Chapter 2 Word Precision : How Do I Describe It ?

Summary

This chapter was titled “Word Precision: How do I Describe It”. The chapter sums up how important vocabulary is to communication and expressing our experiences. Our words are our thoughts so if our words aren’t clear then our thoughts aren’t clear. Dictionaries are a very important tool for this. It suggests every time you come across a word you do not know, you should look it up. “Clear thinking depends on clear word definitions” is a quote from the chapter that I highly agree with it. The chapter goes on to tell us the different kind of definitions of words. There is taxonomy, dictionary definitions, scientific definitions, and stipulative definitions. The chapter also touches on the Connotation of words which is the associations those words have. Knowing the etymology of a word can also help in giving us a concrete understanding of its definition. The chapter also states that critical reading begins with a resolve to aim for a neutral and accurate comprehension of the material.

Chapter 2 Developing Your College Vocabulary

Summary

This chapter covers how important learning, understanding and building your vocabulary really are. When you learn new vocabulary, you can understand what you read better. There are many different ways to learn the vocabulary words you do not know. This chapter will be beneficial to me because I can know new word from this chapter.

Chapter 3 Facts : What's Real ?

Summary

Fact = knows something with certainty through experience, observation, or measurement. A fact can be objectively shown and verified and people agree that it corresponds to reality. You need to learn how to recognize and verify facts based on what was just said.
Fiction = something that is made up story. We also need to be able to distinguish facts from fiction. You feelings can also be facts, or at least help you to determine what a fact is. You need to be careful though as you need to pay attention to your attitude along with your feeling. We, as humans, sometimes feel the need to get confirmation from someone else in a certain situation. Confirmation on what we think to be true allows us to make easy and correct determination we made.

Chapter 4 Managing Your Reading Time

Summary

This chapter was about different types of reading and different strategies for reading. There is speed-reading and critical reading:
Speed-reading is more of a way to group words together and read quickly.
Critical reading is about taking your time and fully comprehending every word the author wrote. I think no matter what type of reading you use, you should be able to understand what you just read. It is important for you to understand what your reading rate is.
This chapter gives an outline of the average pages per hour read in different subjects. You can use this chart to compare your own reading rate to. This will help you determine if you have an issue with reading and also can help you plan your reading schedule for each class better.

Chapter 4 Inferences : What's Follow ?

Summary

When a person infers, they are: imaging, guessing, predicting, and concluding. Inferences are often confused with facts. Inferences help fill in when facts are missing, or they can help make sense of facts already presented. Inferences should always be checked against the facts for accuracy and to make sure you are not inferring incorrectly. This chapter’s goal was to make us more conscious about our inferences. We should state the obvious as much as possible for this will help us in distinguishing facts from inferences.

Chapter 5 Locating Stated Main Ideas

Summary

I learned that before you can understand what you are reading you must first be able to identify some information. The first thing you must identify is the author’s main idea. You need to be able to distinguish between general ideas and specific details. As you are reading something, you need to be asking yourself questions the whole time. You need to ask yourself, “what is this about”, “what am I reading”? Asking yourself questions like this and identifying the main idea, the topic and the details, will help you to understand what you are reading much better.

Chapter 5 Assumptions : What's Taken for Granted ?

Summary

This chapter talks about all the different types of assumptions that can and are made. Assumptions can be made consciously or unconsciously, and they can be warranted or unwarranted. When people assume, they take up or accept something. They accept it without proof that it is true or certain. There are also hidden assumptions. Hidden assumptions are defined as unconscious assumptions that influence a line of reasoning. A hidden assumption is not always easy to identify. A Stereotype is one type of a hidden assumption. Value assumptions are also a type of hidden assumptions people make and rarely or never question them, most of the time these assumptions are passed down from family or through their culture. They are unexamined beliefs that unconsciously affect our thought processes. Conscious assumptions are also known as working assumptions. Working assumptions serve as strategies or working trials.

Chapter 6 Finding Supporting Details

Summary

This chapter tells the importance of different types of details when you are reading. There are major supporting details and minor supporting details.
The major supporting details are those that help you to better understand what it is that you are reading.
Minor supporting details are those that may seem more interesting, but they are less helpful to you.
You need to focus more on the major supporting details. The major detail is a key to success in understanding your readings. I think that if you really attempt to use this strategy of focusing on the main point and the major supportive details, you can even do better on tests. This chapter is teaching you a way to focus in on what is important; what information you need to take in and absorb.

Chapter 6 Opinions : What's Believed ?

