UNIT 1

WHAT IS CRITICAL READING?

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Critical reading is an analytic activity. The reader rereads a text to
identify patterns of elements -- information, values, assumptions, and
language usage-- throughout the discussion. These elements are tied
together in an interpretation, an assertion of an underlying meaning of
the text as a whole.
Critical reading as a goal includes the ability to evaluate ideas
socially or politically. Critical reading skills are the ability to analyze,
evaluate, and synthesize what one reads. They are the ability to see
relationships of ideas and use them as an aid in reading.

B. Goals of Critical Reading

Textbooks on critical reading commonly ask students to
accomplish certain goals: (1) to recognize an author’s purpose, (2) to
understand tone and persuasive elements, and (3) to recognize bias.
Each requires inferences from evidence within the text:
 recognizing purpose involves inferring a basis for choices of content
and language
 recognizing tone and persuasive elements involves classifying the
nature of language choices
 recognizing bias involves classifying the nature of patterns of choice
of content and language
Critical reading is not simply close and careful reading. To read
critically, one must actively recognize and analyze evidence upon the
page.
Non-critical reading is satisfied with recognizing what a text says
and restating the key remarks. Critical reading goes two steps further.
Having recognized what a text says, it reflects on what the text
does by making such remarks. Is it offering examples? Arguing?
Appealing for sympathy? Making a contrast to clarify a point? Finally,
critical readers then infer what the text, as a whole, means, based on
the earlier analysis. These three steps or modes of analysis are
reflected in three types of reading and discussion:
 What a text says – restatement
 What a text does – description
 What a text means – interpretation

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 You can distinguish each mode of analysis by the subject matter
of the discussion:
 What a text says – restatement – talks about the same topic as the
original text
 What a text does – description – discusses aspects of the discussion
itself
 What a text means – interpretation — analyzes the text and asserts a
meaning for the text as a whole.

C. Restatement: Reading What a Text Says

Reading what a text says is concerned with basic
comprehension, with simply following the thought of a discussion. We
focus on understanding each sentence, sentence by sentence, and on
following the thought from sentence to sentence and paragraph to
paragraph. There is no attempt to assess the nature of the discussion
and no concern for an overall motive or intent. Reading what a text
says is involved with rote learning.
Restatement generally takes the form of a summary,
paraphrase, or précis. Restatements should avoid the same language
as much as possible to avoid plagiarism and to show understanding.
Reading what a text says is common under a variety of circumstances:
 when learning the definitions and concepts of a new discipline,
 when there is agreement on the facts of a situation and their
interpretation,
 when a text is taken to offer a complete and objective presentation,
or
 when the word of a specific author or source is accepted as
authoritative.
Readers simply accept what a text states.
When first studying any acadEmyc topic, your initial goal will be
to understand what others have discovered before you. Introductory
courses ask students to learn terms, concepts, and data of the
particular area of study. You are expected to use your imagination and
your critical faculties to understand the concepts; you are not expected
to question the assertions. The goal is to learn the commonly accepted
paradigm for discussing topics in that field of study.
Finally, remember that repeating the assertions of a text need
not suggest a denial of critical thinking, merely a postponing of, or
preparation for, critical thinking.

D. Description: Describing What a Text Does

This second level of reading is concerned not only with
understanding individual remarks, but also with recognizing the
structure of a discussion. We examine what a text does to convey
ideas. We might read this way to understand how an editorial justifies
a particular conclusion, or how a history text supports a particular
interpretation of events.
At the previous level of reading, restatement, we demonstrated
comprehension by repeating the thought of the text. Here we are
concerned with describing the discussion:

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 what topics are discussed?
 what examples and evidence are used?
 what conclusions are reached?
We want to recognize and describe how evidence is marshaled
to reach a final position, rather than simply follow remarks from
sentence to sentence.
This level of reading looks at broad portions of the text to
identify the structure of the discussion as a whole. On completion, we
cannot only repeat what the text says, but can also describe what the
text does. We can identify how evidence is used and how the final
points are reached.

E. Facts v. Interpretation
To non -critical readers, texts provide facts. Readers gain
knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text.
To the critical reader, any single text provides but one
portrayal of the facts, one individual’s “take” on the subject matter.
Critical readers thus recognize not only what a text says, but also
how that text portrays the subject matter. They recognize the various
ways in which each and every text is the unique creation of a unique
author.
A non-critical reader might read a history book to learn the facts
of the situation or to discover an accepted interpretation of those
events. A critical reader might read the same work to appreciate how a
particular perspective on the events and a particular selection of facts
can lead to particular understanding.

Activity 1
Answer the following questions based on information above.
1. What is the difference between critical reading and non-critical
reading?
2. What are critical reading skills?
3. Which of the three modes of analysis is the most challenging
activity for you?

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 UNIT 2
FACTS VS OPINIONS

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Read the list of ten statements below, and place an O next to the
ones that you think are opinions, an F next to those that you think are
facts.
1. Washington, D.C., which is the capital of the United States, is a
beautiful city _________
2. World War II was the last major war to be fought in the twentieth
century. _________
3. The winters in Canada are really horrible because they are usually
very cold. _________
4. Ronald Reagan, who was the fortieth presient of the United States,
was a wonderful leader. _________
5. The Berlin wall, which separates East from West Berlin, has been
taken down. _________
6. There are 50 states in the United Sttes, and it is widely accepted
fact that Puerto Rico will become the fifty-first. _________

Now let’s examine the response.

