Goals of Critical Reading
• To recognize an author’s purpose
• To understand tone and persuasive elements
• To recognize bias
Each requires inferences from evidence within the text:
• recognizing purpose involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language
• recognizing tone and persuasive elements involves classifying the nature of language choices
• recognizing bias involves classifying the nature of patterns of choice of content and language
Critical reading is not simply close and careful reading. To read critically, one must actively recognize and analyze evidence upon the page.