Summary

This chapter is all about opinions and the many types of them. Different types of opinions include judgments, advice, generalizations, personal preference and public sentiment.

• Judgment opinion would be saying that something is good or bad or right or wrong.
• Advice opinion is telling someone something they should or should not do.
• Generalization opinion are suggested something that can be taken for truth.
• Personal preferences are things you personally like or dislike.
• Public sentiments are normally taken by polling the public and finding their opinions.
On top of having different types of opinions, there is also the determination if opinions are responsible or not. You find this out by recognizing whether the opinion you are hearing is from an expert’s judgment or an argument that is well supported; or whether the opinion is from a final legal judgment or an unsubstantiated belief. When hearing opinions, you should be careful not to confuse them with facts. And if a person is expressing an argument, then you need to make sure they have facts, evidence, other claims and reasoning to support their arguments. I never realized how many different types of opinions there really was. I thought an opinion was an opinion. So I enjoyed reading this chapter and learning from it.

Chapter 7 Using inference to Identify Implied Main ideas

Summary

Chapter seven has information about inferences and using them to identify implied main ideas. This text explain that an inference is the process of making assumptions, and drawing conclusions about information when an author’s opinions or ideas are not directly stated.
There are five strategies for effectively inferring meaning from writings when it is not directly stated.
-The first strategy is to understand an author’s purpose for writing the piece.
-The second strategy is to note comparisons and implied similarities. If an author makes a comparison to show something then you have to infer what the similarity is to understand the point of the author.
-The third strategy is to understand the author’s use of tone. Tone can be extremely helpful in trying to understand an author’s main idea, specially if it is implied.
-The fourth strategy is to detect an author’s bias. This can help us make informed decisions about what the author is saying.
-The last strategy is to recognize information gaps. These can be intentional or not.
Also, authors may have implied main ideas for paragraphs or sections or chapters. When main ideas are implied, we have to use inferences and strategies to see them. We have to
1) Read carefully.
2) identify the topic of the reading material.
3) ask ourselves what important point the author makes about the topic.
4) Combine the topic with the new information.

Evaluations : What's Judged ?

:

Summary

In this chapter is all explain about evaluations. In order to evaluate something, we have to examining, making an estimate on, determining the worth of, and judging something. We need to be aware that sometimes it is possible to make a premature evaluation. We need to be aware that evaluations are not facts. There are different situations that can confuse our evaluation on something. Our own expectations can confuse our evaluation as well as word connotation, propaganda, and hidden evaluation. Connotation and propaganda is something important that you need to focus when making your evaluations. Before making any evaluations, I should examine everything completely and come up with my own evaluation; except for some skilled evaluations. With skilled evaluations, I think it would depend on the situation.

Chapter 14 Evaluating Internet Resources

Summary

In this chapter, we learned about how to evaluate internet resources. There is a seven step internet source evaluating system that should be used to do so. This system includes:
1. Know your purpose.
2. Double-check facts and sources.
3. Consider the source.
4. Evaluate content.
5. Determine intended audience.
6. Evaluate the writing.
7. Use what you already know.
While using these seven steps you are checking the relevancy, reliability, credibility and accuracy of the websites you are looking at

Chapter 13 Reading beyond the Words

Summary

This chapter has been about the six different levels of critical thinking. Those six levels are: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The chapter helps you to understand each of these levels. In each step you must ask yourself certain questions and acknowledge certain concepts or facts. In following these six steps, or levels, you will be on the road to becoming a better critical thinker.

Chapter 12 Idenifying and Evaluating Arguments

Summary

In this chapter I learned that you need to analyze and evaluate an argument. You need to look at the argument in more detail. You need to pin point the reasons and the conclusion. There are deductive and inductive arguments. Deductive arguments begin with a general statement and then show the supporting details. An inductive argument begins with a series of observations and then concludes with a generalization that was logically pulled from the observations. Inductive arguments are mostly what type of arguments occur in our every day lives. You need to determine dependability by asking questions like, who wrote what you are reading, is the source reliable, when was the article published, and what is the author’s credentials? You also need to distinguish fact from opinion and detect fallacies. I learned there are several types of fallacies to look out for. These types of fallacies are: either/ or thinking, hasty generalization or overgeneralization, red herring, false cause, slippery slope, ad hominem, and circular reasoning.

Chapter 12 Deductive Reasoning : How Do I Reason from Premises ?

