Critical Thinking practice with any text

with any text Critical Thinking practice

By Will Rixon from Cambridge University Press

You may well have some techniques that work with multiple texts already, but here are some ways of expanding on various texts, depending on its type, in a nice, neat little cheat sheet:

Pre-Reading

Post-Reading

SUBJECTIVE/OPINION

What’s the writer’s opinion, based on the title alone/ at a glance? What is your evidence for that?

What is your opinion on the subject?

OBJECTIVE/FACTUAL

What do you know about the topic already?

Research the topic online in advance (for homework).

Write an opposing/ supporting response to the article.

Identify X number of arguments and their examples. Check the facts online.

Design your own quiz based on the information in the text.

Expand on the text with more information.

FICTIONAL

Using the title, share ideas about what the story might be about.

Write a story of your own based on the final paragraph/title/middle paragraph.

PERSONAL

What type of communication is it? How do you know?

What might it be about, only looking at the punctuation? Layout? Sender/receiver’s name?

Add another chapter to the beginning, middle or end of the story.

Write an alternative ending.

Write a review. Respond as if the writer is your mother/teacher/best friend.

Analyse the structure of the letter/email/ message and discuss why they used that structure, or how it might be improved.