Summary

CHAPTER 1

CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH READING, VIEWING, and WRITING

Critical thinking helps us college work. When we start to think critically, we can examine ideas with multiple perspectives on issues, and find reasonable conclusions. Critical thinking will prepare us for work in our profession and in the public square. We start to think critically, using reading, viewing, and writing to make sense of things. These natural reading-viewing-thinking-writing connections are this chapter’s focus.

CRITICAL THINKING through READING

Reading is basic to writing. Words are important for reading. Words should be chosen correctly, the writer must always develop his or her text with awareness of readers’ perspectives to appeal to a reader.

Use a Reading Strategy: SQ3R

If your goal is to absorb and engage the text as a student all college reading assignments can be approached systematically. One such strategy for critical thinking is called SQ3R: Survey, Questions, Read, Recite, and Review.

Survey

It is helps previewing the material. Try to spot main ideas. It is like reference your reading. If you have been given questions or a study guide you should first read these and then introductory and concluding paragraphs and glance at each page in between. You should pay attention to headings, chapter titles, illustrations, and boldfaced type, graphics.

Benefits; it gives you big picture, stabilizes and directs your thoughts, and gets you over the starting humps.

Question

As you survey, begin to ask questions that you hope to answer as you read.

· Turn the headings and subheadings into questions.

· Imagine a specific test question covering each major point in your reading.

· Be through by asking the journalist’s questions.

· Look over any questions found at the end of the text or the chapter.

Benefits; asking questions will keep us actively thinking about what is coming up and will help you to maintain an appropriate critical distance.

Read

Read difficult parts slowly; reread them if necessary. Look up unfamiliar words or ideas, and use your senses to imagine the events, people, places, or things you are reading about. Imagine talking with the writer. Express agreement, lodge complaints, ask for proof- and imagine the writer’s response or look for it in the next.

Benefits; engaging actively with the text in this way will draw you deeper into the world of the writing. You’ll trigger memories and make surprising connections.

Recite

After finishing a page, section, or chapter, recite the key points aloud. Answering Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

Benefits; reciting tests your comprehension, drives the material deeper into your lon-term memory, and helps you connect the content with what you already know.

Review

As soon as you finish your reading the material, double check the questions you posed in the ‘question’ stage of SQ3R. Can you answer them? Consider the following helpful memory techniques:

· Visualize the concepts in concrete ways.

· Draw diagrams, or clusters.

· Put the material in your own words.

· Teach it to someone.

· Use acronyms or rhymes.

Benefits; Reviewing within 24 hours help you to move information from your short-term to your long-term memory. You will also improve your memory.

READING ACTIVELY

Active reading is kind of mental dialogue with the writer. Certain practical techniques will help you stay alert for active reading:

· Pace yourself

· Project

· Speak the text

· Track the text

Take Thoughtful Notes

Find a note-taking system that suits you, using legal tablets, note cards, laptop software, or a palm device. Your system should allow you to distinguish clearly among facts, quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and personal marks.

Annotate the Text

Annotating involves marking up the text itself. Write notes in the margins. Writing activities your thinking and records your insights. Try these techniques, shown in the sample passage on the next page:

· Write a question-or a simple.

· Link related passages by drawing circles, lines, or arrows, or by making notes.

· Add personal observations.

· Create margin index.

Annotating in Action

There is a excerpt in this page and shows how a student reader engages the text and comments on key ideas. Underlining or highlighting key words or phrases can be helpful, but don’t overdo it. If you are nor careful with that, too much underlining becomes a means of evading rather than engaging the text.

Map the Text

One way to do is by ‘clustering’. Start by naming the main topic in a circle at the center of the page. Then brunch out using lines and ‘balloons’, each balloon containing a word or phrase for one major subtopic.

Outline the Text

It is the traditional way of showing all the major parts, points, and sub points in a text. An outline uses parallel structure to show main points and subordinate points.

Evaluate the Text

Critical thinking means thoughtfully inspecting, weighing, and evaluating the writer’s ideas. To strengthen your reading skills, learn to evaluate texts using the criteria below.

