Text only Version of the Online Writing Lab
St. Louis Community College - Meramec
THINK
Critical thinking requires you to practice using these skills:
1. Understand the words of the text; know the literal, obvious, and factual meanings of the words.
2. Connect the words into ideas.
3. Connect one idea of the text to other ideas and discover why the connections are important.
4. Relate meaning of the text to your own existing knowledge of the topic to add depth to your reading experience.
5. Interpret new meaning from the text to construct an idea over and above the literal meaning of the text. Find out the significance of the text. Read between the lines. Discover what the text implies.
For example, read this sentence to discover its literal meaning and its interpretive meaning.
"She sings at the top of her lungs."
On a literal level this means... (click your answer)
On an interpretive level this means... (click your answer)