The Bedford Researcher -- Chapter 4 Summary

Chapter 4 of The Bedford Researcher, titled Reading Critically (RC), gives the reader a better understanding of developing a thesis statement. RC instructs the reader to take a look at their sources and ask a research question about what they're reading. RC calls this "critical reading," rather than evaluation, because evaluation uses a different process that doesn't help as well as reading critically. Reading critically, however, will allow the reader to focus their topic and, as a result, have a much easier time getting their point across to the audience. Chapter 4 informs the reader that when he/she will be reviewing sources, they "should always adopt a critical attitude. Accept nothing at face value..." RC goes on, telling the reader to seek answers to their questions, examine the source and its relation to the topic, note relevant information, and be on the alert for unusual information. RC informs the reader of what strategies should be used to read actively. Such strategies include identifying key information, ideas, and arguments, writing questions in the margins, noting reactions to the content, recording quotations, paraphrases, and summaries, taking notes about the sources' content and how it relates, and identifying important passages for later rereading. Chapter 4 asks the reader to identify main points, identify the support for these main points, consider the use of evidence, identify interpretive frameworks, identify new information, identify hard-to-understand information, and identify similarities and differences.