1. Judge the reading’s credibility

2. Put the reading in a larger context

3. Evaluate the reasoning and support

4. Reflect on how the reading challenges you

RESPONDING to a TEXT

In a sense, when you read a text you enter into a dialogue with it. Your response express your turn in the dialogue. Follow these guidelines for response writing:

· Be honest

· Be fluid

· Be reflective

· Be selective

SUMMARIZING A TEXT

Writing a summary disciplines you by making you pull only essentials from a reading- the main points, the thread of argument. By doing so, you do not only create a brief record of the text’s contents but also exercise your ability to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize information. Use these guidelines for summary writing:

· Skim first; then read closely

· Capture the text’s argument

· Test your summary

CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH VIEWING

Consider these guidelines for viewing images.

· View actively

· View with a purpose

· View with a plan

INTERPRETING AN IMAGE

Interpreting means figuring out what the visual image or graphic design is really meant to do, say or show. Each of the elements below may offer special challenges to the reader to understand the complications in the interpretation: image, designer, viewer, subject, message, and context, medium.

EVAULATING AN IMAGE

When you encounter an image, you must do more than understand and interpret it: you have to decide whether it is worth your time and attention. In other words, you have to evaluate it. Consider the purpose, evaluate the quality, and determine the value.

CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH WRITING

In college your writing often must show your ability to think critically about topics and issues by analyzing complex process, synthesizing distinct concepts, weighing the value of opposing perspectives, and practicing new applications of existing principles.

Develop Sound Critical-thinking Habits

To be curious, be creative, be open to new ideas, value others’ points of view, get involved, focus, be rational, make connections, tolerate ambiguity, test the evidence, develop research-based conclusions, and expect results.

Ask Probing Questions

Every field uses questions to trigger critical thinking. To improve the critical thinking in your writing, ask better questions. Ask open questions, ask ‘educated’ questions, keep a question journal, and write Q&A drafts

Practice Inductive and Deductive Logic

Inductive logic; reasons from specific information toward general conclusions.

Deductive logic; reasons from general principles toward specific applications.

Think by Using Analysis

As you analyze we should think about the question listed below.

· Composition: what elements does it contain? What is not part of it?

· Categories: how are things grouped, divided or classified?

· Structures: what are the parts or elements? How are they related?

· Comparisons/contrasts: how are things similar? How are they different?

· Causes/effects: why did this happen? What are the results?

· How does it work or happen? What are the stages?

Think by Using Synthesis

It is the opposite of analyzing. Where analysis breaks things down into parts, synthesis combines elements into a new whole. The following kinds of questions may get you started:

· Applying: what can I do with both?

· Bridging: How can I build a connection between the two?

· Combining: how can I connect, associate, or blend the two?

· Conflicting: which is good, better or best?

· Inventing: what parts could these two play in drama?

· Proposing: what do you suggest doing with both?

· Sequencing: which comes first?

Think by Using Evaluation

Questions like these will help you evaluate things in writing:

· Aspects: What elements of the topic will you evaluate?

· Vantage Point: What are your experience and point of view?

· Criteria: On what standards will you base your judgment?

· Assessment: How does the topic measure up by those standards?

· Comparison: How does it compare to and contrast with similar things?

· Recommendation: Based on your evaluation, what do you advice?

Think by Using Application

Thinking by application defines the practical implications of something. When applying ideas, let questions like these guide your writing:

· Purpose: What is something designed to be or do?

· Benefits: What should this idea make clearer, better, or more complete?

· Solutions: What problems are solved by application of this idea?

· Outcomes: What results can be expected? Where could we go from there?

CHAPTER 2

BEGINNING THE WRITING PROCESS

Writing results from a process that can be learned, practiced, and improved. Before you begin writing in a paper, it is important that you understand the following points about the writing process:

· Writing never follows a straight path

· Each writer works differently

· Each assignment presents challenges

Understanding the Rhetorical Situation: Subject, Audience, and Purpose

Understand Your Subject: Knowing details about the subject, will help you decide issues such as what to include in your writing and how to organize it.

Understand Your Audience: For any writing task, you must understand your audience in order to develop writing that meets their needs.

Understand Your Purpose: Knowing your purpose – why you are writing – will help you make decisions, such as choosing an organizational strategy.

Understanding the Assignment

Read the Assignment: Certain words in the assignment explain what main action you must perform. Key words, options and restrictions.

Relate the Assignment: to the goals of the course, to other assignments, to your own interests.