Statement 1 combines both fact and opinion because
Washington is the capital of the United States, but whether or not it is
a beuatiful city is a matter of opinion. Certainly some people would
agree that it is beautiful while others may not. It could depend on both
the definition of the word beautiful and the other cities to which
Washington is being compared.
Statement 2 is an opinion because it could be argued
convincingly that there have been other major wars fought since World
War II, including the one in Vietnam which caused the loss of many
American and Vietnamese lives. Furthermore, it really depends on
one’s definition of the word major. For example, does it mean many
casualities, number of countries involved, or something else.
Statement 3 is a combination of fact and opinion because
although it is true that the winters in Canada are usually very cold,
some people would argue that cold does not necessarily make them
horrible. For instance, many Canadians like cold wheather because it

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enables them to earn a living or do things that they enjoy doing, such
as skiing, skating, and playing hockey.
It is a fact that Ronald Reagan was the fortieth president of the
United States, but not everyone is of the opinion that was a wonderful
leader. Thus statement 4 is also a combination of fact and opinion.
Statement 5 is fact that can be supported by checking various
sources. They can be proved and are generally accepted by everyone.
Statement 6 is a combination of fact and opinion. Whereas the
first part of the statement is obviously a fact, the second part is an
opinion because it is a prediction and a matter of conjecture that
Puerto Rico will become the fifty-first state. Also, the use of the word
fact in the sentence does not necessarily prove that the information is
indeed factual.

B. What is A Fact?
A fact is something that can be or has been proved, verified, or
confirmed in unbiased manner. As you know, unbiased means
“evenhanded”,” “objective”, “impartial”, or “ without prejudice”. You
can prove, verify or confirm a fact by personal observation, by using
the observations of others, or by checking with reliable sources, such
as studies that have been conducted, reputable books that have been
written, or noted experts in a given field.
Personal observation simply involves checking something for
ourselves, such as going to a person's home to verify that the person
lives there. However, for practical reasons, we sometimes have to rely
on the observations of others who serve as witnesses when we are
unable to be present ourselves. For information about an event that
occurred in the past or one that is happening in a far-off place that we
cannot get to-such as the taking down of the Berlin Wall in Germany-
we must rely on the eyewitness accounts of others. Finally, sometimes
we must rely on written materials or other people who have more
expertise than we do in a particular subject to determine if something
is indeed factual. For instance, most people would rely on what they
have read in the medical literature, including the results of studies
conducted by prominent physicians, to conclude that statement 10,
dealing with heart disease, is factually accurate.
One of the keys to uncovering facts, then, is our determination
that they have been or can be proved in an unbiased way. In other
words, we have to be reasonably certain that the observations,
experts, and any additional sources that we use or that are presented
to us by others are as evenhanded as possible and not clouded by
personal opinion.
Also, keep in mind that facts can change over time as conditions
change, resulting in the elimination of some facts and the addition of
others. For example, it was once a fact that there were 48 states in the
United States, but that was no longer a fact after the addition of the
states of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959, thereby bringing the total to 50.
Thus one fact was replaced by another. In short, determining whether
or not something is a fact is an ongoing process that involves careful

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evaluation and continuous reevaluation, both of which are important
characteristics of critical thinking.

Activity 1
Direction: In your notebook, list ten facts, and be prepared to discuss
them in class.

C. What is An Opinion?
An opinion is someone's personal judgment about something
that has not been proved, verified, or confirmed in an unbiased
manner. In the more obvious cases, words like good, bad, right, or
wrong are often used with opinions. However, sometimes people are
more subtle when offering their opinions, which make them more
difficult to recognize. For example, the statements "Bill Clinton was a
bad president" and "Bill Clinton, as president, left something to be
desired" both express negative opinions, but the first is stronger and
more obvious than the second. Also, be on the lookout for opinions
that are couched in factual terms, such as:

"The fact of the matter is that abortion is wrong!" Just because

the word fact is used does not make the statement a fact. You saw
another example of an opinion couched in factual terms in statement
6, which asserted that "it is a widely accepted fact that Puerto Rico will
become the fifty-first [state]."

Finally, opinions can sometimes turn into facts after they have
been proved, verified, or confirmed in an unbiased manner. For
instance, a week before your birthday, you can claim that it is going to
rain on that day, which is your opinion. However, if it does rain on that
day, your original claim has become a fact, which can now be proved.
Thus opinions, like facts, can change over time and should therefore
be reevaluated.
When dealing with opinions in general, you should not
automatically disregard them. First of all, you need to take into
consideration who is offering a given opinion. An expert or some other
person who has extensive education, training, or experience in a given
area is in a strong position to offer an opinion in that area. That kind of
opinion, sometimes called an informed opinion, should be taken
seriously. For example, the foreign policy views of the chair of the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee are worth careful consideration,
as are those of a cancer researcher if the subject involves the causes
of that disease. Opinions in general are also worth looking at because
they can give you new ideas and viewpoints that you may not have
thought about before. In short, always make it a practice to evaluate
the opinions you encounter and give special consideration to their
sources.

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Activity 2
Direction: In your notebook, list ten opinions, and be prepared to
discuss them in class.

