Reading Critically

Purpose & Tone

I am a lawyer. I have practiced law for more than thirty years. I think
it is an honourable profession. And yet lawyers are the target of the
most demeaning (and immensely popular) jokes in our society. At a
time when ethnic, gender and racial jokes are considered politically
incorrect, lawyer bashing has become the great American pastime.

As a lawyer myself, I would like to say just how annoyed and

insulted i am by the current popularity of lawyer jokes. I think I do a
good job for my clients and that I am appropriately paid for the long
hours I put in service to their interests. But somehow being well
paid for work well done is considered bad form, and I and other
members of my profession would apparently be better liked if we
were willing to work for nothing. Fortunately, all those lawyer
bashers out there (who can’t resist a cheap shot) have not made
me hate myself or my profession. (pg 50 task 2)
Audience: To Whom are you Writing?
• Many of the same factors
which affect the writer also
affect the audience

– Age
– Social class
– Education
– Past experience
– Culture/subculture
– Expectations
Critical reading thus relies on an examination of
those choices that an author must make when
framing a presentation:

choices of content dependant on the

choices of language Rhetorical Situation
choices of structure

& then considering their effect on the meaning.

 As you read “On Teenagers & Tattoos” by Andres Martin write
gist statements in the margins for each paragraph.

A gist statement is a brief indication of the paragraph’s function

or purpose in the text or a brief summary of the paragraph’s
content. It is best to make 2 types of paragraph gist statements:

• “what it does” - specifies a paragraph’s function e.g.

“introduces another reason”, “gives the opposing view”,
provides statistical data for...” etc.

• “what it says” - captures the main idea of a paragraph by

summarizing the paragraph’s content.

For Martin’s essay please write “what is does” and “what it

says” gist statements for each paragraph.... Bring it with you to
the next class
 15 minute TASK
Write one paragraph where share your reaction to On Teenagers & Tattoos” –
if you have problems coming up with ideas – refer to the questions
below…. (if I can’t understand what you write I can’t grade it)

• Where do I agree with the author?

• What new insights has this text given me?
• Where do I disagree with the author?
• What points has the author over-looked or omitted?
• What new questions or problems has the text raised?
• What personal memories or experiences does this text trigger?
• What personal values or beliefs does this text reinforce or challenge?
• What questions, dilemmas, or problems does this text raise for me?
• What new insights, ideas or thoughts of my own have been stimulated by
this text?
Answer Key: Of Teenagers & Tattoos Pg 30-33
TASK 1

• Paragraph 1

Does: Introduces the subject & sets up the argument

Says: The current popularity of piercing and tattoos is partly explained as an aid toward
finding an identity, but the core or their appeal is their irreversible permanence.

• Paragraph 2

Does: Narrows the focus and presents the thesis

Says: to counsel families in disagreement over tattoos, psychiatrists should exhibit a non-
judgemental appreciation of teen tattoos & use them to understand teenagers.

• Paragraph 3 Not required

• Paragraph 4

Does: Discuses the first complex motivation behind youth tattooing.

Says: teens use tattoos to handle identity crises & to establish their uniqueness from others.
• Paragraph 5

Does: Elaborates on the first motivation, the identity issue.

Says: Tattoos provide tees with a sense of control over their changing bodies and over an
environment perceived as adverse and domineering.

• Paragraph 6

Does: Discusses the second motivation behind youth tattooing

Says: Tattoos help teens incorporate onto their bodies a symbolic ownership of something
important to them, specifically relationships thereby making the relationship more
substantial.

• Paragraph 7 Not required – it supports the point in paragraph 6 with an example of a

boy & his relationship with his father.

• Paragraph 8

Does: Presents another conclusion/point that the case vignette illustrates.

Says: Tattoos may be the result of imaginative planning that has taken place in childhood
• Paragraph 9

Does: Presents another motivation for tattooing – need for permanence.

Says: Tattoos represent and satisfy teen’s search for permanence and provide a way to cope
with an ever-changing society with transient relationships by grounding the teen with
unchanging marks that remain with him/her forever.

• Paragraph 10 Provides an example (case vignette)for the point stated in paragraph 9

• Paragraph 11

Does: Complicates the view of teens’ use of tattoos to find permanence and belonging.
Says: Although tattoos may unrealistically promise the resolution to larger conflicts, they
may at least record the triumphs and miseries of adolescent turbulence, including
gang and prison experience.

• Paragraph 12

Does: Sums up the perspective and advice of the article.

Says: Psychiatrists should regard adolescent tattoos positively as adornment and self-
expression and employ tattoos to help understand teens’ identities & sense of
reality.
 Modes of Exposition
A rhetorical mode is a strategy--a way or method of presenting a subject—
through writing or speech.

• Definition
• Causal Analysis
• Process Analysis Your PURPOSE will determine
• Effects how you will develop your
• Comparison & Contrast writing….. which
• Division & Classification pattern/mode of exposition
• Illustration you will use to talk about
• Problem-Solution your subject
• Narration
• Description
• Argumentation

In most writing, these modes are mixed in natural combinations.....

 TASKS

a) 56 – 57
b) 44 – 47
 Before the Next Session
Reading:
Rhetorical Modes of Exposition (37-43)
Reading Rhetorically for Purpose & Tone (48-55)

MANDATORY Self-Study:
• The Process of Academic Writing (65-78)