2.2 - Critical Reading
2.2 - Critical Reading
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2-2 Critical Reading Strategies.mp4Reading to Summarize
Reading to Summarize
Reading is an activity we participate in daily, whether it’s watching tv, listening to music, or scrolling through social media. Much like writing, we can have different purposes for reading. This module will ask you to become an intentional reader by thinking about why you are reading while you read, rather than after.
Usually, when we read something in our spare time, we don’t need to prove or demonstrate our understanding to anyone else. However, reading for academic purposes often means that you will need to use the information you’ve read in some way. For example, you may read from a textbook and then need to demonstrate that you have understood and retained that information when taking an exam. You may read scholarly articles and need to apply that information by conducting an experiment.
Reading for college is different from reading for pleasure or daily life—it often requires analysis, reflection, and application. Before diving into strategies for effective academic reading, it’s helpful to think about your own habits and experiences as a reader. The questions below are designed to prompt reflection on how you approach reading, how you handle challenges, and how you use what you’ve read in academic work. Your answers will help you identify your strengths and areas for growth, setting the stage for developing more intentional and effective reading strategies for college-level tasks.
Directions: Before we talk about how to read for academic purposes, think about your own experiences with reading:
What type of reading do you do most frequently?
What do you do when you don’t understand something you’ve read?
Can you think of a time when you had to read something for school and then use that knowledge in another situation, such as for a paper or project?
What is your process for reading something for college?
Hopefully, those questions have sparked some reflection about what you do (and don’t!) know about how to be an effective reader. Now, we’ll explore some ways in which you can be more intentional when you read for college.
Reading for Academic Purposes
Reading for Academic Purposes
Below are some of the most common strategies you might use when reading for academic purposes. These strategies can help you not only understand what you’ve read, but will help you take that information and use it for various purposes. Feel free to tell your instructor and peers about other strategies that you have found useful.
Read More than Once
Read More than Once
The first time you watch a tv show, what do you pay attention to? You’re probably getting to know the characters and trying to figure out the plot. When you watch the show again, you might notice things like foreshadowing, the location, dialogue, and how the show is similar to (or different from) others in the same genre. The same process will happen when you reread. Once you’ve understood the main idea, go back and see if you can distinguish the supporting ideas, or better understand how the text was organized to achieve its purpose.
Skim and Scan
Skim and Scan
This process is similar to what you did when you first joined this class. You likely took a look at the syllabus or the online material and skimmed through to see what sections were included. Once you saw the sections or modules, that helped you understand what to expect before you delved into the details of reading the syllabus.
When skimming and scanning, look for: the index, headings, chapters, titles, and subtitles. You can practice skimming and scanning in this text! Each module in First-Year Composition includes an index and different level headers to signal what’s coming next.
Highlight Important Words, Phrases, and Concepts
Highlight Important Words, Phrases, and Concepts
In textbooks, the author may highlight, bold, or underline these for you. What if you’re reading a newspaper article or a scholarly article where the author assumes that you can figure out the important ideas yourself? Look for common themes, metaphors, references, or ideas that connect to or contrast with one another.
You can also highlight words or phrases that stand out to you. Was there a particularly impactful quote or example? Perhaps there was a story or piece of evidence that helped you better understand the main idea, a supporting idea, or the topic.
Avoid going overboard with your highlighter! If you highlight too much of the text, it will be difficult to go back and try to identify the information you really need.
Look up Unfamiliar Words, Events, People, and Concepts
Look up Unfamiliar Words, Events, People, and Concepts
You’ll encounter unfamiliar words often when reading for different classes. You may even see different authors using the same words to mean different things! Understanding the various meanings of words, especially in different contexts like biology, psychology, literature, or another field of study, can help you understand exactly what the author meant.
Chances are, if an author has referenced a historical event or an important figure, they did so for a reason. Don’t let that reference pass you by! You can learn a lot about what the author believes if you understand most, if not all, of their references. Think about the impact of a meme that you understand, versus one that’s so obscure that it evokes no reactions. You don’t want the full impact of the text to pass you by.
Take Notes
Take Notes
You can make notes in various ways:
Your personal reaction or opinions. Write notes in the margins as if you are responding to the author during a conversation. You can use this to prompt your own response or argument later.
Connections between what you are reading, and other articles, news, or ideas. Does the text remind you of anything else you’ve read or heard? How does it relate to recent news or events in the world? Has anything happened since the text was published that makes you think about the topic differently? You can use this information to analyze and evaluate a text, or to better understand the conversation about that topic.
Reflect on the reading strategies you are practicing and consider how they can support your learning in this class. Respond to the following prompts in complete sentences. Try to provide thoughtful, specific responses based on your own experience with reading and writing.
