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  • Skilled readers are those who can recognize an author’s point and the support for that

  • point. Critical readers are those who can evaluate an author’s support for a point

  • and determine whether that support is solid or not.

  • This lesson will extend your ability to read critically in three ways:

  • Separating fact from opinion, Detecting propaganda, and

  • Recognizing errors in reasoning.

  • First well look at the difference between fact and opinion.

  • A fact is information that can be proved true through objective evidence.

  • Facts can be checked for accuracy and thus proved true.

  • Here is an example of a fact:

  • At least four out of five adults will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives.”

  • Extensive medical research confirms that this statement is true.

  • An opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be objectively proved true.

  • Here is an example of an opinion:

  • The best treatment for lower back pain is physical therapy.”

  • There is no consensus in the scientific community that this is true. Medication, exercise, surgery,

  • and acupuncture are among the treatments recommended by experts.

  • It is important to remember that much of what we read and hear is a mixture of fact and opinion.

  • Now well look at a second way to extend your ability to read criticallyby detecting

  • propaganda.

  • When advertisers, salespeople, and politicians say, “Buy our productorVote for

  • me,” they often lack adequate factual support for their points. Instead, they appeal to

  • our emotions by using propaganda techniques.

  • Part of being a critical reader is having the ability to recognize these propaganda

  • techniques for the emotional fluff that they are.

  • The most common type of propaganda technique is transfer, in which products or candidates

  • try to associate themselves with something that people admire or love.

  • This picture is an example of transfer.

  • Here, a political candidate wearing an American flag and sayingVote for Meis accompanied

  • by a beauty queen wrapped in a U.S.A. banner. The candidate is hoping that the positive

  • feelings we have toward the sexy-looking beauty queen and the patriotism stirred in us by

  • the American flag and the U.S.A. banner will be transferred to him and get us to vote for

  • him.

  • Chapter 9 in the textbook will tell you more about transfer, as well as five other propaganda

  • techniques.

  • Bandwagon Testimonial

  • Plain Folks Name Calling

  • and Glittering Generalities

  • There are other propaganda techniques as well. But these six are the most common.

  • Now we will look at some common errors in reasoningalso known as fallaciesthat

  • take the place of the real support needed in an argument.

  • A valid point is based on a rock-like foundation of solid support; a fallacious point is based

  • on a house of cards that offers no real support at all.

  • One common fallacy is called circular reasoning.

  • In an argument using circular reasoning, the supporting reason is really the same as the

  • conclusion. Such evidence is illogical.

  • Here is a simple and obvious example of such reasoning: “Alan Gordon is a great manager

  • because he is so wonderful at managing.” The supporting reason (“he is so wonderful

  • at managing”) is really the same as the conclusion (“Alan Gordon is a great manager”).

  • We still do not know why he is a great manager. No real reasons have been giventhe statement

  • has merely repeated itself.

  • Circular reasoning is a fallacy that ignores the issue.

  • Another common fallacy is called false cause. This is a fallacy that oversimplifies the

  • issue.

  • The fallacy known as false cause occurs when one assumes that because event B follows event

  • A, event B was caused by event A. Look at this example:

  • My favorite TV show was moved to a different time slot this season. No wonder it’s now

  • getting canceled.”

  • But there could be reasons other than the

  • move to a new time slot for the program’s getting canceled. Perhaps the show has less

  • competent writers or perhaps a favorite actor has left the show. In any case, it’s dangerous

  • to assume that just because A came before B, A caused B.

  • Chapter 9 in the textbook will tell you more about these two fallacies.

  • It will also explain two more common fallacies that ignore the issue.

  • Personal Attack and Straw man And two more common fallacies that oversimplify

  • the issue. False Comparison and Either-Or

  • In all of these fallacies a point is argued. But no true support is offered for that point.

  • To summarize, in this lesson you learned that critical readers evaluate an author’s support

  • for a point and determine whether that support is solid or not. Critical reading includes

  • the following three abilities:

  • Separating fact from opinion. A fact is information that can be proved true through objective

  • evidence. An opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be proved objectively

  • true.

  • Detecting propaganda. Advertisers, salespeople, and politicians often try to promote their

  • points by appealing to our emotions rather than our powers of reason. To do so, they

  • practice six common propaganda techniques: bandwagon, testimonial, transfer, plain folks,

  • name calling, and glittering generalities.

  • Recognizing errors in reasoning. Politicians and others are at times guilty of errors in

  • reasoningfallaciesthat take the place of the real support needed in an argument.

  • Such fallacies include circular reasoning, personal attack, straw man, false cause, false

  • comparison, and either-or.

Skilled readers are those who can recognize an author’s point and the support for that

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B1 中級 美國腔

第9課--批判性閱讀 (Lesson 9 - Critical Reading)

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    Rosalyn Kate 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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