Reading and Writing Critical Thinking involves a series of complex thought processes that allow you to make reasoned judgments, assess how you think, and solve problems effectively. Non-critical Thinking happens when you simple accept things you are told without examining them. Levels of Thinking Benjamin Bloom, an American educational psychologist, together with a team of educational psychologists, published the Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Domain which is a system that classifies the level of thinking important for learning. What is a Discourse? The term discourse comes from the word discursus . In medieval Latin, it means “argument,” and in late Latin, it means “conversation.” A discourse is a formal and often lengthy discussion of a topic, where concepts and insights are arranged in an organized and logical manner. Also, discourse refers to the way how language is used to convey meanings or to propel action or provoke a specific response. Typels of Discourse 1. Argumentation ● process of making and presenting arguments ● arguments - a series of statements for or against an idea ● aims to persuade the audience or readers by presenting valid claims or counterclaims ● appeals to logic or reason 2. Description ● based on the author’s main impression about the topic ● aims to transmit that impression through concrete, colorful, and vivid language ● triggers the senses of readers 3. Exposition ● aims to inform about, clarify, and explain a phenomenon ● defines what something is and provides an in-depth discussion about topics that are usually less explored ● may also give readers instructions on how something is done 4. Narration ● recalls events chronologically ● aims to relate a series of events ● may be told using the first-, second-, or third-person point of view ● may have a linear structure that follows a typical format: beginning, middle, end ● may have a nonlinear structure, which starts from the middle or the end Literary Discourse ● creative works such as poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and even nonfiction ● texts that are used strictly for business communication such as letters, memos, and resumes Types of Literary Discourse 1. Poetic Discourse ● creative works like poems, novels, short stories, and plays ● focuses on how language is used to form themes and convey ideologies ● makes ordinary words—especially in poetry—appealing through the use of sound patterns 2. Expressive Discourse ● found in academic journals, letters, diaries, and blogs ● a personal narrative ● typically written in the first-person point of view ● reveals something about the writer’s identity ● also referred to as creative nonfiction 3. Transactional Discourse ● commonly found in instructional materials, advertisements, and editorial articles, among others ● directive in nature as it provides detailed information on how something is done or achieved ● encourages the reader to do something or to take action Academic Discourse ● expository or argumentative in nature ● sometimes presents an individual’s insights regarding a concept or method in a scholarly way ● includes academic journals and essays Coherence means a text must be composed of sentences with connected ideas presented in a logical arrangement. A coherent text which can be spoken or written is a connected discourse. coherence - The overall text has meaning. cohesion-The parts are connected. Any discourse can be described and understood through discourse analysis- the study of microlinguistic and macrolinguistic elements and their interactions with them. Microlinguistic Frequency count Information structure Text linguistic device Macrolinguistic Genre Levels of discourse of text Genre vs Text Types Genre- classifies texts based on external criteria such as activities that regularly occur in society. Text type- classifies texts based on similarities in linguistic forms and patterns. Reading Process 1. Pre-reading stage- drawing background knowledge It aims to motivate the readers to read and activate their schema or background knowledge. Skills Used Previewing Freewriting Surveying Questioning Making assumptions about the author Identifying purpose Selecting a reading system 2. While-reading stage- reread the text until fully understand its meaning Skills Used Getting the meaning of words through context clues Predicting Monitoring comprehension Annotating the text Process Inferencing Reflecting Reading 3. Post-reading stage- checking understanding Skills Used Reflecting Paraphrasing Drawing conclusion Making graphic organizers Journal writing Summarizing Basic Reading Skills 1. Rapid Reading- aims to locate specific information or main ideas in a very short span of time. a. Skimming- quick reading which aims to get the main idea and overview of the material b. Locating the main idea- reading skill which involves identifying the central message of a reading selection Main idea- sometimes appear in the middle of the text. It may also be implied and not explicitly stated in the text. Levels of Ideas in a Paragraph 1. MAIN IDEA a. Major details- directly support the main idea b. Minor details- directly support the major idea c. Scanning- useful in locating the specific name of a board passer from a list, looking for an old email in your inbox, checking specific information in a graph or table. 