Critical Reading

I. Introduction

"The original owner had highlighted the entire book--literally. Every line on every page had been drawn through with a bright green Magic Marker. It was a terrifying example of a mind that had lost all power of discrimination."

- Florence King

Being a student requires reading--and a lot of it. Some love it, some hate it. Nonetheless, we can't escape it. Reading is part of a student's life, and the length of time spent on it defines the kind of student one is. It is a challenge to even start going through the first page, all the more to finish it until the end. And yet, to understand is completely a different story. Reading has been described as a gateway to explore new worlds, a key to unlock the treasure of infinite knowledge, or an escape door from reality. The way you describe it reflects your value for it. It needs to transcend the sense of sight in order to penetrate the brain. Words read with the eyes do not mean the same as to words read with the mind. And as a student steps higher in the ladder of education, reading comprehension matures with the increase in the level of critical thinking.

Students are exposed to different reading materials. At present, the internet has become the most popular source of information due to its availability and ease of use. With just a single click, one is exposed to a wide array of information. Scholarly journals are considered to be the most reliable source of research-based information because articles are editor and peer-reviewed by academics in their field (Trembay Jr., 5). This is seldom used, however, very useful. Books, on the other hand, are the reading material that students are most exposed to. Since every course or subject they enrol in has a reference textbook, it is not a surprise that after getting a college diploma, he/she has already come across at least 100 textbooks.

This paper focuses on how a student could be a critical reader when studying textbooks. It recognizes the process students go through in line with their reading assignment--starting to read, reading the textbook per se, and evaluating the information delivered in order to translate the data read into meaningful bits of knowledge for the student.

II. Strategies/ Skills

A. Preparing to Study

Before even beginning to start a reading assignment, a student should be ready or at least be aware of how he/she would effectively absorb what he/she would be reading. There are a number of ideas and tips to get the ball rolling on studying. Some might like to study alone in a quiet place; some do it while listening to music; while others study in front of the television. Although people have different ways of studying, it is important that they become perceptive to various techniques that are available for them to possibly improve their academic performance. Knowing more about how you learn will help you understand more from your textbook reading (Rasool, 33). For what is effective for one might not be for another, it is important to discover for yourself your own formula for learning.

First of all, we need to stimulate ourselves for the "information rush" in a manner that sufficient time has been allocated for studying and a conducive study place is achieved for all academic-related activities. For everything that you read, be sure to have a purpose on it--whether it is simply to have a clue on what the pages are about, to memorize in preparation for a quiz, to criticize the points given in a text, or others. Definition of the purpose would help in your selection to where you should focus your attention and to those that you could get through without. For students, this is a very notable advice. Often, reading assignments cover one chapter of a book or a more than 3-paged short story. In connection with that, here's a surprise lesson in reading: Don't always read everything--skim, scan, glance and skip (Johnson, 447). Yes, this is true. Believe it. Now before teachers and professors begin to raise their eyebrow and before students get uncontrollably joyful, there is some advice of caution that follows. The four techniques mentioned undoubtedly reduces the length of time you spend on reading, but you've got to know when to use it and when not to. Skimming involves locating the main idea of a text. Once located, this main idea would give you an overview for the supporting statements that you would have to read afterwards. Remember that skimming is used only when your purpose for reading allows you to read for general concepts rather than specific information (McWhorter, 453). If you already know the text that you are about to read, then apply scanning. Aside from going directly to what you need, other words that pass through your scanning fingertips would somehow flash to your brain. Thus, you are exposed to the other information of the text. Glancing may be used to detect organizational pattern of a text as you basically go over the text in no particular order. Lastly, you could skip some parts of a text because either you feel that it is not too relevant or you already know the details of what is being discussed.

There are two things that we need to possess to get things going: motivation and self-discipline. Motivation gives you the drive to pursue what is needed to be done. It eliminates negative thoughts that hinder the fulfilment of your goals. Self-discipline, on the other hand, is the controlling factor to your pursued objective. If motivation gives you the head start, self-discipline helps you continue what you have started. Remember, these two do not guarantee success in achieving high grades, but it is definitely one step closer to that goal in mind.

B. System for reading textbooks

A reading-study system is a step-by-step method for identifying, reading, studying, retaining, and recalling the most important information in a textbook chapter (Johnson, 450). There are many reading-study systems and among those identified in the book Stirring up Thinking are the following:

SQ3R Survey - Question - Read - Recite - Review

SQ4R Survey - Question - Read - Recite - "Rite" - Review

POINT Purpose - Overview - Interpret - Note -Test

OK4R Overview - Key Ideas - Read - Recite - Review - Reflect

OK5R Overview - Key Ideas - Read - Record - Recite - Review - Reflect

PQRST Preview - Question - Read - Summarize - Test

RSVP Review - Study - Verbalize - Preview

OARWET Overview