Think of critical reading as a bit like an autopsy: it is like you have a story laid out but have to take and find the information we have to grab and assemble it so that is how we can interrogate the text but we can use four things to make it easier the most common is how, who, when and where but there a better on the most important one is:-

• Question

  
  

• Clarify

  
  

• Evidence

  
  

• Infer

Question

The first tool to use is your Question tool – to get to the basics of what you’re dealing with. As you start reading the text, find out what is going on by asking yourself: who, what, where, when and why. So who are the people, what are they doing, where are they, when is this happening, and why – why is it happening to them and why is it important? So if you’re struggling to understand what is going on in the text, before you even get to all the writer’s techniques, use the Question tool to ask those basic questions.

Clarify

Try to clarify any gaps you might have because there might be some difficult words you’ve just never seen before. Perhaps the text is taken from a broadsheet so it has some sophisticated language, or there might be some jargon because it’s on quite a bizarre or niche subject.

You’ll need to try and clear up any confusion you have about the text, especially if a word is in a key sentence. The best way to is to :

1. Break the word down to its root; strip it of any prefix or suffix (any letters before or after it).

   
   

   For example, if you haven’t come across the words ‘abnormal’ or ‘normalise’ before, you can clarify their meaning by cutting off the prefix or suffix.

Normal | Abnormal | Normalise

1. Look at the words around it and check that the root word you have makes sense in the context of whatever else is written.

2. And if it doesn’t make sense, then cover it up and fill in the blank! Think of a word that could go in its place.

Evidence:-

This next tool is fairly self-explanatory! You just need to look around the text for evidence. The exam will ask you to identify certain words or phrases that suggest a particular meaning. You’ll need to examine the text and sift through it to find the explicit meaning the question is looking for. we can also use the sentence to relate and understand to better understand the meaning of the word

Infer

our Infer tool is where you make some informed inferences – or interpretations – about the text, based on any clues, signs, hints, or patterns you come across. If this was an autopsy or an x-ray you’d be looking for fractures or bruises or marks on the body – anything that gives you subtle hints. But in language, you’re looking for moods emotive language semantic fields, and connotations. This helps you to read between the lines and get to the implied meaning, or the intention of the writer, by looking at their techniques and style. It’s also how you can pick up on any bias in the text.   

New Words:-

autopsy:- a post-mortem examination to discover the cause of death or the extent of disease.

niche:- a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment.

bias:- systematic distortion of a statistical result due to a factor not allowed for in its derivation.

Here is the PDF that talks about it:- Interrogate the Text