from th Loerie Gace bts Ye Areelil > Gre, 20% Strategies for Reading Critically To become a thoughtful, effective writer, you must also become a critical reader. This cone hand, striving to understand care to question its ideas and a others have written —and reading, ment and supplement reading strategies presented in central to your success with the writing wre and Experience activity The strategies here co Part One, Chapters 2-7. Critical readin, jgnments in those chapters. The ‘© Outlining: Listing the text’s main ideas to reveal how ‘© Paraphrasing: Restating what you have read to clarify or refer to it tilling the main 1g into fa text ideas and information gleaned from different sources © Contextualizing: Placing a text in its historical and cultural contexts 337 ae Zi: CHAPTER 10: STRATEGIES FOR READING CRITICALLY + Exploring the significance of figurative language: Examining how metaphors, similes, and symbols are used in a text to convey meaning and evoke feelings Looking for patterns of opposition: Analyzing the values and ass died in the language of a text «© Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values: Critically examining the bases of your personal Evaluating the logic of an argument: Determining whether a thesis is well rea fying texts that unfairly and inap- y use emotional appeals based on false or exaggerated claims PP BRC ters represent different can help you connect information from different 1u already know; distinguish fact from opinion; uncover -ct other people's ideas as well as your own to rea~ ese strategies and apply them not only to a ical reading of the selections in Part One but also to your other college reading. gh mastering the strategies will not make critical reading easy, it can make your reading much more satisfying and productive and thus help you handle even difficult material with confidence. Critical reading strategies will, in addition, often be useful in your reading ourside of school —fo: , these strategies can help you under- stand, evaluate, and comment on what political figures, advertisers, and other writers, are saying. sources and relate and question assum) soned argument, You ANNOTATING Annotations are the marks—undertines ‘on the page as you read. Amnotatin ‘questions, outline and summ: ’ighlights, and comments—you make directly 10 record immediate reactions and evaluate and relate the reading to for studying and preparing to write, ther critical reading strategies. Your lowing: gis also an essential element of annotations can take many forms, such as the Weiting comments, que yas in the margins words, phrases, or sentences nbering related points Bracketing sections of the text ‘Noting anything that strikes you as interesting, important, or questionableANNOTATING 1B aa) Annotating Onscreen. Although this discussion are reading printed pages, you can also annotate puter screen by using annotating assumes you the com- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) fist came to national notice in 1955, when he led a suc- ‘cessful boycott against the polley of restretig African American passengers to rear soats on city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was minister of a Baptist church. He subse- quently formed a national organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, that ‘brought people ofall races trom all over the country to the South to fight nonviolent for racial integration. In 1963, King led demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, that were met with vio- lence; @ bomb was detonated in a black church, king four young gis. King was arrested for his role in organizing the protests, and while in prison, he wrote the famous ‘Letter fram Bir ‘mingham Jai to answer the ciicism of local clergy and to jutity tothe nation his strategy of ii disobedience, which he called ‘nonviolent dirt action * ‘King begins his letter by discussing his disappointment withthe lack of support he has received from white moderates, such as the group of clergy who published erticism in the focal newspaper. As you read the folowing excerpt trom his eter, tro infer rom King’s wet ten response what he clergy’s specific crcisms might have been. Also, notice the tone King Uses fo answer his critics. Would you characterize the weling as apologetic, conciliatory, ‘accusatory, orn some other way? | must confess that over the past ‘An Annotated few years 1 have been gravely Sample from Ge ecemerem | te “Letter from crate, Ihave almost reached the block progrese Birmingham Jail” — regrenable concision that the : sg Te, NeUio’ [great stumbing block Martin Luther King Jr- in hs stide tovard treedom}s not the White Czer's Counce or the Ku Klux Klannet, but the white moderate, who Is. more devoted 1 “order than to justice: who prefrs a negative peace onervajuetice Ch rFrr——— Which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the hoped that the white moderate would understand tension in the South is a necessary phase ofthe transi science and the air of national opinion before In your statement you assert that obbed ‘anpecavs his osassion ot money repaid ne et et condemning Socrates because his unswerv- tated the act by the drink hemlock? Isn't this the robbed and punish the robber] Thad also hoped that the white moderate would reject the + myth concerning time in elation to the struggle for freedom. | have just received a later rom a white brother in Texas. He writes negative ve. positive ends ve. means ‘treating others lite children 2 Tension necessary for progress, Tension already exists anyway. Truet 93. Questions clergymen’ loge: ‘condemning his ‘actions = ‘condemning vitime, Socrates, Jesus. Yeo!anmoratine fa “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but itis péssible that you are in too great a reli- ious hurry. thas taken Christianity almost two thousand years 10 accomplish what ithas. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth” Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, trom the strangely irrational notion that there is something in actions ofthe bad peoplebu or oopleJHuman progress nave itcomes through the nity) ty in Birmingham as extreme. At as rather disappointed that ellow clergymen would see lent efforts as those of an extremist. began thinking about the fact that | stand in the middle of two opposing forces inthe Negro com- ‘munity. One is afforce of complacency made up in part of Negroes. ‘who, a8 a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of sel respect and a sense of“somebociness that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of afew middle-class Negroes, who be- cause ofa degre of academic and economic securty and because ineome ways they profitby segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The otherorce is one of | {and hatredJand it comes petlously close to advocating violence. Its expressed in the various black nationals foroups that are ‘springing upJacross the nation, the largest and best-kr | Muhammacis Muslim movement. Nourshed ty the Negro's | +rstration over the conned exsionce of racial discrimination, this | made up of people who have lostaithin America, who | rity, and who have concluded | 2 two forces, saying that 6 nt ‘nor the hatred and despair ofthe black national the ‘more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. | am grateful to example ofa white moderate Silence is as bad as hateful worde and actions. ‘metaphor not moving 194, Time must be used todo right. metaphors King accused of being an extremist 195. King in midale of to extremes: ‘complacent & angry Malcolm x? 96, King offre better cholee How did nonviolence become part of King’s movement? WG curren 0: sTRATEGIES FoR READING CRITICALLY aad yecamo an integral part of our struggle. ssophy had not emer be flowing with blood. 2 10 support our nonviolent efots, Glassy land security in black-nationalist ideologies —a development that ‘would inevitably lead toa frightening racial nightmare ~~ Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever) The yeaming for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened 10 the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or uncon- sciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist) and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of ‘Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro to say that can be bhannled into the cre- ck action JAnd now this approach is ‘curse you, do good to them that hate you, ly use you, and persecute you" Was not (Amos) an do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan’ tothe end of my days before ! make a butchery 0 797. King’s moverant prevented racal Violence, Treat? Gand? The church? If... then. .comfort spirit ofthe times against inustice nota threat? 18, Discontent is normal & healthy but muse be channeled. Hebrew prophet Christian apostle Founded Protestantism Englieh preacherae No choice but to be extremists, But what kind? 19. Creative extremist are needed, need of creative extremists) | nad hoped thatthe white moderate would see Ns need. 10 Disappointed inthe Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps | expected too much. | sup- white moderate pose | should have realized that few members of the opp ace can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings 1 oppressed race, and stil fewer have the vision to see that [injustice must be rooted outpby strong, persistent and determined ‘ction. | am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in, ‘110. Some whites the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and have supported King ‘committed themselves tit. They are stil all oo few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some—such as Ralph McGill Lilian Smith, Who are they? Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle—have written about our struggle in eloquent and") what thay did ms. Others have marched with us down nameless rne South, They have fanguishedin fithy, sutfleng the abuse and brutally of polcemen who view prophet boon left unaided ‘combat thefiisease of segregation] 1 Checklist: Annotating, 1. Mark * Circle words to be defined in the margin. * Underline key words and phrases. portant sentences and passages. oF arrows to connect ideas or words, hese: paragraph. FRR errr ateareotes ron neanine crimeaity + Hen ineresting waiting rates 1gs on the text and comments @ TAKING INVENTORY An inven or grouping offitems. Taking inventory your annorat soses. When yt ids of lsts to explore patterns of meaning you find in the text. the annotated passage by Mar er King Jr., you might have noticed that famous people are named or that certain similes and metaphors arc used. Bi into categories (people ures) you could Taking inves reading, y of your annotations can be helpful in weit ig about a text you are Checklist: Taking Inventory 1. Examine your annotations for patterns or repetitions such as recurring images, sd words and phrases, repeated examples 0” 3 writing strategies ‘List and group the items in the pattern, 3. Decide what the pattern indicates about the reading, @ OUTLINING g process, or it may be dpne separately. Writ