D. Facts and Opinions in Combination

As you saw at the beginning of this chapter, often facts and
opinions are used in combination, which makes it more difficult to
distinguish between them. Sometimes this is done inadvertently when
we are trying to express ourselves orally or in writing, but it can also
be an intentional device to influence or persuade others. Commercials
that influence our decisions as to what to purchase or whom to vote
for and propaganda that attempts to persuade people to think in a
certain way or support a certain course of action come to mind
immediately as examples of how this technique can be used
effectively.
For instance, a political commercial that states "Inflation is rising
dramatically. But don't worry-our candidate has the answer!
Remember that when you vote next Tuesday!" is probably a
combination of fact and opinion. Arising inflation rate can be proved by
published statistics, but whether or not the candidate has the answer
to the problem is not so simple to prove, at least not at this time. Of
course, the whole purpose of the commercial is to get you to vote for
that candidate. If indeed the official does eventually solve the inflation
problem after the election, the latter part of the original commercial
has become a fact. Once again, you must carefully evaluate and
continuously reevaluate what you see, hear, and read.

E. Relating Facts and Opinions to Problem Solving and

Contemporary Issues
When engaged in problem solving, you are already aware of the
importance of gathering information as part of Step 2 of the approach
that we have been using. No matter where the information comes
from, it is crucial that it be as factual as possible. Otherwise, you could
base your possible solutions on opinions or biased information, in
which case they may not turn out to be solutions at all.
For example, if you are trying to solve the problem of a car
engine that is smoking and you accept the opinion of a person who
knows little about car engines, you are likely to waste your time,
effort, and money. But if you consult a reliable car repair manual or
take the advice of a reputable mechanic, you will probably end up with
a solution to the problem. In short, the more you base possible
solutions on facts, the better your chances of resolving problems.
As you already know, the ability to distinguish between facts
and opinions is an important part of critical reading in general, no
matter what kind of material you have in front of you. When you read,
you should know whether or not you are dealing with information that
is reliable and factual. Textbook material, for the most pan, fits into
that category due to its educational focus and because it is usually
reviewed and approved by publishers and scholars prior to publication.

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When doing other kinds of reading, you need to be more vigilant,
because facts and opinions are often interspersed.
That is certainly the case with contemporary issues, which tend
to arouse emotions and bring out an array of opinions and opposing
viewpoints. Furthermore, the ratio of facts to opinions will vary widely
from passage to passage. Some Will consist mostly of facts, some will
consist mostly of opinions, and some will fill somewhere in between.
In addition, writers will not always make their purpose, tone or
mood, obvious or mention the sources from which they have gotten
their information. ln those instances, you will either have to do
research yourself or make a decision on the spot regarding the
credentials of the writer and the reliability of the publication in which
the formation appeared. As you know, you can spend a great deal of
time doing research, and sometimes that will be necessary if your
purpose, for example, is to write a term paper for one of your courses.
However, on other occasions, when you may be reading for pleasure,
you can use your inference skills to come to a logical conclusion as to
the writer's purpose and the reliability of the publication so that you
can ultimately determine if the information is unbiased.

F. Summary
A fact is something that is true about a subject and can be
tested or proven. Facts can be all or some of the following: can be
proven, real for all people and places, can be duplicated, can be
observed, historical, or 100 percent true. Opinions refer to a particular
person’s (or group’s) feeling, thought, judgment, belief, estimate,
and/or anything that is not 100 percent true and can’t be proven.

G. PRACTICE EXERCISE

Exercise 1
Direction: distinguish these statements whter they belong to facts
and opinions
a. All people must breathe to live.
b. All people love basketball.
c. Blue is the best color.
d. He is stupid.
e. Abraham Lincoln was a United States president.
f. North Carolina is a southern state.
g. I don’t like broccoli.
h. Fire needs oxygen to burn.
i. Pizza tastes great.
j. Most people have two arms and legs

Exercise 2
Direction: distinguish these statements whter they belong to
facts and opinions
1. More and more women are deciding to give birth to their children at
home. A hospital, after all, is not the best place for a baby to be
born.

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 Fact or opinion?

2. More and more women are deciding to give birth to their children at
home. A hospital, after all, is not the best place for a baby to be
born.
Fact or opinion?

3. B. J. Vukovich, author of Claws, the best-written novel of the

disaster genre, will speak at tonight’s “How I Became An Author”
meeting.
Fact or opinion?

4. Philip Luttgen, satirical columnist for the Daily Views, will give a
rebuttal entitled “What Is An Author?”
Fact or opinion?

5. The national coal strike, now into its seventh week, has caused
untold hardships on the miners, their families, and the rest of the
winter-weary nation.
Fact or opinion

6. Janet Guthrie, world famous auto racer, was the least nervous
driver at the Indy 500.
Fact or opinion?

7. Once the cavity reaches the dentin (the hard, dense, bone-like
material that composes the principal mass of the tooth), it must be
cleaned and filled. Some researchers, however, are beginning to
question whether periodic cleaning and checking of the enamel (the
calcareous substance that forms a thin layer capping the teeth)
plays a significant role in preventing tooth decay.
Fact or opinion?

Exercise 3
Direction: Decide whether the statement belongs to facts or
opinions!
1. Mr. Jones has two sons and one daughter.
a. Fact
b. Opinion
2. That picture is by Rembrandt.
a. Fact
b. Opinion
3.Her house is really beautiful.
a. Fact
b. Opinion
4. My friend has six fingers on one hand.
a. Fact
b. Opinion
5. That boy is the nicest person in the school.