2. Previewing- a skill wherein a reader looks over a material and focuses on the information he/she finds relevant. -allows the reader to set the purpose and link the content of the material to their background knowledge. -it is conducted during the pre-reading stage. -effective previewing involves clarifying the purpose, reading the title, and headings, checking the illustration and other visuals. -browsing or inspecting unhurriedly the table of contents, introduction, or summary 3. Literal Reading- involves the understanding of ideas and facts that are directly stated in the material. -this includes note-taking, paraphrasing, and summarizing. -typically done in the postreading stage Summarizing- a technique that involves condensing a lengthy text into a shorter passage which is usually 15-30 percent of the source material while retaining its essence. - the topic sentence must be included in the summary. - major details may also be mentioned, but not required. -citation of the original source is always necessary. Paraphrasing- involves restating ideas from the original text. -paraphrased text is almost similar to the length of the original text because it focuses on the details and not the main idea - also cites and preserves the tone of the original text 4. Inferential Reading- the process of deducing facts and ideas not directly expressed in the text. - also known as reading between the lines - includes making generalizations, inferences, and conclusions - done in the while-reading stage. Inference is an idea drawn from facts or details in the text 5. Critical Reading- refers to the close and thorough evaluation of the claims in the text in terms of relevance, validity, and logic. -includes distinguishing facts from opinions and detecting logical fallacies - happened in the while-reading stage 1. 2. 3. 4. Types of Reading According to Purpose Developmental Reading Pleasure Reading Functional Reading Remedial Reading Brainstorming is the most popular tool for generating creative and rich ideas. It helps people establish patterns of ideas, develop new ways of thinking, activate background knowledge, and overcome a mental block. Critical Reading it goes beyond extracting information from a text It involves recognizing the writer’s purpose, identifying the tone, and persuasive element used, recognizing biases It provides high reflective skills which allow you to stand back and look at the text from different perspectives. It lends the ability to see and evaluate how a text presents arguments. Intertext • Refers to a work whose meaning is shaped by referencing, or calling to mind other text • The other texts help add meaning to the current text. • The reader understand the context of the piece through other text which parallel it in terms of the plot, characters, premise, and the like. Hypertext • A work characterized by the external links embedded in a text by the writer. • The reader can read the text in a non-linear way, because he/she is led to other links outside the main text. • It enables the reader to arrive at the intended interpretations, because he/she is led to where the author exactly wants him/her to go. • Claims is when you present an argument Types of Claims 1. Claim of Fact- an arguable statement that attempts to establish that something is not or is in the case makes an assertion about something that can be proved or disproved with factual evidence. 2. Claim of Value- an arguable statement that attempts to establish the merit or worth of something argues that something is good or bad, or that one thing is better than another thing. 3. Claim of Policy- an arguable statement that attempts to offer, maintain, or change a course of action A claim of policy argues that certain conditions should exist, or that something should or should not be done, in order to solve a problem. Logical Fallacies Errors in reasoning that invalidate an argument. As a critical reader, you have to identify and examine fallacies and manipulative language found in a text. Common Fallacies It occurs when an arguer presents his/her argument as one of only two options despite the presence of multiple possibilities. Appeal to Ignorance • It occurs something is instantly concluded to be true just because it is not proven to be false, and vice versa. • It relies on the lack of any evidence that disproves the claim. Slippery Slope • It occurs when a series of increasingly superficial and unacceptable consequences is drawn. • A course of action is rejected because, with little or no evidence, one insists that it will lead to a chain reaction resulting in an undesirable end or ends. Complex Question • It occurs when two or more points are rolled into one and the reader is expected to either accept or reject both at the same time, when one point may be satisfactory while the other is not. • A fallacy in which the answer to a given question presupposes a prior answer to a prior question. Appeal to Force • It occurs when a threat instead of reasoning is used to argue. • It is an argumentation using force or the threat of force to convince others to accept an argument's conclusion. Appeal to Pity • It occurs when the element of pity is used instead of logical reasoning. • Appealing to a person's unfortunate circumstance as a way of getting someone to accept a conclusion. Appeal to Consequences • It occurs when unpleasant consequences of believing something are pointed out to show that the belief is false. Bandwagon • It occurs when an argument is considered to be valid because it is what the majority thinks. • It is sometimes called the appeal to common belief or appeal to the masses because it’s all about getting people to do or think something because “everyone else is doing it” or “everything else thinks this.” Attacking the Person (Ad Hominem) • It occurs when someone tries to refute an argument by attacking the character of a person instead of attacking the ideas of the argument. • Irrelevantly attack the person or some aspect of the person who is making the argument Appeal to Authority • It occurs when the argument quotes an experts who is not qualified in the particular subject matter. • This is when we support a conclusion by appealing to a person who is not an authority on the subject. Or, it is when we