Tips for Critical Reading (Part 1)

by McKenzie Brummond

1. Scan the source. Before you begin reading a source, scan headings and keywords to ensure that it is relevant to your research. Make sure the source addresses your guiding questions. Your time is valuable! Make sure you invest it in relevant material. 

2. Before you read the text, read the author. This is a step I often take before adding a resource to the website. If you are unfamiliar with the author of a source, it would behoove you to find a bio of the author online. This step can reveal the author’s credibility and biases, as biographical information often includes the author’s educational background, qualifications, and religious, denominational, and/or political affiliations.

3. Take stock of biases. These include the biases of the author(s) as well as your own biases. For instance, if you are a mainline Protestant reading work by a Catholic writer, it is worth noting that you and the author are operating within different theological frameworks.

4. Pay attention to the reviews. Is the source peer reviewed? Is it reviewed or evaluated in other sources? If so, reading these reviews gives insight into the content and arguments presented in the source and may do a lot of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to critical reading.  

5. Have a conversation with the text. Normal people might just call this step “active reading,” but I like to think of it like having a conversation with the text. I ask the text questions, offer rebuttals, and clarify concepts that might be confusing at first glance.

McKenzie Brummond earned her Master of Religion degree from Yale University and holds a Bachelor degree of Liberal Arts from Notre Dame. Interested in music and theological principles, McKenzie spends her time contemplating the intersection of musical worship and theological study.