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 a. Fact
b. Opinion

Exercise 4
Directions: Does the paragraph below consist of fact or
opinion?
1
When Nixon became president in 1969, the major economic problem
facing him was inflation. It was caused primarily by the heavy military
expenditures and "easy money" policies of the Johnson administration.
Nixon cut federal spending and balanced the 1969 budget, while the
Federal Reserve Board forced up interest rates in order to slow the
expansion of the money supply. When prices continued to rise, there
was mounting uneasiness. Labor unions demanded large wage
increases. In 1970 Congress passed a law giving the president power
to regulate prices and wages.
John A. Garraty, A Short History of the American Nation, p. 52

2
All studies show that those most likely to try drugs, get hooked, and
die-as opposed to those who suffer from cirrhosis and lung cancer-are
young people, who are susceptible to the lure of quick thrills and are
terribly adaptable to messages provided by adult
society. Under pressure of the current prohibition, the number of kids
who use illegal drugs at least once a month has fallen from 39 percent
in the late 1970s to 25 percent in 1987, according to the annual
survey of high school seniors conducted by the University of Michigan.
The same survey shows that attitudes toward drug use have turned
sharply negative. But use of legal drugs is still strong. Thirty-eight
percent of high school seniors reported getting drunk within the past
two weeks, and 27 percent said they smoke cigarettes every day. Drug
prohibition is working with kids; legalization would do them harm.
Morton M. Kondracke, "Don't Legalize Drugs,' New Republic, June 27, 1988

________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

Exercise 5

Direction: The following problem was taken from a psychology

textbook. After reading and thinking about it carefully, get together
with one of your classmates to discuss how to gather facts to solve it.
Suppose that you live in a town that has one famous company,
Boopsie's Biscuits and Buns. Everyone in the town is grateful for the
3B company and goes to work there with high hopes. Soon, however,
an odd thing starts happening to many employees. They complain of
fatigue and irritability. They are taking lots of sick leave. Productivity

10
declines. What's going on at Boopsie's? Is everybody suffering from
sheer laziness?
Carol Tavris and Carole Wade, Psychology in Perspective, p. 437

Exercise 6
Direction: Read the following passages and answer the questions that
follow. When reading each passage, try to make a determination as to
what is fact and what is opinion. As part of that process, it will be
helpful for you to take note of the writer's credentials if they are
included, any sources mentioned, and the publication from which the
passage was taken. Also, remember to use inference skills when
appropriate.

It’s More Influential Than TV Advertising,

So Why Do They Call It “Junk Mail”

Any advertising medium that can influnce consumers better than
television deserves more respect.
And, in fact, most people like direct mail advertising. More than
half the population read it promptly and completely, and say they find
it useful. Some even say they'd like more. Over half the people in
America order goods and services through catalogs or other
advertising that comes by mail.
All of which is probably why direct mail is the U.S. Postal
Service's fastestgrowing business. Marketers large and small like it
because it's inexpensive, goes straight to specific customers, invites
response and gets results. And direct mail pays for i tself, which is
reassuring to customers who think first-class postage rates subsidize
thirdclass mail.
Direct mail is an essential component of the American retail
economy. It benefits marketers and consumers alike. In 1995, it
generated almost $385 billion in sales revenues for marketers. And it
brought happiness to a lot of people who like browsing through
catalogs, discovering unique products, or finding out about
neighborhood bargains without leaving the comforts of home.
And now direct mail is going international. In 1995, the U.S.
Postal Service sent to Japan the one millionth package for a major
catalog retailer who is building a customer base there. And that helps
the balance of payments.
So, call it Direct Marketing, call it Ad Mail-but please, don't call it junk
mail.
United States Postal Service. We Deliver for You.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. What is the topic of the passage?
2. What is the central message of the passage?
3. Determine what is at issue. What is your initial personal viewpoint?
4. Distinguish among opposing viewpoints, and provide the rationale
for each.

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5. Think carefully about the viewpoints. Express a personal viewpoint,
and give the reasons why you favor it. Does it differ from your
initial personal viewpoint? Why or why not?
6. Write a few paragraphs in support of the viewpoint that you do not
favor

.
Fertility for Sale
As reproductive technology has advanced, the law of supply and
demand has inevitably clicked in. Some clinics have had trouble finding
women to donate their eggs for implantation in infertile women. That
has led to a medical and ethical debate over whether donors should
charge for their eggs and, if so, how much. The St. Barnabas Medical
Center in Livingston, NJ., recently accelerated that debate by offering
$5,000 for donors, double the rate of many clinics. A variety of
experts were asked whether women should be permitted to sell
their eggs on the open market:
Robert Wright is the author of The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and
Everyday Life.
Is a woman who gets several thousand dollars for a few eggs
being exploited? The claim is not on its face ridiculous; a donor
undergoes an unpleasant and risky procedure that is invasive both
physically and in a less tangible sense. What is ridiculous is the idea
that the woman is more exploited if she gets $5,000 than if she gets
$2,000. Yet that is the implicit logic of some who argue for limiting
fees lest we degrade women by turning their eggs into commodities.
Sometimes society plausibly says yes, as with drug sales and
prostitution. Personally, I don't see a comparably strong argument in
this case. If there is one, maybe we should take eggs off the market.
But what's the point of pretending they aren't already there?

