Reading/Interpretation/Judging
2nd STAGE OF CRITICAL READING
INTERPRETING THE TEXT STAGE
The interpreting stage probes for greater depth than the comprehension (literal) stage. It calls
for the analysis of the text on the part of the reader, making it dependent on prior knowledge.
Thus, it is concerned with supplying meanings not directly stated in the text or “reading between
the lines”.
In addition we must be aware of the Five Major Perspectives to interpret text. They are:
1. The Social Perspective
2. The Emotional Perspective
3. The Rhetorical Perspective
4. The Logical Perspective
5. The Ethical Perspective
END PRODUCT: Interpret the author’s thoughts, make inferences from those thoughts, and
predict outcomes from the implications found in the print by analyzing according to the five
perspectives.
A text of any kind can be interpreted using the five perspective mentioned above. These
perspectives can apply across the disciplines, that is, they can apply to any subject. They form
the basis of critical discussion and can be applied to even the more advanced texts depending on
the situation at hand.
The Social Perspective: When you use the social perspective you discuss the text in relation to
society. Reading in general relates to society and just about anything that you read has some
social relevance. The obvious examples are invitations, legal contracts, letters and
advertisements. To apply the social perspective to essays, nonfiction and other more difficult
texts, you must ask yourself the following questions.
What Social Concerns Does the Text reveal?
How Does the Text Relate to the Past?
How Does the Text Relate to Right Now?
The Emotional Perspective: Another way of looking at a text is from the psychological
viewpoint or the emotional perspective. Most of what you read makes an appeal to human
feelings in some way. By looking at text from the emotional perspective, the critical reader can
reveal new areas for interpretive discussion. Ask yourself the following questions.
Does the Text Contain Objects of Emotion?
Do You find Evidence of Conflicting Emotions?
What is the Tone of the Author?
The Rhetorical Perspective: If we are going to analyze what we read then we must also look at
the form and style of the writing. Instead of focusing on the social and emotional issues of a
text, the reader must focus on how the text is constructed. Focusing on this perspective can also
help you to write well. To apply this perspective ask yourself the following questions.
How Can the Text’s Form Be Described?
Which Rhetorical Modes Do You Find in the Text?
How Can the Author’s Style Be Described?
What About Ambiguity?
The Logical Perspective: As critical readers we must also take into account the reasoning used
by the author to reach a particular conclusion. When deciding to agree or not to agree with the
views that the author expresses, you must look at the text’s logic in order to form your decision.
Look at the following questions for this perspective.
What Debatable Issue is Raised by the Text?
What Conclusions Does the Text Reach?
Does the Text Contain Sufficient Evidence?
Does the Text Take Opposing Arguments into Account?
The Ethical Perspective: Interpretation is not over once the social, emotional, rhetorical, and
logical factors have been applied. As a critical reader, you can not overlook moral values, or the
ethics of a text. This is especially important if the text deals with the discussion of human
behavior. Because morality is touchy to discuss, you must respect certain ground rules. The first
is that you should not attempt to impose your won moral values on the text. Also remember that
authors do not try to be push particular ethical positions, they try to be objective or “unbiased”.
Ask the following questions.
What is the Highest Good Envisioned by the Text?
What Ethical Convictions Does the Text Reveal?
Blocks To Critical Thinking
Blocks to critical thinking impede us from arriving at a reasonable basis for belief. They are
obstacles that we must not only be aware of but must work zealously to avoid following blindly.
Otherwise they will thwart our efforts to become more effective thinkers.
There are eight primary blocks to critical thinking with which we will deal:
1. Cultural Conditioning - Cultural conditioning refers to the process by which society’s
attitudes and values are passed on to its members.
2. Reliance on Authority - Authority is an expert outside ourselves. The expert can be a single
individual (a parent, a teacher, a celebrity, a clergy member, the President), a group of
individuals (doctors, educators, a peer group, a national consensus), or even an institution (a
religion, a government agency, and educational establishment). Whatever its form, authority is a
common source of belief and knowledge.
3. Hasty Moral Judgment - A moral judgment is an evaluation of someone or something as
good or bad, right or wrong. We make moral judgments all the time, and these are largely
influenced by cultural conditioning.
4. Black- and - White Thinking - Black-and-white thinking refers to the tendency to place
things in either/or categories, ignoring the complexity of an issue.
5. Labeling (Stereotyping or Categorizing) - Labels are essential for communication. They
make it possible for us to communicate a complex situation a piece at a time. The use of labels
helps us react specifically to some part of the environment and to deal with new and unfamiliar
environments by picking out familiar features. As useful as labels are, however, they can be
blocks to thinking. They fail to take individual differences into account and may place people in
preconceived groups, categories and stereotypes.
6. Resistance to Change - A big block to thinking effectively is the tendency to cling to
preconceived notions, to set ways of viewing and doing things. Most of us not only avoid views
contrary to our own, we systematically expel them from our experience.
7. Frame of Reference - All of us have a tendency to see ourselves and world according to our
frame of knowledge and experience we rely on to interpret new experiences and guide our
behavior.
8. Wishful Thinking - Thinking (hoping) that if something had a certain outcome once, then a
similar situation will have a similar outcome.
Reasoning Errors (Fallacies)
A person’s reasoning is also be effected by errors. We call these reasoning errors fallacies.
Fallacies are usually categorized into two categories:

Those that do not provide adequate support for conclusions:
- Faulty analogies
- False cause
- Attacking the person
- Two wrongs make a right
- Slippery slope
- Straw man
- Hasty conclusion

Those that mislead:
- Red Herring
- Jumping on the Bandwagon
- Appeal to Tradition
- Appeal to Pity
- The False dilemma
- Equivocation
- Begging the Question