Current Practices: Which of the reading strategies we’ve discussed (e.g., reading more than once, skimming and scanning, highlighting key ideas, looking up unfamiliar terms, taking notes, using WH-questions) do you already use when you read academic texts? Provide at least one example of how you use each strategy.
Most Helpful Strategies: Which strategy or strategies do you think will be the most helpful for you in this class? Explain why you think these strategies will improve your understanding or engagement with course readings.
Additional Strategies: Are there any other strategies you use that are not on our list? Describe them and explain how they help you read and understand texts.
Future Application: How might you combine these strategies in your reading process for upcoming assignments (e.g., summaries, essays, discussion posts)?
Optional: Share one of your reflections with a partner or small group to compare strategies and learn new approaches.
Close Reading and Critical Reading
Close Reading and Critical Reading
Reading academically means understanding what you’ve read and having the ability to think critically about it. The first time you read a text, concentrate on reading closely. This will ensure you’ve understood the basics of the text.
To read closely, think about the WH-questions:
WHO wrote it? This is the author(s).
WHEN did they write? The date of publication can tell your audience a lot about the context.
WHERE did they write it? This usually refers to the publisher (e.g. The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, etc.) but it can also refer to the part of the world the article was published in. This is also an important part of the context.
WHAT did they write? This includes the main and supporting ideas.
These four questions will help you to summarize; to be intentional readers, identify them while you are reading. The above reading strategies can help you identify and make note of those aspects of the article.
You likely noticed that there are two WH-questions missing:
WHY did they write it?
HOW did they write it?
While these are useful questions for reading critically, for now we will leave them aside. Critical thinking is a necessary step to achieving many different writing purposes, such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, defending, arguing, critiquing, or creating ideas. For the following activity, concentrate on understanding and describing a text by answering the first four WH-questions.
Purpose: This activity will help you practice multiple key strategies for academic reading using Mike Bunn’s essay “How to Read Like a Writer.” You will read closely, use WH-questions (Who, When, Where, What) to guide your understanding, and practice skills that can be applied to any college-level reading.
Step 1: Read More than Once
Read Bunn’s essay straight through without taking notes. Focus on the overall message.
After finishing, write one sentence in your own words that captures the essay’s main idea.
Read the essay a second time. This time, notice how Bunn organizes his ideas:
Where does he define “reading like a writer”?
Where does he give examples?
Where does he explain why it matters?
Mark these places with underlines or margin notes.
As you read, apply the WH-questions to deepen your comprehension:
WHO wrote the essay? (Note Bunn’s background or expertise.)
WHEN was it written? (Consider how the publication date influences context.)
WHERE was it published? (Think about the source and its audience.)
WHAT did Bunn write? (Identify the main idea and key supporting points.)
Step 2: Skim and Scan
Skim the essay by looking at the title, section headings, and first sentences of each section.
Make a quick list of what you expect the essay to discuss, such as:
Reading strategies
Examples from Bunn’s own experience
Connections to college writing
Compare your list with what the essay actually covers. Did anything surprise you about the focus or organization?
Step 3: Highlight Important Words, Phrases, and Concepts
Go through the essay again and highlight 5–7 key terms or phrases, focusing on:
Where Bunn defines “reading like a writer”
Where he explains its value
Where he describes strategies for practice
For each highlighted phrase, write a margin note explaining why it matters:
Is it a definition, an example, or a big takeaway?
Step 4: Look Up Unfamiliar Words, Events, People, and Concepts
Circle or note any unfamiliar words, references, or authors mentioned in the essay.
Pick two to look up and define.
Write a quick note explaining how understanding these terms deepens your comprehension of Bunn’s ideas.
Step 5: Take Notes
In the margins or a notebook, write at least three notes:
A personal reaction or question (e.g., “I’ve never thought of reading this way—how could I try this in biology class?”).
A connection to another class, text, or experience (e.g., “This reminds me of when my history professor asked us to notice how arguments are structured.”).
An idea you might use in your own writing (e.g., “I could ‘read like a writer’ when I look at model essays for our summary assignment.”).
Wrap-Up Reflection: Write a short paragraph (5–7 sentences) responding to these prompts:
Which of the five strategies (Read More than Once, Skim and Scan, Highlight, Look Up, Take Notes) helped you understand Bunn’s essay most clearly?
How did using the WH-questions help you identify the main and supporting ideas?
Which strategy or combination of strategies do you think you’ll use most often in your future college reading?
How might “reading like a writer” help you in this course’s writing assignments?
"How to Read Like a Writer" by Mike Bunn
bunn--how-to-read.pdfAttributions
Attributions
This chapter contains material from:
First-Year Composition by Leslie Davis and Kiley Miller, Colorado State University, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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