Critical Reading
Reading critically requires the reader to engage with the text in an active way, analyzing, questioning and sometimes evaluating not only the content of the text, but also the rhetorical strategies and goals of the text. The reader seeks to understand the messages and ideas that the author puts forth, as well as how the text works and what it does. Annotating, journaling and re-reading are all strategies that encourage critical reading. Critical reading seeks to get at the complex ideas structures of the text, and requires an open mind as well as a considerable time commitment for the reader.
Why should we read critically? Reading critically not only provides an opportunity to learn the basic content of a text and remember it well, but also to understand the context of that text, leading to better understanding of issues and information in our world. It also allows readers to revise their thinking about familiar ideas through this reflective process. When the reader reads critically and engages in a mental conversation with the text, there is a much better chance that learning will occur and that the ideas and information in the text will be remembered and incorporated into the thinking of the reader in the future.
The resources below provide tips and ideas about how to read more critically in your coursework and in the world around us.
ConnectED skills related to Critical Reading: Communicative fluency; Ethical reasoning; Global and cultural responsiveness; Information literacy
General Resources
- Active Reading – The Writing Commons
- A Critical Reading Guide – Colorado State University (PDF version here)
- How to Do a Close Reading – Harvard College Writing Center
Reading for Specific Situations
- How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article – Frederique Laubepin, ICPSR
- Identifying a Conversation (reading academic research) – The Writing Commons
- Sleep Around Before You Marry an Argument – (reading to prepare for writing/argument) Cottom