
4. Answer the questions:  Answering these questions means that you are fully conversing with the text, and that you perceive the overall structure of the text.  If you can’t answer the questions right away, or, if the text does not answer the questions later to your satisfaction, bring the questions to class.  This will generate great discussion and, more importantly, help you fully comprehend the central points and arguments of the text.

  **Many of you have reservations about writing in your books, so let me here address a couple of your oppositions.

        The Money: Now, many of you refuse to "ruin" your book because of the economics--you believe that the Bookworm will not buy back your book, or perhaps give you less money, if you have       

        marked in it.  Well, that's simply not true; the Bookworm simply does not have time to check through your books and, moreover, the difference in the money they will offer you is miniscule.  Let's put this

        in another context: an education at Winthrop costs over $11,000 a year.  You have already paid (or someone has already paid on your behalf) this amount of money for the opportunity to attend this and
        other classes:

        ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO WASTE $11,000 TO SAVE $5.50 ON A BOOK?

        Taking this still further, given that you will be investing over 44,000 for your education, wouldn't it be economically sound to maximize your investment by taking advantage of all the tools (in this case      

        your text) at your disposal?

        The Time: Others of you believe that "ruining" your books simply takes too much time.  Well, let's look at that reality because this is simply a matter of quality control.  Numerous studies show, and your

        OWN experience proves, that doing something the right way the first time actually saves you time.  When you read as fast as possible, you simply retain very little; thus, when it comes to writing a paper,

        studying for an exam, you have to go back and re-create the wheel.  And, chances are, since we won't be at the same point in the semester, you will be more lost than the first time you read the text. 

        So, now, you will have to re-read the text a second time, a third time, and even more simply to get to the point you could have been had you read critically the first time. 

        Reading critically once SAVES YOU MUCH MORE TIME in the long run. 

        The Ethics: Still others of you simply feel bad about writing in a book, that somehow your destroying property by marking in a book  High School english teachers would hammer you for desecrating

        their textbooks.   This opposition is probably the easiest to address:

                                        YOU'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE.

        This is your book.  You bought it.  So, own it; make it yours.