Reflect on The Assignments: first impulses, approaches, quality of performance, benefits, key traits.

Selecting a Subject

Your topic must….

· Meet the requirements of the assignment

· Be limited in scope

· Seem reasonable

· Genuinely interest you

Limit the Subject Area: You should select a specific topic related to the general area of study- a topic limited enough that you can treat it with some depth in the length allowed for the assignment.

Conduct Your Search: Finding a writing idea that meets the requirements of the assignment should not be difficult, if you know how and where to look.

Explore for Possible Topics: You can generate possible writing ideas by using journal writing and free writing, listing and clustering strategies.

Collecting information

· Determine what you already know about your topic.

· Consider listing questions you would like to answer during your research.

· Identify and explore possible sources of information.

· Carry out your research following a logical plan.

CHAPTER 5

REVISING

Revising takes courage. Once you have your first draft on paper, the piece may feel finished. Good writing almost always requires revising and, in some cases, substantial rework. During this step in the writing process, you make changes in the content of your first draft until it says exactly what you mean.

ADRESSING WHOLE-PAPER ISSUES

When revising, first look at the picture. Take it all in. Determine the whether the content is interesting, informative, and worth sharing. Note any gaps or soft spots in your line of thinking. Ask yourself how you can improve what you have done so far. The information that follows will help you address whole-paper issues as these.

Ø Revisit your purpose and audience

Ø Consider your overall approach

-The topic is worn-out

-The approach is stale

-Your voice is predictable or fake

-The draft sounds boring

-The essay is formulaic

REVISING YOUR FIRST DRAFT

Revising help you turn your first draft into a more complete, thoughtful piece of writing.

Ø Prepare to revise

Ø Think globally: Ideas, organization, voice.

REVISING FOR IDEAS AND ORGANIZATION

As you review your draft for content, make sure that all of the ideas are fully developed and the organization is clear.

Ø Examine your ideas : Complete thinking, clear thesis

Ø Examine your organization: Overall plan, opening ideas, flow of ideas, closing ideas

REVISING for VOICE and STYLE

Generally, readers more fully trust writing that speaks in an informed voice and a clear, natural style. To develop an informed voice, make sure that your details are correct and complete; to develop a clear style, make sure that your writing is well organized and unpretentious.

Ø Check the level of commitment

Ø Check the intensity of your writing

Ø Develop an academic style: Personal pronouns, technical terms and jargon, level of formality, unnecessary qualifiers.

Ø Know when to use the passive voice

ADRESSING PARAGRAPH ISSUES

While drafting, you may have constructed paragraphs that are loosely held together, poorly developed, or unclear. When you revise, take a close look at your paragraph for focus, unity, and coherence.

Ø Remember the basics

Ø Keep the purpose in mind

Ø Check for unity: Topic sentence, placement of the topic sentence, supporting sentence, consistent focus

Ø Check for coherence: Effective repetition, clear transitions

Ø Check for completeness: Supporting details, specific details

REVISING COLLABORATIVELY

Your group might collaborate online or in person. In either case, the information on the next two pages will help you get started.

Ø Know your role

Ø Provide appropriate feedback

Ø Respond according to a plan

USING THE WRITING CENTER

A college writing center or lab is a place where trained adviser will help you develop and strengthen a piece of writing. You can expect the writing center adviser to do certain things; other things only you can do.

CHAPTER 6

EDITING and PROOFREADING

When you edit, look first for words, phrases, and sentences that sound awkward, uninteresting, or unclear. When you proofread, check your writing for spelling, mechanics, usage, and grammar errors.

EDITING YOUR REVISED DRAFT

When you have thoroughly revised your writing you need to edit it, so as to make it clear and concise enough to present to readers. Use the editing guidelines below to check your revised drafts.

Ø Review the overall style of your writing: Read your revised writing aloud, check it against three key stylistic reminders, examine your sentences

Ø Consider word choice: Avoid redundancy, watch for reputation, look for general nouns, verbs and modifiers, avoid highly technical terms, and use fair language.

COMBINING SENTENCES

Effective sentences often contain several basic ideas that work together to show relationships and make connections.

Ø Edit short, simplistic sentences

EXPANDING SENTENCES

Expand sentences when you edit so as to connect related ideas and make room for new information. An expanded sentence, however, is capable of saying more – and saying it more expressively.