Summary

This chapter was all about deductive reasoning and the logic behind it. The chapter also compared deductive reasoning with inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning usually starts with a general principle and then applies it to a specific instance. While inductive reasoning usually starts with a more specific instance and then pulls it into a more general principle. The logic behind the deduction is a science of good reasoning, both inductive and deductive.
The terms you need to understand are: argument, reasoning, syllogism, premise (major and minor), conclusion, validity, and soundness.an argument can be both inductive and deductive and can be valid even if the premises are not true.
Reasoning is drawn from facts, which will lead you to conclusions, judgments, or inferences about whatever topic you are discussing or reading about.
Conclusion, validity and soundness are also some terms that I have already known the meaning behind.
Conclusion is a way to summarize your main point or what you are trying to get across or get action on.
Validity and soundness both have to do with the truth behind your argument, reasoning, and premise.
Premise was also a word that was previously discussed in another chapter, but in this chapter we learned that a major premise is more of a generalization, while a minor premise is more specific. The new key term to me in this chapter is syllogism.

Chapter 10 : Textbook Marking

In this chapter you learn how to correctly mark your textbook for better studying and understanding. Textbook marking is defined as, a systematic way of marking, highlighting, and labeling ideas to show how they are related to each other and which are most important. For example, when I read a new text, I highlight things that I think are important such as specific words, their definitions, and phrases. You could also write notes in the margin of the text explaining to yourself why you highlighted the words and phrases you did. A few of the items you should mark to make your reading and understanding more efficient are: Main ideas, major supporting details, and new vocabulary.
There are some tips for textbook marking.
1) Buy new textbooks. You don’t want to get confused with previous students textbook markings. You want your textbook to be ready for your own markings.
2) Buy a fine-point pen. The purpose of this is for narrow book margins. You want to have a pen that when you write, you will be able to fit all your text.
3) Buy highlighters; different colored highlighters can help you with differentiating between vocab words and main ideas
There are four steps to properly mark your textbook:
First step is to preview the material that has been assigned to you. While skimming the text identify all the unfamiliar vocabulary words and write them down. Later, you can look up the definitions of the words to understand their meanings.
Step two is to study-read the assigned reading in sections. First read the section before marking anything. It is important to make sure you understand each section you read before you continue on to the rest.
Step three, When you are finished reading all the assigned material, you can then go back and highlight the information that answered the questions you came up with, the main ideas, and the major supporting details.
Step four, writing margin cues. A margin cue is defined as a symbol or notation you write in the margin of your text beside important information to indicate what you marked and why

Chapter 10 : Fallacies : What's a Faulty Argument ?

In this chapter there are some of the different types of fallacies. These types are manipulated through language, emotion, and distraction.
Manipulate through language, the different ways to do so are through:
• using vague or undefined words
• using misleading euphemisms
• using prejudice
When using fallacy to manipulate through emotion, the different ways to do so are through:
• Appeal to fear
• Appeal to Pity
• Appeal to false authority
• Appeal to bandwagon
• Appeal to prejudice.
When using fallacy to manipulate through distraction, the different ways of doing:
• Red herrings
• Pointing to another wrong, but no admitting wrongdoing yourself.
• Straw man misrepresenting an opponent’s viewpoint, pinpointing one issue and making it bigger than it really is, and repeating solutions.
• Circular reasoning
In reality some of the even appear without us realizing it. We can even now see how we ourselves may use these fallacies in our daily lives. Especially in a situation when we may not want to admit we are wrong

Chapter 11 : Inductive Reasoning and inductive Fallacies

How do I reason from Evidence ?

This chapter is about the process of inductive reasoning. inductive reasoning is a method used to discover new information or to supply missing information. When we use inductive reasoning, we observe, test, and check things out in some systematic fashion. Although it is an open-ended method or learning and discovering.
Looking at Inductive Reasoning
Induction comes from the Latin inducer, to lead in, In logic, induction is to reason to a conclusion about all members of a class on the basis of an examination of a few members of a class. Induction reasons from the particular to the general.
Reasoning from Sensory Observation
Sensory observation is the awareness of self and of the world through the basic senses of sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. Ancillary senses include a sense of time, weight, energy, pressure, motion, balance, direction, sexuality, feelings, emotions, pain, strength, weakness, solidity, lightness, darkness, color, fluidity, heat, cold, pitch, tonality, and vibration.
Reasoning from Enumeration
Enumerate mean (1) to count off or name one by one or (2) to determine a number from counting.
Analogical Reasoning
Analogy means (1) to find a correspondence of similarity between things that seem different or (2) an inference that if two things are alike in some respects, they will be alike in other respects.
Reasoning Patterns
Pattern is a design or form that is perceived. A pattern can involve shapes, images, ideas, words, signs, entities, sounds, or smells that suggest some recognizable configuration or rhythm.


