Thinking Skills
This means to give a short, quick recap of the main facts. For example, recap a long passage in three quick sentences without adding your own opinion.
What is to summarize?
You do this when you state your thesis on a topic. For example, writing an introductory sentence stating that one passage is stronger than another due to its evidence.
What is a claim?
Writers do this when they let personal opinions or preferences get in the way of facts. For example, an author supports a new law simply because their friends do.
What is bias?
This is why a text was written. For example, deciding if a passage was written to persuade you to recycle, inform you about history, or entertain you with a story.
What is the author's purpose?
You do this when you use nearby words and sentences to figure out what an unknown term means. For example, reading around the word "frugal" to realize it means careful with money.
What is using context clues?
You do this when you read between the lines to figure out an unstated fact. For example, if a character is shivering, you figure out they are cold.
What is infer or make an inference?
You do this when you arrange the paragraphs and ideas in a text to create a logical flow. For example, choosing a chronological or cause-and-effect layout for an essay.
What is structure?
Writers do this when we make a sweeping claim about a massive group based on only a few small examples. For example, declaring that adults don't read after asking only a few people.
What is a generalization?
You do this when you identify the position of a narrator in a story. For example, recognizing whether a text is written in the first person ("I") or an objective third person.
What is identifying the point of view?
This when you pick words like however, therefore, or meanwhile to bridge your ideas. For example, using consequently to show that a town's rapid growth caused its traffic jams.
What is using a transition?
You do this when you explain the deeper meaning of something. For example, explaining what a poem means in your own words.
What is interpret?
You do this when you judge the value, credibility, or strength of an author's text. For example, deciding if an editorial relies on solid facts or just emotional bias.
What is evaluate?
Writers do this when we rely entirely on isolated personal stories instead of actual statistics to prove a point. For example, arguing a diet program is 100% safe because your cousin tried it and felt fine.
What is using anecdotal evidence?
You do this when you identify the writer's attitude toward their topic. For example, noticing that an author uses harsh words to show they are angry.
What is identifying tone?
You do this when you delete unnecessary, repetitive words to tighten your writing. For example, editing out a bulky phrase like "due to the fact that" and swapping it for the simple word "because."
What is eliminating redundancy?
You do this when you deconstruct a text to see how the pieces connect. For example, evaluating how the setting, conflict, and character choices work together to drive the main plot.
What is analyze?
You do this when you provide text evidence, statistics, or quotes to back up your point. For example, quoting a study on brain development to show why teens need more sleep.
What is to support?
Writers do this when we criticize another person instead of analyzing their argument. For example, calling someone "untrustworthy" rather than evaluating their evidence.
What is a personal or character attack?
You do this when you identify who a text is trying to reach. For example, realizing that an article packed with medical jargon is written for doctors rather than everyday people.
What is identifying the audience?
To fix choppy writing by connecting two separate thoughts into a single, smooth sentence. For example, using a comma and a conjunction to merge two short, repetitive sentences. (I ate lunch. I went home.)
What is sentence combining?
(I ate lunch, and I went home.)
You do this when you connect evidence to a claim. For example, explaining how rising temperatures and melting glaciers structurally prove an author's thesis on climate change.
What is reasoning?
You do this when you construct a formal essay that analyzes two opposing positions to defend a claim. For example, writing the GED Extended Response.
What is an academic argument?
You do this when determining whether an author's argument is logical and accurate. For example, verifying that a conclusion about a city budget perfectly matches the math provided in the chart.
What is checking validity?
Researching the background or history of a topic to better understand a passage. For example, struggling to understand a speech from 1943 and realizing you need more information about World War II.
What is analyzing context?
You do this when you make sure all items in a sentence or list follow the same grammatical format. For example, changing "I like fishing and to cook" into "I like fishing and cooking."
What is using parallel structure?