CRCB - Chapter 9

Summary

PSR stands for preview, study-read, review. In the preview stage it is helpful to question yourself before reading. Ask yourself what the author wants to convey. Skim through for headings and develop questions on who, what, where, why and how. Predict what context of the text will be based on. In the study-read stage, look for answers from the preview stage. Read one complete section at a time, and be sure to question the material as you go. Monitor your reading to be sure you understand the material and can still concentrate. Keep in mind the questions you still have. At the end of each section, determine the main idea. I the review stage summarize what you have read, what you already know and what you still don’t know. Clarify confusing facts and check your understanding.

Exercises

1. Match the vocabulary words in Column A to their definitions in Column B:

A	B
PSR	Preview, study-read, review method of reading
Summary	Restate the original meaning of someone else’s writing in fewer and different words
Paraphrase	Explain the meaning of someone else’s words, phrases, or sentences in your own words

2. The most important time to question yourself is right before you begin to read.

False

3. Study-reading means

Asking and answering the questions you developed in the preview stage as you read.

4. If you don’t understand what you have just read, you should

Record your questions in a journal

5. An example of active reading is

Creating questions so that you are reading on purpose

6. Explain why it is a good idea to make a journal entry when you find a reading assignment confusing.

You can where you confusion started and develop questions.

7. What are the benefits of summarizing a reading?

Capture the author’s meaning

Omit unnecessary details

Use your own words

8. List the three steps of the preview stage.

Skim

Develop questions

Predict content

TFY - Chapter 6

Summary

The word opinion has more than one meaning because there are different types of opinions. There are opinions that are judgments that state what is good or bad, what should be and what should not be. An example of a judgment is the opinion that America should leave Iraq. Advice is a type of opinion, such as telling a friend not to gamble with the rent money. Opinions can also be generalizations, such as pit bulls are dangerous. Personal preferences are opinions too and do not require any supporting facts. One may simply prefer blondes to brunettes without offering any justification. Not all opinions carry equal weight, depending on how well they are supported. To say that the United States military should pull out of Iraq requires a weighing of facts, such as the level of Iraqi forces, and opinions, such as what would the consequences be. Public opinion polls are used to determine public opinion, but can also be used to manipulate opinion. Questions may presuppose and assume certain opinions. An opinion may be a thesis for an argument, called a conclusion. Such an opinion must be supported by facts, reasoning, other claims, and evidence.

Exercises

1. Expert opinion calculates the risk involved in bridging the gap between the known and unknown for a given situation.

True

2. Giving advice is not a way of giving an opinion.

False

3. The results of public opinion polls are equivalent to votes in elections.

False

4. Opinions in the form of judgments state what is right and wrong, bad and good.

True

5. Some opinions are based on generalizations such as stereotypes, as in the statement “All Chinese look alike.”

True

6. Responsible opinions are based on careful examination of the evidence.

True

7. Opinions are the same as facts.

False

8. Gossip is opinion sharing without any requirement for substantiation.

False

9. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion because all opinions carry equal value.

False

10. Prevailing sentiment refers to popular opinion that changes with the times.

True

CRCB - Chapter 10

Summary

Textbook marking is the process of marking and labeling that aids in understanding text. The minimum items to be highlighted are the main idea, important details and new vocabulary. I personally like to highlight words that bring me to important points, such as when a term is first used. Topics brought up in lectures and lab classes should be noted in the textbook. Question marks may be used to mark what is unclear and page numbers may be used to refer to other parts of the text. I use a color code process to link multiple terms to their respective descriptions and illustrations. For example, I use one color to highlight an artery and its branches.

Exercises

1. What was the main purpose of the article?

The main purpose was to expose the practice of sex slavery in Afghanistan.

2. What does “lifting the veil” in the title mean to you?

“Lifting the veil” means showing the world what al-Qaeda and the Taliban are doing to degrade women.

3. Who is lifting the veil?

The author is lifting the veil.

4. The author said that Afghanistan made a mockery of the claim that the brutal restrictions placed on women were actually a way of revering and protecting them. What did the author mean in this statement?

The behavior of the Taliban was brutal and degrading, certainly inconsistent with any claim of protecting women.

