Critical Thinking and Reading at it's Best : Part II

When reading articles or any kind of writings, perhaps you wonder what's the writer want to tell us about, and some of us probably misunderstand even do not understand what are they trying to say in their writings.

To understand the meaning of the writer, first you have to understand how to think and read critically. You have to understand the basics and the 3-steps we have discussed in the last blog about "Critical Thinking and Reading at it's Best". Now, have you read it? No? Then I'll wait for you.

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Done? Good. Now you understand the basics. It would help you to better understand These three things that you need to recognize in a writing : Stance, Tone, and Bias.

Recognizing Stance

To understand the writer's stance is to understand his point of view, either opposing or supporting. You can see how the writer judge a problem in his writings. Whether they use judging and opposing stance such as, "Slavery is not relevant, because....", or they use more perceiving and supporting stance, like "Slavery brought us many benefits, such as....". You can see the writer perspective from their stance.

Recognizing Tone

Even though you can't hear the writer's sound from the article you read, you can still receive their tone. You see, whenever the writer use an expressive vocabularies, you can recognize their tone and emotion. For example, if the writer's tone is joyful, then he would create a mood that also, maybe, make you feel joyful too. But if the writer's tone is serious, then perhaps you will be bored, unless you're passionate about the topic.

Recognizing Bias

Human is not far from opinion, and some opinion is not far from biases. Biases are very common in online articles, and some of them are super subjective. You must be careful toward biases, because it could change your point of view towards and information. You could recognize bias through asking yourself with some questions like : "Does the writer use facts?", "Is some words not necessary?", "Is there a logical common sense in this article?" and so on. You could distinguish between facts and opinions, and also the flaw of a writing.

In conclusion, as a shrewd reader, you must always recognize these three factors in a writing. Stances, biases and tones are really important to be noticed. These will make you to be a reader with good judgement and also understanding the mind of the writer completely.

Author : Jason. A. Herwindra

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Further Readings:

Business Communication 1. (2017). Tangerang: Prasetiya Mulya University. https://www.americanrecruiters.com/2016/08/16/9-types-tone-writing/ https://researchguides.njit.edu/evaluate/bias