In many college classes, you will read a chapter or article, and then in class you will discuss it. To get you ready for this kind of discussion, it is a good idea to consider some critical questions as you read, such as the following. Note that not all questions will be necessary for a given reading assignment. 1. Succinctly describe the article’s topic, scope, purpose, and major points. 2. What is the article’s audience? In other words, for whom was it written? 3. Describe the article’s tone. Is it scholarly, humorous, satirical, sensational, dogmatic, serious, informational, critical, etc.? 4. Does the work remind you of something else that you have read, seen, or heard about? 5. What does the author assume? Why? Are the assumptions explicit? Would the paper’s argument and conclusion still be valid if an assumption turned out to be false? 6. Does the article point out nuances, uncertainties, or exceptions to the general message? 7. What does the author conclude? Why? 8. What does the author want the reader to understand or remember? 9. What seems to be the author’s ultimate goal, lesson, motivation, or inspiration behind the work? (e.g. correcting a common misconception) What does the author want to see happen? 10. Does the article spell out a problem in need of solution? If so, what is it? What does the author say that ordinary people should do about the problem? 11. Why does the author believe that the subject of the article or the individual points discussed are significant? In other words, why should we care? 12. Who benefits from the author’s information, conclusions, or recommendations? Is there a conflict of interest? 13. What do we know about the author’s background? 14. Does the author make a mistake, mislead the reader, omit anything important, or not consider an alternative interpretation? 15. If the article is about a two-sided issue, does it present both sides, or is it primarily one sided? If the article presents only one side, does the article present a balanced critique of it? What would alternative sources on this subject say? 16. How original is the article? Does it simply repeat or amplify what many others have said? Is the article meant to address a current issue or is it meant to be a classic, timeless article? 17. If the article presents an argument of the form “A implies B” or “A resulted in B”, consider this: Has A caused other things besides B? Similarly, could other things have contributed to creating B? 18. Some details: What evidence does the author provide? What individual points does the author make? How else does the author make the case, such as writing style? 19. From what you can tell, how did the author ascertain the facts presented in the article? Are the sources reputable? For example, how did the scientific community come to realize or accept the facts? Are the facts controversial or in dispute? 20. If the article makes a dubious claim, ask yourself "How does the author know that this is true?" or "What if that were not the case?" or "Is it relevant?" Also consider if this claim is central to the thesis of the article, or just a fact mentioned in passing. 21. Does the article rely on recently discovered information, or general information that has been known for a long time? How different would this article have sounded if it had been written years earlier? 22. Is the article written objectively? If there are value judgments (good, bad, success, failure) stated or implied in the article, are they incidental or central to the article? Is the author’s judgement warranted, or is it exaggerated? Why might the author might want to exaggerate? Could a reasonable reader take issue with something written in the article? 23. This may be unlikely, but – does the article sound pseudoscientific? In other words, be on the lookout for: claims that can’t be verified, claims that are trivial or that cannot be refuted, hostility to being critiqued. 24. Does the article accomplish what it set out to explain? Or does it still leave the reader hanging and left with unresolved questions? For example, be on the lookout for assertions that are not explained or justified, where you might ask yourself “Why?” 25. Is the article straightforward to understand and pleasant to read? What would have made the article more comprehensible or enjoyable to the reader? (Don’t just say you liked it or not.)