TFY - Chapter 5

Summary

Assumptions are what take for granted. We make more assumptions than we are aware of. I personally often make assumptions about stranger’s characters based on their appearances and demeanors. I can see how this is a survival mechanism from my earlier life in a high-crime area. This of course can be unfair. Assumptions can be either conscious and warranted or unconscious and unwarranted. A conscious (working) assumption is a major reason why I am at this university. I assume that I will be employed as an ultrasound technologist when I graduate. Hidden assumptions are unconscious such as stereotypes that we have. When we allow unconscious assumptions to rule our thinking we are not in control, being open to manipulation and faulty conclusions. Hitler exploited unconscious assumptions and stereotypes for his own purposes. If the German people did not carry assumptions such as German superiority and Jewish treachery the history of the twentieth century would likely have been very different. Value assumptions are rarely questioned according to the book, but are well worth revisiting. I personally am more attached to other people than material goods, a value I adopted over time. This insulated me from despair when my IT job was outsourced to India. By not attaching my entire worth as a person to my job and status I was able to continue with my life in a positive way. We become uncomfortable when our assumptions come into question (incongruity and disequilibrium). A good example was America was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Few people believed it could happen here.

Exercises

1. When we articulate hidden assumptions, we simply read what we find in print before us.

False

2. A good argument invariably contains a few hidden assumptions.

False

3. A value assumption is a belief assumed to be true and shared by everyone.

False

4. “Can you believe it? She is twenty-three years old and not even thinking about getting married.” This statement, made by a Puerto Rican mother contains no value assumption.

False

5. Assumptions are often recognized only in retrospect because of the problems they cause.

True

6. In mathematics, conscious assumptions are called axioms.

True

7. A conscious assumption can be used as a strategy to lead us to new information. If a child does not come from school at the usual time, we might decide to call the homes of the child’s friends; if that turns up no information, we might call the police.

True

8. Stereotypes contain no assumptions.

False

9. To be uncomfortable is to be in disequilibrium. Thinking through a problem restores our comfort.

True

10. Incongruities can provoke us into thinking in order to resolve their conflict with assumptions and expectations.

True

CRCB - Chapter 7

Summary

This chapter shows how inferences differ from facts. While facts are things that are known and verifiable, inferences go beyond facts by making conclusions from ideas and opinions that are not directly stated. We use inferences to understand the author’s reasons for writing, find similarities or differences in comparisons and understand the tone of a writing. Sometimes inferences are used to detect a writer’s biases by noticing emotive language that is not fact-based. Inferences are also used to fill in information gaps when the author assumes you understand motives and reasons. Implied main points require that the reader make inferences by identifying the topic asking what is the main point and combining the topic with the new information.

Exercises

1. Darden explains that when someone tells you your race, you never forget. What is he implying?

America should be colorblind.

2. What does Darden mean he says his grandfather receiving his calling from God?

The grandfather felt compelled to preach His Word more than work on the farm.

3. What effect on the family does Darden imply occurred when his grandfather became a preacher?

The family struggled financially and emotionally.

4. What does Darden imply when he says “which gives you an idea of the lack of shame with which my father will stretch a good story”?

His father was not embarrassed to embellish stories.

5. What does Darden imply when he says “He (his father) was nobody’s boy excerpt hers”?

His father always listened to Big Mama.

6. What does Darden imply when he says “It is important that we change from ‘Negroes’ to ‘blacks’ because of the deep need to find one’s self”?

Darden implies that if blacks do not define themselves, they will be defined by whites, and therefore, as slaves.

7. There is an information gap in the story about the author’s father earning his first nickel. What did the author mean when he said “When the time came”?

It was time for a bowel movement.

8. What does the author mean when says his father “can still pinch a nickel”?

Darden meant that his father is thrifty.

9. What are the author’s tone and purpose of this excerpt? Explain your answer.

Darden was explaining that people may need to look down on others in order to validate themselves, but that is not what you are.

10. Do you think that Darden’s father ever got out of poverty he associated with the South?

Regardless of how much he had, I believe he escaped poverty by moving on and attaining self-sufficiency.

11. What point is Darden making by telling you about his father’s life? What do you think he learned from his father’s experiences?

Darden wanted to show that one must control one’s own destiny regardless of circumstances. Darden learned that he must be defined on his own terms.