Ø Use cumulative sentences

Ø Expand with details

CHECKING for SENTENCE STYLE

Ø Avoid sentence problems

Ø Review your writing for sentence variety

Ø Vary sentence structures

Ø Use parallel structure

Ø Avoid weak constructions

AVOIDING IMPRECISE, MISLEADING, and BIASED WORDS

As you edit your writing, check your choice of words carefully.

Ø Substitute specific words: Specific nouns, vivid verbs

Ø Replace jargon and clichés: understandable language, fresh and original writing, purpose and voice

Ø Change biased words: Words referring to ethnicity, age, disabilities or impairments, conditions, additional terms, gender, occupational issues

PROOFREADING YOUR WRITING

Ø Review punctuation and mechanics

Ø Look for usage and grammar errors

Ø Check for spelling errors

Ø Check the writing for form and presentation

CHAPTER 7

SUBMITTING WRITING and CREATING PORTFOLIOS

FORMATTING YOUR WRITING

A good page design makes your writing clear and easy to follow. Keep that in mind when you produce a final copy of your writing.

Ø Strive for clarity in page design: Format and documentation, typography, spacing, graphic devices.

SUBMITTING WRITING AND CREATING PORTFOLIOS

Once you have formatted and proofread your final draft, you should be ready to share your writing.

Ø Consider potential audiences

Ø Select appropriate submission methods

Ø Use a writing portfolio

CHAPTER 8

ONE WRITER’S PROCESS

ANGELA’S ASSIGNMENT and RESPONSE

Ø Angela examined the assignment: Subject, purpose, audience, form, assessment

Ø Angela explored and narrowed her assignment: Angela’s cluster, free writing, and narrowed assignment.

ANGELA’S PLANNING

Ø Angela focused her topic

Ø Researched her topic

Ø Decided how to organize her writing

ANGELA’S FIRST DRAFT

After her composing her opening, middle, and closing paragraphs, Angela put together her first draft. She then added a working title.

Ø Angela kept a working bibliography

ANGELA’S FIRST REVISION

After finishing the first draft, Angela set it aside. When she was ready to revise it, she looked carefully at global issues-ideas, organization, and voice. She wrote notes to herself to help keep her thoughts together.

ANGELA’S SECOND REVISION

Next, Angela asked a peer to review her work. His comments are in the margin. Angela used them to make additional changes, including writing a new opening and closing.

ANGELA’S EDITED DRAFT

When Angela began editing, she read each of her sentences aloud to check for clarity and smoothness.

ANGELA’S PROOFREAD DRAFT

Angela reviewed her edited copy for punctuation, agreement issues, and spelling.

ANGELA’S FINISHED ESSAY

After proofreading and formatting her essay, Angela added a heading and page numbers. She also added more documentation and a references page at the end. As assigned, she omitted the title page and abstract.

CHAPTER 9

FORMS of COLLEGE WRITING

Writing helps us in two ways: first to learn course content and second to learn how to carry on a written dialogue with others in your field.

THREE CURRICULAR DIVISIONS

Based on each department’s area of study and focus, the college curriculum is generally divided into three groups: humanities, social sciences and natural and applied sciences. The groups are then subdivided into specific departments, such as biology, chemistry, and physics. Below you will find an explanation of each division, along with its more common departments.

TYPES of WRITING in EACH DIVISION

Ø Humanities

Ø Social sciences

Ø Natural and applied sciences

TRAITS of WRITING ACROSS the CURRICULUM

Ø Humanities

Ø Social sciences

Ø Natural and applied sciences

CHAPTER 10

NARRATION and DESCRIPTON

A personal narrative story – a story that mirrors you and your experiences. In it, you may tell about a time when you were afraid, lost something (or someone), found joy learned a tough lesson, or discovered some secret. Whatever the topic, your story should help readers see, hear, touch and taste those details make your experience come alive. To do that, you must carefully describe key aspects of the experience.

Ø Select a topic

Ø Narrow your focus

Ø Determine your purpose and audience

Ø Gather details

Ø Collaborate

Ø Write your first draft

Ø Share your story

Ø Revise your writing

Ø Edit and proofread

Ø Prepare your final copy.