Critical Response

A text can convey information to us, but usually when we read a text we respond not to the information (or facts) but to the ideas (interpretations, conclusions, assertions) that the author presents. When we respond to a text critically we are questioning the author's ideas, methodology, assumptions, techniques, strategies, or choices.

A critical response, then, results from questioning. Here are some general questions that you can use as a model to formulate specific questions about a specific text:

• What is the problem or question that motivates the author?
• From what context is the author writing?
• What assumptions does the author bring to the text?
• What argument is the author putting forth?
• What contradictions do you find in this text? Why are they there? How do they affect your understanding of the argument?
• What evidence does the author use to support his or her assertions? Why?
• How is the text structured? How does the structure affect your understanding of the author's argument?
• What rhetorical choices (style, diction, tone) does the author make? How do these choices affect you, as a reader?
• What do you see as the key passages in this text? Why are they important? How do they work with the rest of the text to convey the author's meaning?
• What assumptions do you bring to this text? To what extent has the author considered your needs as a reader?