The Critical Reading

From the curriculum statement:

“ Critical Reading is a shared activity

based on short texts chosen by the
teacher to address a range of texts
types.”
 A range of text types:
 Play script
 Diary entry
 Web site / blog
 Poster
 Cartoon
 Short story
 Narrative extract
 Letter to the editor
 Speech
 Article – newspaper / magazine
 Assessment Report 2008:

“ …………in the Critical Reading, the most

successful students were those who drew upon
the skills of textual analysis they had developed in
the shared texts and applied it to the unseen
passage.”
 Students should:
 Be familiar with the conventions of different text
types
 Read past exam papers
 Use the knowledge gained from the shared
studies
 Read for content
[ WHAT the author is saying ]
AND
 Read for technique
[ HOW the author is saying it]
From the curriculum statement:

“ The study should emphasise the students’

development of techniques of analysis and their
ability to recognise the author’s role in
constructing the text. They will compare texts
to increase their understanding of the craft of
the author.”
 Assessment Report 2008:

“ Discussing the text using terminology appropriate

to the text type was crucial to each student’s
success in this section of the paper.”
 Students should / could:

 Learn to identify the structures and features of a

range of text types
 Create a ‘ text construction piece ’
( “ In the style of …….” )
 Be careful not to expect a certain text – type
 Assessment Report 2008:

“ It is essential that students understand the

imperative of addressing the requirements of the
question they choose in each section of the
examination.”
 Students should:
 Be familiar with the requirements of the key words of
the question
 What
Why } Analysis of content
Where
 How } Analysis of techniques
The ways
 Make sure the fulfil the task
 Assessment Report 2008:

“ While most students were able to identify the

techniques used by the author, not all were then
able to connect these devices to the exploration
of “the power of literature.” ’’
qu. d
What techniques does the author use to show
the power of literature?
 Assessment Report 2008:

 “The quality of answers presented was often

determined by the number of examples which
students chose to include and the depth to
which they analysed the effectiveness of the
techniques.”
 Discuss the effect of the technique
 Link the technique to the question focus
 Assessment Report 2008:

“The tendency of some students to quote

excessively was still apparent in the more limited
responses.”
 Students should:

 Answer the questions in their own words

 Avoid ‘over – quoting’
 Support points with a few select phrases
 Embed quotations in the point they are making
 Explain the relevance of quotations
7 CRITICAL
READING
STRATEGIES
1.Previewing-Learning
about a text before really
reading it.

2.Contextualizing- Placing a
text in its historical,
biographical, and cultural
contexts.
 3.Questioning to understand
and remember: Asking
questions about the content.

4.Reflecting on challenges to
your beliefs and values:
Examining your personal
responses
  5.Outlining and summarizing:
Identifying the main ideas and
restating them in your own words.
6.  Evaluating an argument:
Testing the logic of a text as well as
its credibility and emotional impact.
7.  Comparing and contrasting related
readings: Exploring likenesses and
differences between texts to understand
them better.
 Critical Reading Exercise
In this exercise, you will see a number of
quotations from different "interest groups" or
"lobbies". A lobby or interest group is a group of
people who have a common interest and who work
together to publicize and promote their point of
view. Your task in this exercise is to identify which
group each quotation comes from
 The forestry industry: The Forestry industry makes
money from cutting down trees, therefore they want
to continue to cut trees, and they want to discourage
any alternative ways of producing pulp and paper.

The environmentalists:
The environmental lobby want to protect the
forests against logging companies, so they
would like to show how destructive logging is,
and how valuable the forests are.
 The hemp farming lobby:

The hemp farmers would like the fibre hemp plant to be legal
so that they can grow it. They want to show how useful it is
for making paper and other products, and they would like
people to understand the difference between the marijuana
plant and the fibre hemp plant.

The marijuana legalization lobby:

These people would like marijuana to be legal. They are

interested in linking the fibre hemp plant with marijuana, because
they think it may be possible to legalize BOTH kinds of plant.
They want to show how useful industrial hemp is, and at the same
time, they want to convince people that marijuana is harmless.
 The Canadian government:
The Canadian government has just legalized industrial hemp, but they
want to keep marijuana illegal, so they want to show that it is
dangerous. They also get lots of taxes from the forestry industry, so
they do not want to restrict logging too much.

1."The rainforests are quite simply the richest,

oldest, most productive and most complex
ecosystems on Earth."

 a) the forestry industry

b) the environmentalists
c) the hemp farming lobby
d) the marijuana legalization lobby

ANSWER: B
 3."Each year, forest fires destroy more forests than are used
for making pulp and paper."

A.) the environmentalists

 B.) the Canadian government
C.)  the hemp farming lobby    
D.) the forestry industry

ANSWER: D
The forestry industry would like to show that its
logging practices are actually less destructive than
natural processes
 "67% of the fibre used to make Canadian pulp and
paper comes from sawmill residue and recovered
paper that used to be disposed of in landfills."

A.) the environmentalists  

B.)   the hemp farming lobby   
C.)  the forestry industry    
D.) the marijuana legalization lobby

ANSWER:C
The forestry industry would like to convince us that
they are doing lots of recycling instead of cutting down
trees