appeal to an authority with whom other authorities disagree. Anonymous Authority • The authority in question is not mentioned or named. • An unspecified source is used as evidence for the claim Hasty Generalization • It occurs when a sample is not significant or enough to support a generalization. • It is sometimes called the over-generalization fallacy. It is basically making a claim based on evidence that it just too small. False Analogy • It occurs when it is assumed that two concepts that are similar in some ways are also similar in other ways. • It states that since Item A and Item B both have Quality X in common, they must also have Quality Y in common. Accident • It occurs when a general rule is applied to a situation, even when it should be an exception. • The logical mistake of inferring atypical specific examples from a general premise which does not apply to those instances Post Hoc • It occurs when the arguer claims that since event A happened before event B, A is the cause of B. • This fallacy states that the first event necessarily caused the second when one event happens after another. Wrong Direction • It occurs when the direction between the cause and effect is reversed. Complex Cause • It occurs when the explanation for an event is reduces to one thing when there are other factors which also contributed to the event. Irrelevant Conclusion • It occurs when an argument which is supposed to prove something concludes something else instead. • A distracting statement, which attempts to justify a conclusion based on an irrelevant issue. Straw Man • It occurs when the position of the opposition is twisted so that it is easier to refute. • It occurs when someone takes another person's argument or point, distorts it or exaggerates it in some kind of extreme way, and then attacks the extreme distortion, as if that is really the claim the first person is making. Affirming the Consequent • Any argument of the form; If A is true then B is true; if A is not true then B is not true. • It occurs when someone mistakenly infers that the opposite of a true “if-then” statement is true. Denying the Antecedent • Any argument of the form: If A is true then B is true; If A is not true then B is not true. • If P, then Q. • Not P. • Therefore, not Q. • If it barks, it is a dog. It doesn’t bark. Therefore, it’s not a dog. Inconsistency • It occurs when arguments contradict one another. • In such cases, the argument or stance is often erroneous or flawed mainly because it involves the promotion of two different beliefs. Moreover, the two beliefs are not consistent logically. Properties of a Well Written Text ▫ 1. Organization ▫ - refers to the arrangement of ideas in a text ▫ * Creating an outline of ideas before you start writing can help your work become organized. ▫ Outline - provides a format in which ideas can be arranged in a hierarchy- that is, it distinguishes the general ideas from the specific or subordinating ideas ▫ ▫ ▫ 2. Coherence and Cohesion - refer to the connection of ideas and connection between sentences and between paragraphs * In order for you to assure coherence and cohesion, you need to use transitional or cohesive devices. ▫ 3. APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE FORM refers to the acceptable style of language for a particular form of text ▫ ▫ 4. Proper Mechanics - refers to the conventions of writing which includes capitalization, punctuation, spelling, numerals, abbreviations, acronyms and contraction ▫ ▫ 5. Proper Mechanics - refers to the conventions of writing which includes capitalization, punctuation, spelling, numerals, abbreviations, acronyms and contraction W O R D S Morphology ▫ the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language analyzes the structure of words and parts of words, such as root words, prefixes, and suffixes Morpheme-the smallest grammatical unit in a language Two Types of Morpheme: 1. Free Morpheme - can function independently as a word Examples: house, cat, blood 2. Bound Morpheme- a word element attached to a root word (the main part of a word) to give it another meaning - cannot function independently as a word Examples: affixes (prefixes and suffixes) Affix a morpheme that is attached to a root word to form a new word 1. Prefix a morpheme that comes before a root word Examples: auto- (automobile) in- (incorrect) over- (overcharge) 2. Suffix a morpheme that comes after a root word Examples: -ful (forgetful) -ish (childish) -ive (active) Two Varieties of Suffixes 1. Inflectional Suffixes- modify the grammatical class of words by signaling a change in number, tense, degrees of comparison, and so on, but they do not shift the base form into another word class 2. Derivational Suffixes - modify either the part of speech or the actual meaning of a word ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ Compound Words - combination of two different words Examples: back + ward = backward (towards the reverse direction) book + shelf = bookshelf (storage of books) full + moon = full moon (a moon appearing as a bright circle) six + pack = six-pack (often in reference to a pack of drinks) CONTEXT CLUES Context Clues - are words, phrases, and sentences that surround an unfamiliar word and help you recognize the meaning of an unknown word MOST COMMON TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES 1. Synonyms – used when the text has words or phrases that ae similar in meaning to the unknown word 2. Antonyms – words that reveal the opposite meaning in relation to the unknown words 3. Examples – are specific details in a text that are used to clarify the meaning of a word 4. Definition – is usually signaled by a form of the verb to be (am, is, are, was, were) or by commas or dashes 5. Explanation – words or phrases that explain the unfamiliar word's meaning