Cynthia Gorney is the author of Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion
Wars.
A precedent for limiting compensation for egg donation was set
15 years ago, when the most heated argument in infertility circles was
about surrogate mothers-women who volunteered to undergo artificial
insEmynation and carry a baby to term for infertile couples. The ethical
consensus then was that if a woman offers to lend out her own
reproductive system because she wants to help someone else, we
suppose we can't stop her, but she shouldn't be tempted to do it
because she wants or needs money: a surrogate should be paid for
medical expenses and lost time at work, and perhaps offered some
modest extra cash to offset the physical discomfort of pregnancy. But
the money should not be generous enough to make surrogacy an
attractive line of work.
And as a rule, surrogate mothers still don't collect much money,
nor should they. To be sure, this is partly because they deliver up fully
developed human beings, which by law and venerable tradition may
not be bought and sold. But it is also because surrogate mothers

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deliver up their own bodily organs-their eggs and the use of their
wombs and we have equally venerable tradition forbidding people to
sell their body parts for profit.
Galloping technology and the escalating hopes of infertile
couples are working together to push us much too far, too fast. There
has got to be a point at which society declares to the infertile couple:
We are sorry for your situation, but you cannot buy everything you
want. We will not let you offer that young woman $10,000 for some of
her eggs, just as we will not let you offer her brother $10,000 for one
of his kidneys. The potential cost to both of them-and to all the rest of
us-is too high.
Lee M. Silver, a biology professor at Princeton, is the author of Remaking Eden:
Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World.

Why are physicians and bioethicists-who are mostly male-trying

to limit monetary compensation to women who donate their eggs? In
no other part of the economy do we limit the amount of money that
can be paid to people who participate in risky or demeaning activities.
Indeed, college students have long been enticed by high fees into
participating in risky medical experiments.
But society expects women to be altruistic, not venal. And it
insists that women be protected from themselves, on the assumption
that they are unable to make rational decisions about their own bodies.
And perhaps men feel threatened by the idea that women now also
have a way to spread their seed upon the earth.
Robert Coles, a physician, is a professor of social ethics at Harvard and the author,
most recently, of The Youngest Parents: Teen-Age Pregnancy as It Shapes Lives.

Most important, the widening divide between the rich and the
poor poses an ethical dilemma: can we condone the "harvesting" of
eggs from poor women, who may be putting their health at risk, for
the benefit of
~WeSchool, is the author of Family Bonds: Elizabeth Bartholet, a professor at
Harvard Adoption and the Politics of Parenting

The selling of human eggs puts at risk the donors' health and
sacrifices their human dignity. It also encourages women to bear
children who are not genetically related to them so that their mates
can have genetic offspring. .This practice produces children who have
lost one genetic parent-in a world that already has an abundance of
orphans policy who need homes.
We need to call a halt to further commercialization of production
to give policy makers a chance to consider the ethical issue involved in
the reproductive technology like egg selling, cloning and sex selection
to resolve these issues rather than to leave them to the market.
Lori Arnold is a doctor at the Fertility and I.V.F center of Miami.

Most women who donate their egg at our clinic do so because

they want to help provide the gift of life. Many have children of their
own; they want to help others experience the joys of motherhood.
The motive is altruistic, but should not blind anyone to the
practical difficulty. Donors are required to undergo treatment with

13
fertility drugs, coundeling, screening, ultrasound monitoring, blood
work and numerous office visits. It takes weeks. And retrieving the
eggs from their ovaries is a surgicalprocedure.
Also worth factoring in is that the most donors are giving a
couple the chance to have a family with a child who have a father’s
genetic make up. The donor also gives the recipient a chance to
experience pregnancy, delivery and breast-feeding, thereby facilitating
mother-baby bonding.
Thus compensation given to an egg donor is well deserved. Of
course, there comes apoint when a fee becomes self-defeating, since
the cost is paid by recipient- a few couples can afford to pay an
limited amount.. But donors deserve something more than a token.
Ours receive $1,500 to $2,000; no one shoul begrudge them that.
New York Times, March 4,1998

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. If your spouse and you were infertile, would you agree to having a
surrogate mother carry a baby to term for you? Why or why not?
2. If your spouse and you were infertile, would you agree to having
donor eggs implanted? Why or why not?
3. If you are a woman, would you agree to be a surrogate mother or
an egg donor if the price were right? Why or why not? If you are a
man, would-you support your wife's decision to be a surrogate
mother or an egg donor if the price were right? Why or why not?
4. Do you think the information presented is mostly fact, mostly
opinion, or a combination of both? Why? Provide specific examples.
5. Do you think the article is unbiased? Why or why not?
6. List any questions that came to mind while you were reading this
selection, and be prepared to discuss possible answers to them.

