"St. Jerome Reading in the Desert"
by Cornelis Cort, 1565
Critical Reading Guidelines
"St. Jerome Reading in the Desert"
by Cornelis Cort, 1565
Critical reading means reading with a conscious effort to see both sides of an issue, drawing valid conclusions, and detecting bias. It means burrowing below the immediate reaction we have to a piece and trying to fathom its underlying meaning. This is not the sort of reading we do when we read a romance novel or a pulp magazine. But it is the best way to read, although perhaps the most strenuous, because it helps us to learn. Here are seven guidelines to help you read critically.
1. Understand what you read
Reread difficult passages, looking up in a dictionary unfamiliar words. You cannot form an opinion of what you have read unless you understand what the author is saying.
2. Imagine an opposing point of view for all opinions
If a writer says that capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment and by that definition should be banned, reverse the argument and see what happens. Is life in prison without parole more "cruel and unusual" and therefore less preferable? In other words, look for reasons that support the other side.
3. Search for biases and hidden assumptions
Be alert to the biases of the writer. For example, an atheist arguing for abortion will not attribute a soul to the unborn fetus; a devout Catholic will. To ferret out possible biases and hidden assumptions, check the author's age, sex, education, politics, and ethnic background. These and other personal biographical facts might have influenced the opinions expressed in the work, but you cannot know to what extent unless you know something about the author.
A corollary to this point: watch for biases and hidden assumptions in yourself! Sometimes we will readily accept something as fact--even when we have suspicions that we are mistaken--only because the "fact" supports a belief we hold. If we listen to a speaker who advocates for the opposition on an issue we feel passionately about, we may choose to ignore very good evidence that might help us see both sides. We need to read controversial texts as openly as possible.
4. Separate emotion from fact
Talented writers frequently color an issue with emotionally charged language, thus casting their opinions in the best possible light. For example, a condemned murderer may be described in sympathetic language that draws attention away from his horrifying crimes. While lawyers do this frequently to emphasize certain facts and disregard others, writers about controversial topics will often do this as well. Be alert to sloganeering, to bumper sticker philosophizing about complex issues. Emotion is no solution to complicated problems.
5. Use insights from one subject to illuminate another
Be prepared to apply what you already know to whatever you read. History can inform psychology, literature can give you insights into geography. For example, if a writer in psychology argues that most oppressed people develop a psychology of defeat that gives them a subconscious desire to be subjugated and makes them prey to tyrants, your knowledge of American history should tell you otherwise. As proof that oppressed people often fight oppression to the death, you can point to the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, and the Black Hawk War of 1832--conflicts in which Indians fought desperately to retain their territories rather than go meekly to the reservations. In other words, you can use what you have learned from history to refute a falsehood from psychology.
6. Evaluate the evidence
Critical readers do not accept evidence at face value. They question its source, its credibility, its appropriateness. Here are some practical tips for evaluating evidence.
Verify a questionable opinion by cross-checking with other sources. For example, if a medical writer argues that heavy smoking tends to cause serious bladder cancer in males, check the medical journals for confirmation of this view. Diligent research often turns up a consensus of opinion among experts in any field.
Check the date of the evidence. In science, especially, evidence varies from year to year. Before 1987, no one really knew exactly how the immune system worked. Then Susumu Tonegawa, a geneticist at M.I.T., discovered in 1987 how the immune system protects the body from foreign substances by the manufacture of antibodies. In 1980 the evidence would say that the workings of the immune system were a mystery; that evidence would be inaccurate after 1987. For controversies such as cloning, drug use, global warming, health alternatives and the like, the data must be recent to be credible.
Assess publication information. Who went to the trouble of printing or posting the information? Did such an organization undertake the publication for strictly commercial reasons, or might there be a reason to suspect the publisher wants to advocate for the author's position? For example, on issues of church vs. state (abortion, evolution, etc.) check the reputation of the publisher as often advocacy will be passed off as "objective reporting" to further a position--on both sides! If an oil company sponsors a website that debunks the idea that we are experiencing global warming, be suspicious...very suspicious!
Use common sense in evaluating evidence. For example, if a writer argues that a child's handwriting can accurately predict his or her life as an adult, your own experience with human nature should lead you to reject this conclusion as speculative. No convincing evidence exists to corroborate it, and common sense suggests more than a handwriting sample is needed to predict a child's eventual adult behavior.
While there are plenty more pieces of advice to give to ensure that you read critically, remember that we read texts with our minds and not with our eyes. Simply being able to see the text is not the same as reading it. One last bit of advice comes from the late Dr. Mortimer J. Adler, who taught for years at the University of Chicago, and recently died in 2001 at the age of 98. His landmark essay, "How to Mark a Book" still holds many gems of wisdom in the information age.