Reasoning from and About Causes
Cause comes from the Latin causa, meaning reason or purpose. Cause means
that which produces an effect, or result, or a consequence; something that is responsible for an event; or a source of influence.
Reasoning with Hypotheses
Hypothesis comes from the Greek word hupothesis, meaning a supposition. A hypothesis is the name given to a trial idea, tentative explanation, or working assumption that can be to further inevestigation.
Reasoning Through Statistics and Probability
Statistics : The mathematics of the collection, organization, and interpretation of numerical data.
Probability : In statistics, the ratio of the number of actual occurrences of a specific event to the total number of possible occurrences

Chapter 11 : Reading, Understanding, and Creating Visual Aids

This Chapter will help reader when you can visualize what you have read, many student don’t recognize visual aids as important pieces of textbook information and skip over them because they have so much reading to do. But visual aids are a very important part of textbook reading. They are tools designed to help you learn and remember new concepts and key information.
Many students are visual learners, visual aids provide a quick, easily accessible format for information that shows you how ideas connect or relate to each other. Authors use visuals as learning aids, as a way to illustrate and explain their main idea. Visuals enhance and clarify the written text. It is important to know that each type of visual aid has a specific purpose as These different types of visual aids are: charts and tables, diagrams, illustrations, graphs - including, bar graphs, lines graphs, pie graphs, pictographs, photographs, time lines, outlines, mind maps, and free-form drawing.

CRCB : Chapter 8 : Textbook Methods of Organization

This chapter explains all the different organizational writing methods authors use in textbooks or even articles in the newspaper. These different organizational methods are listing, analytical, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition and example and sequence. In this chapter that each of these methods can normally be detected by which OWCs (Organizational Word Clues) are used. Although, reading something like a newspaper article may not include many of these. When an author has a limited amount of space to write in, they would rather save the room for the material, not OWCs.

TFY : Chapter 8 : Viewpoints : What's the Filter ?

This chapter speaks of different viewpoints and being aware of them. The majority of this chapter focuses on the different viewpoints in politics.
This skill allows us to communicate better with others and gain new insight and perspective. Viewpoints like assumptions, opinions, and evaluations can be created consciously or unconsciously. Our view points are shaped by a number of factors, education, culture, and emotions. In my country, politic is terrible. I'm very sick of it. It's forbiden to have viewpoint about dynasty. My country was a fake democracy.
I thinkthis chapter the importance of understanding my own viewpoint and well as others.

TFY : Chapter 9 : Argument : What's a Good Argument ?

This chapter is about how to recognize and question whether or not you are reading a good argument. In this chapter I learned some questions to ask myself when listening/ reading an argument. These questions help to analyze an argument and to determine if the argument is a “good” argument or not. The questions are:

1. What viewpoint is the source of this argument?
2. What is the issue of controversy?
3. Is it an argument or a report?
4. How is the argument structured in terms of reasons and conclusions?
5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this argument?

In answering these questions you should know if this argument includes bias and what the speaker’s motives, values and beliefs are. You should also know if this is an argument or report. In an argument, the speaker is trying to advocate for something, when in a report, it is just about giving the reader the information and letting them decide for themselves what they think. You also need to recognize if the speaker gives supporting reasons to their argument and a conclusion which clearly shows what the speaker is trying to prove. After analyzing all this, you should be able to accept, reject or suspend judgment of the argument trying to be made.

TYF : Chapter 1 : Observation

CRCB : Chapter 9 Using Preview, Study-Read, and Review (PSR) Strategies

This chapter guild technique for the reader how the PSR method works when applied to your readings. PSR are from Preview, Study-Read, and Review Strategies.
First step, Preview steps:
1. You skim your reading – Reading quickly, skipping details and focus on title of chapter, introduction, subhead and summary.
2. Develop some questions that you can ask yourself – Turn the headings or subheading into questions. This will make you more engaged in your reading. As you are reading you will be searching for the answers to your questions.
3. Predict content – Predict what you think a reading assignment will be about based on the information you have gathered and questions you have developed.

Second step, Study-Read steps:
1. Read and ask questions – Turn heading/subheading into question and look for the answers to those questions.
2. Make sure you understand what you’re reading – Read one part at a time and read either from heading to heading or for more challenging material from paragraph.
3. Monitor your reading - This means to see what things you don’t understand and what questions still remain unanswered.
4. Determine the main ideas– As you finish of each section of your reading, stop and determine what the main idea of part is.