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 UNIT 3
EVALUATING AUTOR’S OPINION

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
In the previous unit, you have learnt the skill of identfying and
distinguishing between statement of fact and opinion. This skill is very
closely related to the skill you are about to learn in Unit 2, evaluating
author’s opinion. It would be even more accurate to say, if you cannot
distinguish between fact and opinion, you cannot evaluate the author’s
opinion. To believe him, to agree with him. He must try to give good,
acceptable, and logical reasons for such an opinion. If he simply utters
an opinion, but cannot give reasons for it, he will of course, fail making
people believe him. But if he gives neat and relevant arguments in
defending his atitude or belief, he might easily persuade his audience
to be on his side. In this case we can say that his opinion is justified.
In other words, an opinion is justified if the authors has given his
readers a number of facts to support his opinion and to convince
readers.
In evaluating an author’s opinion, we have to be able to say
whether an author’sopinion is justified or not. What is a justified
opinion? Let’s go back for a while to the opinion that is justified or not.
As you have gathered from unit 1, an opinion is a person’s (author’s )
feeling, belief, attitude, or judgement on a certain subject. And if
somebody states an opinion, he usually wants his listeners and readers
to believe him, to agree with with him. He must try to give good,
acceptable, and logical reasons for such an opinion. If he simply utters
an opinion, but cannot give reasons for such an opinion, he will, of
course, fail in making people believe him. But if he gives neat and
relevent arguments in defending his attitude or belief, he might easily
persuade his to be on his side. In this case we can say that his opinion
is justified. In other words, an opinion is justified if the authors have
given his readers a number of facts to support his opinion and to
convince readers.
It is important for us to be able to evaluate an author’s opinion?
Yes, very much so. If we don’t have this skill we can be easily misled.
If we are not critical, we can be tricked into believing a dangerous
opinion. For example, the statement” The most important factor in
becoming a success is a luck, not effort.”If you cannot evaluate this
opinion you may be believe it, and you might stop working hard.
Therefore, watch out for statements of opinions, that are not
supported by facts. Such opinions are unjustified opinion, and we
should be careful in interpreting them. The activity below will help you
to see the difference between justified and unjustified opinion. Have a
try!

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Activity 1
Read the following pair of paragraphs carefully. Each paragraph
expresses an opinion.

Paragraph 1
Perhaps the most unfortunate victims of drug prohibition laws
have been the residents of America's ghettos. These laws have proved
largely futile in deterring ghetto-dwellers from becoming drug abusers,
but they do account for much of what ghetto residents identify as the
drug problem. Aggressive, gun-toting drug dealers often upset law-
abiding residents far more than do addicts nodding out in doorways.
Meanwhile other residents perceive the drug dealers as heroes and
successful role models. They're symbols of success to children who see
no other options. At the same time the increasingly harsh criminal
penalties imposed on adult drug dealers have led drug traffickers to
recruit juveniles. Where once children started dealing drugs only after
they had been using them for a few years, today the sequence is often
reversed. Many children start using drugs only after working for older
drug dealers for a while. Legalization of drugs, like legalization of
alcohol in the early 1930s, would drive the drug-dealing business off
the streets and out of apartment buildings and into government-
regulated, tax-paying stores. It also would force many of the gun-
toting dealers out of the business and convert others into legitimate
businessmen.
Ethan A. Adelman, "Shooting Up," New Republic, June 1988

Paragraph 2
We Americans like to brag about progress, but, in fact, life was
better in the nineteenth century than it is in the twentieth. People were
happier and more at peace with themselves. There just wasn’t the
same kind of anxiety and tension that there is today. If we had a
chance, we should probably all get into a time machine and go
backwards in time, rather than forward. Allof our highly touted
technological progress has not brought us contentment.
(From Reading for Results)

Questions
1. What is the author’s opinion in each paragraph?
2. Which one is justified, which is not?

In answering question number one, perhaps some of you would

like to state the opinions from those two paragraphs as follows:
a. perhaps the most unfortunate victims of drug prohibition laws have
been the residents of America's ghettos.
b. life was better in the nineteenth century than it is in the twentieth.

Those two paragraphs contain opinions. They are opinions

because they are statements that come from author’s opinion.

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 Now, let’s answer the second question.The author says the word
“perhaps” means that he realizes that some other people might
disagree with him. However, he gives the readers evidences to support
his opinion or make other people feel sure about what he is saying. So,
we can say that the first paragraph is the justified opinion. Meanwhile,
the second paragraph is called unjustified opinion because the author
does not give any single evidence to support his statement. The author
could have mentioned that the rate of divorce is getting lower as an
indication that people were happier or he could have said that
technology has grown fast so that people feel easy to do everything.
Ut the author does not say this; he simply says his opinions, the
remaining sentences are only repetition of his opinion. Still he expects
us to believe him, so it is called unjustified opinion.

Activity 2
Each of the following paragraph contains a topic sentence that
expresses a definite opinion. Underline that sentence. Then on the
blank line that follows, put a J for justified, if you think the author
provides facts. Put a “U” for unjustified, if you think the author has not
given any facts.

Example 1
Shannon Brownlee holds that two criteria are necessary in order
for the captivity of wild animals to be considered worthwhile. First, the
animals should be treated as well as possible. Giving this animal good
care will sustain their population so that captivity will do much harm to
them. Second, their captivity should have educational value for the
people who come to look at them. It means that putting the animals in
the captivity will give us much benefit to education. For example when
the zoo provides chances for school children to learn a lot about
animals, then captivity will brig good effect of it. "Captive animals,"
Brownlee claims, "must be allowed to serve as ambassadors for their
species" (J)

Example 2
I think McCain should have won the election and that Obama
doesn't know what he is doing. I think he is making a huge mess he is
not the right person for the job (U)

Explanation:
1. In the first paragraph, the writer believes that there are two
necessary in order for the captivity of wild animals to be
considered worthwhile. He does not simply say so but he gives
facts to support his opinion. That is why it is justified opinion.
Juugt
2. In the second paragraph, the writer believes that barack obama
does not deserve the presidency. However, He simply say so
without giving adequate facts to support his opinion. That is why it
is unjustified.