TFY - Chapter 4

Summary

This chapter shows how inferences differ from facts. While facts are things that are known and verifiable, inferences go beyond facts by making guesses and conclusions from facts. Inferences must be distinguished from facts through the understanding that an inference is an interpretation of facts. We use inferences to fill in for missing facts, but faulty inferences can be harmful to our reasoning. The excerpt on Sherlock Holmes uses several inferences to describe his client’s trip to see him. When done well, inferences can build upon each other and tie facts together in a chain of reasoning; when faulty inferences are used the chain of reasoning is broken. The inference of the boy who home during school hours is a case in point. The correct conclusion (ask him what is up) was based as much on what was not known as on what was known. Facts and inferences can be used in order to make generalizations, but hasty generalizations are hazardous. A topic sentence is a type of generalization that summarizes the main idea of its paragraph.

Exercises

1. What was the professor trying to teach his students?

The teacher was trying to teach his students independent thinking.

2. What inferences does he expect them to make?

He expected them to give their own views on the Bill of Rights and defend the Constitution of the United States against his extreme views.

3. What inferences do they make?

They make no inferences. They are too busy writing.

4. What clues led you to your own conclusions about this cartoon?

The students would only write his views, and at the end would not question a single word.

5. How would describe the teacher’s teaching style?

The teacher’s style was challenging, however the students followed like a herd of sheep.

CRCB - Chapter 6

Summary

Details are used to support ideas and arguments. Major details support the main idea and minor details support the main details. Details are usually presented as who, what, where why and how. Details can be facts, opinions, illustrations and explanations. Distinguishing between major and minor details is necessary to understand the author’s viewpoint. In testing this an important factor. Remembering every single detail is unimportant, but identifying the main idea and details is.

Exercises

1. The author describes the United States as what?

A carnival

2. Why does Phil Donahue offer no apology about airing his show on children with progeria?

He says he shows these disfigured children in order to humanize people who have suffered.

3. What does Sally Jesse Raphael say about her show?

It demonstrates man’s triumph over adversity.

4. What, according to the author, is contributing to out cultural demise?

Diminished interest in serious news

5. What is the overall main idea of this essay?

This essay’s main idea is that talk shows are central to America’s cultural demise.

6. What, according to the author, made sideshows more acceptable than talk shows?

Sideshows at least made no pretense about the voyeurism.

7. According to the author, whose fault is it that talk shows provide shockingly titillating stories?

The public, for watching them

8. What does the author consider “real entertainment”?

The author believes that talk shows can be substantive and interesting. That would be “real entertainment.”

9. According to the author, why do we watch talk shows?

We watch in order to be titillated, looking for a high.

CRCB - Chapter 5

Summary

Finding the main idea is important to understanding an author’s writing. This is different from the topic, but the two are closely related. For example Barak Obama may be a topic but his positions may be the main idea. There are supporting details, such as his voting record and quotes. It is the job of the reader to put together these details to form an impression. Look for word clues that support, contrast and emphasize. Main ideas can be explicit or implied.

Exercises

1. The wasp has to provide her egg with

A live tarantula.

2. Which of the following statements is true?

Each species of pepsis require a certain species of tarantula, and the wasp will not attack the wrong species.

3. What happen after the wasp digs a grave?

The wasp feels the tarantula once more with her antennae.

4. What happen after a wasp drops a spider into the grave?

She stays by the grave.

5. How does the tarantula species survive?

The tarantulas have more babies than the wasps.

6. What is the main idea from the excerpt?

The wasp attacks and paralyses the tarantula in order to reproduce.

7. What does the tarantula do when the wasp explores it?

The tarantula is tolerant.

8. How does the wasp attack the tarantula?

The wasp forces the tarantula into a corner, grabs a leg with her jaws and thrusts the sting into a soft spot, injecting poison.

9. Why doesn’t the wasp kill the tarantula completely?

The wasp needs the tarantula to survive to provide food for her offspring when it hatches.

10. What answer does the author give for the tarantula’s unusually compliant behavior?

No clear answer is available, but it may be that a tarantula is not inclined to attack unless cornered.

TFY - Chapter 3

Summary

This chapter impressed upon me that facts are not absolute, but reality as perceived by an individual. What is considered true is subject to change as more is known or belief systems change. There is a need to verify and demonstrate facts in order to give them credibility. Facts represent objective reality, and not opinions or assumptions. We cannot let our feelings and beliefs taint our understanding of facts, however feelings may cause us to look deeper into a matter. To get at the truth we must rely on our own judgment and not let peer pressure interfere. This seems to happen a lot in universities where “political correctness” often overrides debate. While relying on our own judgment, we must still allow for our own limitations and be prepared to change our minds if reality dictates. It can be painful sometimes to admit that you were wrong

Exercises

1. Why do you think that U.S. credit card debt has increased 6,000 percent since 1968?

Credit card use has increased for emergencies such as unemployment, medical problems and family breakups.