Third step, Review steps:
1. Assess your understanding of what you read on entire reading assignment - You do this by summarizing what you read, Attach new information to old information and Comprehension check.
2. Clarify any confusing areas that you may still have. You do this by asking your teachers, other students and any other resources available to you.

Then you should be able to assess your understanding of what you just read. If there are any parts of the reading that are still unclear, you should have your questions answered. Maybe you will just need to re-read the part that is unclear to you. Or maybe you will need to ask your instructor or classmate for some help. It is very important to understand what you read though. Out of this chapter I learned some ways that can make me more engaged in my readings. I will try to ask myself some questions in my readings. Hopefully that will make me concentrate more on what I am reading. Sometimes I find it hard to stay focused on certain reading material. Maybe this will help.

Chapter 5 : CRCB : Main idea

Chapter 4 -- TYI -- Inferences

What follows ?




When a person infers, they are: imaging, guessing, predicting, and concluding. Inferences are often confused with facts. Inferences help fill in when facts are missing, or they can help make sense of facts already presented. Inferences should always be checked against the facts for accuracy and to make sure you are not inferring incorrectly. This chapter’s goal was to make us more conscious about our inferences. We should state the obvious as much as possible for this will help us in distinguishing facts from inferences.

Chapter 1 : Reading in College Summary

This chapter explains how to concentrate and be an active participant on what you are reading and different learning styles. Reading, as defined in the chapter is, an active process that depends on both the author’s ability to convey meaning using words and your ability to create meaning form them. To become a successful reader you must constantly connect what you already know about the information to the words the author has written. A reader’s ability to read college-level texts can be greatly enhanced if they learn, practice, and apply specific reading strategies. In order to become an active participant in what you are reading, a couple strategies learned in this chapter are: previewing reading assignments before actually reading them, ask questions about the chapter and try to answer them as you are reading, outlining the chapter, and mapping the chapter. One of the most important factors in reading is your concentration. Concentration is your ability to make your mind behave a certain way. There are some internal and/ or external distracters that can be concentration blockers. Internal distracters come within yourself, like being preoccupied with something else, being worried about your finances or having excitement of an upcoming event. External distracters come from the environment around you

Assignment #1 : Where do I stand ?

...... Critical Thinking .......

where do i stand ?

Many people have different definitions of what critical thinking is. which Critical thinking includes a complex combination of skills.

1. What do I stand for as foundation of CT ? (Feet)
· Understanding
We should be understand between idea person for make our standpoint.
· Identify
If we want to success goal effective. more thinking on something, focus on a main point.
· Problem Solving
We can use critical thinking for solve any problem accuracy.
· Judgement
The fact, we can judge someone or something on truthfulness base.
· Self – reflection
Before we will judge someone or something righteousness. we need to justify and reflect on our values and decisions. Critical thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation.
2. What upsets me about CT ? (Stomach)
· Argument
Sometimes we has disputed each other in work place, home or school. If we has argued on critical thinking. Maybe we found a new idea.
· Bias
Maybe it will be happen in work place, family or some group.
· Failed
Most people has goal, but they didn’t success in goal. It is make them feel failed in life.

· Problem
Every day , we face a problem, fight many thing in life. Any problem happen in every time but we should solve problem carefully.

3. What do I love about CT ? (Heart)
· Attitudes
Thinking clearly and systematically can improve the way we express our ideas.
· Knowledge
Leaning is never stop, more lean, more explore, at least you can find yourselves that you want. In learning how to analyse the logical structure of texts or explore
· Skills
Critical thinking improves comprehension ablilityes.
4. What do I feel about CT ? (Hand)
· Awareness
It should be aware when we will do something or contact someone in the future.
· Security
Critical thinking, makes more thinking, more security in home, work place or school.
5. What do I hear about CT ? (Ears)
· Beliefs
When we hear something or someone tell us. We should be more thinking what is right or wrong.
· Improved Planning
We heard situation by news or TV then can make to improve plan.
6. What do I see about CT ? (Eyes)
· Significant
Critical thinking makes consider any situation when we see that.
· Usefulness
We can use something carefully by we see.
7. What do I thing about CT ? (Brain)
· Purposes
If we do something, should be set up goal before we will go.
· Point of view
It makes more opinion in class or meeting. Maybe we have new idea on that.
· Infereces
Critical thinking will help us that conclude any issue carefully and accuracy.

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