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Now judge the authors of the following paragraphs in the same
manner.

1. According to Jacques Cousteau, the activity of people in Antarctica

is jeopardizing a delicate natural mechanism that controls the
earth's climate. He fears that human activity could interfere with
the balance between the sun, the source of the earth's heat, and
the important source of cold from Antarctic waters that flow north
and cool the oceans and atmosphere ("Captain Cousteau" 17).
2. While the proposed tax referendum sounds good, it’s actually bad
news for most citizens of Algonquin county. It will not reduce taxes
for middle-income families. In fact, middle-income families with
children will pay 10% more per year, and families without children
will pay 20% more. Further, the referendum actually decreases
taxes for the wealthiest tax bracket. In fact, taxpayers in the
highest income bracket will pay 10% less per year if the
referendum is passed.
3. My mother is the person who influenced me the most. She is a very
hard worker. She is a very devoted mother, and she is tough. My
mother works at Macy’s, cleaning the rest rooms and straightening
up the stock after the store closes. It is not an easy job; she does it
from 12 midnight till 8 in the morning. My mother wanted to go to
college, but her parents didn’t have no money. She really wants us
to all go. I would love to make her proud of myself. That would be a
great reward to her for all she did for us. My mother cares about all
the things that no other mothers pay no attention to anymore. She
won’t let me hang out with my friends without calling, no boys in
the house when she’s not home, I have to cook and clean, etc. She
is a very devoted mother. One day, some lady almost ran me over
in front of my house. My mother went out there and tried to find
what the cause was. Well, the lady starting screaming at my
mother, and she was the one at fault! My mother yelled back and
even called the cops on this lady, she isn’t afraid of anybody. I
think I will probably turn out to be just like my mother, and that
would be fine with me.
4. Many people will think that football is the most popular sport in the
world. It is football that can create the euphoria of the world. It is
football that can unite or even create conflict the world all over.
5. We Indonesians are famous for our hospitality. Foreigners consider
us as familiar and kind people. They say that we like to smile. That
is why they like to visit Indonesia several times and choose
Indonesia as their destination for spending holidays. We know
everybody likes familiarity. When Indonesians see local people or
foreigners for example, they always try to greet them although
they do not know them well. By doing so, strangers or foreigners
then consider us as kind and familiar persons.

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B. Relevant Vs Irrelevant Facts
We can say that the author gives irrelevant facts if he gives us
wrong facts. So if for example if an author gives an opinion and he
supports his opinions with irrelevant facts then his opinion remains
unjustified.
Relevant fact is the fact that can be proven or verified while
irrelevant fact is the one that is wrong and cannot be proven or
verified.

Example:
In general, the left and right hemispheres of your brain process
information in different ways. We tend to process information using
our dominant side. However, the learning and thinking process is
enhanced when both side of the brain participate in a balanced
manner. Organic brain syndrom is a general term that refers to
physical disorders that cause a decrease in mental function, usually
not including psychiatric disorders. Also known as: chronic organic
brain syndrome; OBS; organic mental disorder

Explanation:
In this text, the writer expresses his opinion that the brain is
divided into two sides, the left and right hEmysphere. However, the
author does not give relevant facts to support his opinions and discuss
the brain disorder instead.
In the following activity, you are going to evaluate a number of
paragraphs. Decide whether the opinions stated are justified or not. In
doing this ask yourself.
1. What is the author’s opinion?
2. Does the author support his opinions with veriable facts?
3. Are the supporting facts relevant?

Activity 3
Read the following texts carefully. Underline the sentence that
states the author’s opinion. On the blank line put a “J” for justified, if
you think the author presentes relevant facts. Put an “U” if you think
the author presented irrelevant facts.

1. We Indonesians are considered as lazy bones. No wonder if now we

are facing many problems one of which is poverty. There are more
than 27 millions people living in poverty. There are so many
unemployment nowadays. As a result, more and more beggars
count on people’s pity all the time. Some of them even beg day and
night. Unfortunately, these beggars cannot be considered as the
needy as sometimes those beggars look very young, strong, and
healthy. They sometimes bandage their parts of their bodies and
pretend to be helpless. They ask for people’s pity on the streets,
traffic lights, in a store, or in a graveyard. Sometimes, these lazy
bones also hire children to beg. They drop the children off at
different places in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.

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 Then, those lazy bones spend the money for gambling, hoping and
dreaming of a pile of money. It is terrible indeed but it happens.

2. Louis Alexander Slotin was a scientist who was famous and

controversial as well during his life due to some reasons, namely:
his character, his phenomenal experiments and his life controversy.
First, he was such a bright and daring person who always happy
with his work, thus he never stopped doing to create such
remarkable challenge through his experiments. As he was always
challenged in life, Slotin developed all skill and talent he had to
some experiments he did in his laboratory in which he was assisted
by seven of his men. At his first experiment, he was successful and
was eager and challenged to have the second one. Unfortunately, he
failed in his second trial as the screwdriver slipped and the chain
reactions occurred which then forced him to sacrifice his life for the
sake of his seven men. As a result of his heroic action, he then died
because of the radiation nine days later. Not only he was
considerably famous for his great works, Slotin was also a man of
controversy in the eye of his society. In one side, he was considered
as a scientist who was always ready for doing something great for
the society. However, as he worked for making bombs then he was
also considered to be greatly destructive since what he did was a
threat for human life. In spite of Slotin’s tendency to make bombs
then He was still considered a hero at least for some people since he
has already sacrificed his life which then show that he did not use all
means to justify his ends (Dublin and Ohlstain, 1981: 3-4). In short,
Slotin was still a man who possessed a golden heart since he was
that high in terms of morality. Last but not least, he was still a man
of wonder due to his character, his masterpiece, and his heroic
attitude which then described his standard of morality he had in his
life. His life can be the endless lesson and will be inspiring all people
in this universe regardless of their ages.