2. In this excerpt the authors represent some facts about the reasons families go into credit card debt counter to what is commonly believed. Which of these facts surprised you?

I was surprised at the low amount of impulse-shopping related to credit-card debt.

3. The title of this book is The Two-Income Trap. In this excerpt, the authors do not fully explain why they consider two incomes to be a trap. However, what entrapment aspects are discussed here?

The authors claim that a bidding war has inflated middle-class life. Perhaps they mean that two incomes mean higher mortgages. Otherwise they are ambiguous on this point.

4. According to these two authors, how have credit cards come to serve as “safety nets” for American families?

Credit cards are used for medical emergencies, unemployment and family breakups.

5. According to these authors what facts point to the major causes of debt in middle-class America?

Financial difficulties from emergencies lead to higher credit card use, which can spiral out of control, forcing families to take out second mortgages.

CRCB - Chapter 2

Summary

There are several types of contextual clues for understanding new words in conversation or reading, definition, example, punctuation and personal experience. I have always used contextual clues in understanding new words, but this can be a tricky business. I go to the dictionary whenever possible. The root of a word is the main part. Words can have prefixes and suffixes. Knowing how to combine the three helps build one’s vocabulary, in my case medical terminology. Word maps are helpful in understanding new words, using a definition, prediction, part of speech, and usage in sentences. Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word, and connotation adds to that definition with its own implied meanings. When I read I keep an online dictionary handy.

Exercises

1. a. sub-Saharan – South of Saharan Desert in Africa

b. nomadic – migratory

2. Tuareg is unacceptable because it denotes a nomadic tribe that has a connotation of slave-trading.

TFY - Chapter 2

Summary

This chapter shows how inferences differ from facts. While facts are things that are known and verifiable, inferences go beyond facts by making guesses and conclusions from facts. Inferences must be distinguished from facts through the understanding that an inference is an interpretation of facts. We use inferences to fill in for missing facts, but faulty inferences can be harmful to our reasoning. The excerpt on Sherlock Holmes uses several inferences to describe his client’s trip to see him. When done well, inferences can build upon each other and tie facts together in a chain of reasoning; when faulty inferences are used the chain of reasoning is broken. The inference of the boy who home during school hours is a case in point. The correct conclusion (ask him what is up) was based as much on what was not known as on what was known. Facts and inferences can be used in order to make generalizations, but hasty generalizations are hazardous. A topic sentence is a type of generalization that summarizes the main idea of its paragraph.

Exercises

1. What was the professor trying to teach his students?

The teacher was trying to teach his students independent thinking.

2. What inferences does he expect them to make?

He expected them to give their own views on the Bill of Rights and defend the Constitution of the United States against his extreme views.

3. What inferences do they make?

They make no inferences. They are too busy writing.

4. What clues led you to your own conclusions about this cartoon?

The students would only write his views, and at the end would not question a single word.

5. How would describe the teacher’s teaching style?

The teacher’s style was challenging, however the students followed like a herd of sheep.

CRCB Chapter 13

Summary

This chapter explains Bloom’s Taxonomy of Knowledge and the levels of thinking. The first level is knowledge, which is the most literate level. Knowledge involves the intake of facts. Second is the comprehension level, which is the understanding of the facts and the ability to make conclusions and predictions. Third is application which requires that the student solve problems by selecting and using concepts, principles and theories. Fourth is analysis which involves breaking down a subject and examining its components in order to simplify understanding. The fifth level is synthesis, which involves putting together ideas and coming to a larger conclusion. The sixth and highest level is evaluation which involves making value judgments based on specific criteria rather than one own opinions.

Exercises

1. Explain why, according to Nietzsche, Christianity and science are foes.

According to Nietzsche, everything that makes for the preservation of the human race is diametrically opposed to Christianity.

2. How does the author distinguish between the sources of power of science and Christianity?

In Christianity, God is determiner of our fate. In science, man determines his own fate by using knowledge and actions to overcome adversity.

3. Rewrite the following sentence in you own words: “Since the beginning of the Christian era the church has been the bitter and tireless enemy of all science, and this enmity has been due to the fact that every member of the priest class has realized that the more a man learned the more he came to depend upon his own efforts, and the less he was given to asking for help from above.”

The priests have always seen science as a threat to faith, since one will stray from the teachings of
teachings of the church.