Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9

Getting to the Heart of the (Reading) Matter

IN THIS CHAPTER

Identifying initial clues from texts

Extracting the deeper golden nuggets

Using time-saving techniques

Critical thinking is fed and nurtured by great books, which firmly places critical reading skills at the heart of good learning. Critical readers do not accept passively what they read — they read actively, constantly weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s case. As I explain in this chapter, they move beyond meekly bowing down before presented facts and instead question and assess all the evidence, whether it’s stated openly or submerged deeply within.

Of course, critical reading is about discovering ideas and information, but that’s no use if you can’t remember much of what you’ve read afterward, or if you have trouble getting your hands on the specific bits you need when you’re short of time. So to close this chapter and put the seal on your critical reading skills, I offer some practical tips on note-taking and skim-reading.

Appreciating Critical Reading as a Practical Skill

In some contexts, being a passive and basically uncritical reader is sufficient; in fact, most education encourages ...