Reading Critically Summary

"Reading Critically" attempts to provide several strategies (and one example) of how to best approach literary analysis or critical reading. The article recommends the use of contextual information, such as the title of a work, the author's personal history, and the place and time in which the work was written. To further one's understanding and focus, the author suggests the use of note-taking strategies. Ultimately, critical reading should result in the following processes: summary, a shortened description of the material; analysis, examining individual components of a work and their relations; inference, drawing conclusions; and meaning, the main purpose of a piece. Additionally, "Reading Critically" promotes the examination of word choice and writing structure as a means of furthering literary analysis. To illustrate this process, "Reading Critically" performs the process on Mary Fisher's "The Broken Chain," a story about the distinction between impulsive and restrained physical force (in other words, corporal punishment as opposed to violence).