C. Summary
In order not to be misled by an author’s opinion, we should have
the ability to evaluate it. If we are sure whether or not an opinion is
justified, we will not be tricked into believing it. An opinion is justified
if the author provides veriable, relevent facts to support his opinion. If
no facts are given, or facts presented are either not proven true or
irrelevant, the opinion is unjustified.

D. PRACTICE EXERCISES

Exercise 1
Directions: For each of the longer selections that follow, indicate
whether the information presented is mostly fact, mostly opinion, or a
combination. State also whether the statements belongs to relevat
fact, irrelevant fact, justified opinion, and unjustified opinion.

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Do Competitive Sports Teach Valuable Life Lessons to Youth?
Yes
Several factors, such as one's attitude toward competition, the
manner in which competition is organized, and the behavior of
important adults-such as parents and coaches can contribute to
making competition either worthwhile or hurtful. The current crisis in
youth sports will be resolved only if we dedicate ourselves to ensuring
that youth sports programs are indeed worthwhile, and by working
together to eliminate destructive attitudes and behaviors.
There are four important reasons that I believe we should
tackle the problems in youth sports by encouraging-not
prohibiting-competitive sports for children. First, if children are
taught emotional skills and psychological skills to help them be
effective competitors, these skills will be helpful throughout life.
Examples of some of these coping skills include: knowing how to
relax and calm down in pressure situations or when being evaluated,
using one's imagination in support of reaching one's goals, being able
to receive and utilize criticism and learning how to focus attention.
Second, competitive sports expose children to losing. Learning how
to deal with loss is a valuable experience for children. Third,
competitive sports show children that there are standards of excellence
in each sport. Such experience is an important part of developing a
mastery approach.
Competition provides performers in any given age a with a way to
measure their progress. Those who would argue that competition
should be abolished must propose an alternative means of measuring
improvement. I think that simply looking at our own performance over
time is not adequate. Expertise develops when the urge to improve, to
become as good as other skilled performers or even better, occurs.
This urge is the ego side of the competitive instinct. But without
competition, it is nearly impossible to imagine how excellence could
develop.
Finally, competitive youth sports programs provide children with
the opportunity to learn new skills and work on existing skills, to set
goals and try to achieve them and to work with others in team
situations. These experiences can be fundamental in providing children
with a sense of self-esteem. Good physical self-esteem can help
children develop fitness and health habits, which build a strong
foundation for an active and healthy life.
Shane Murphy, The Cheers and the Tears: A Healthy Alternative to the Dark Side
of Youth Sports Today (Jossey-Bass, 1999)
No
Competing drags us down, devastates us psychologically, poisons
our relationships, interferes with our performance. But acknowledging
these things would be painful and might force us to make radical
changes in our lives, so instead we create and accept rationalizations
for competition: It's part of "human nature." It builds character.
The last of these beliefs is the most remarkable. The contention
that competition is psychologically beneficial contradicts the intuitive
knowledge that I believe most of us possess. Despite direct awareness

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of what competition does to people ...some individuals persist in
claiming that its effects are constructive. This is a powerful example of
how it is possible to adjust our beliefs so as to escape the threatening
realization that we have been subjecting ourselves to something
terrible, that we have internalized a corrosive personality attribute.
Also, this may be why the traditional assumption that "competitive
sport builds character" is still with us today in spite of overwhelming
contrary evidence. Apart from the absence of data to support it, the
adage itself is exceedingly slippery. One sports sociologist reports that
of all the writers he has encountered who repeat this assertion, not
one actually defined the word character, let alone provided evidence
for the claim. Character was typically assumed to be understood as
desirable and wholesome, or it was defined implicitly by association
with such adjectives as "clean-cut," "red-blooded," "upstanding,"
"desirable" and so forth. For the late Gen. Douglas MacArthur,
competition was a "vital character builder" in the sense that it
"make[s] sons into men." This definition, besides being irrelevant to
half the human race, tells us nothing about which features of being a
man are considered desirable.
In what may be the only explicit research of this claim, [authors]
Ogilvie and Tutko could find "no empirical support for the tradition that
sport builds character. Indeed, there is evidence that athletic
competition limits growth in some areas." Among the problematic
results they discovered were depression, extreme stress, and relatively
shallow relationships. [They] also found, as mentioned before, that
many players "with immense character strengths" avoid competitive
sports. Finally, they discovered that those who do participate are not
improved by competition; whatever strengths they have were theirs to
begin with.
Alfie Kohn, No Contest: The Case against Competition (Houghton Miffin, 1992)

E. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. What is the topic of the passage?
2. What is the central message of the passage?
3. Determine what is at issue. What is your initial personal viewpoint?

Exercise 2
Directions: For each of the longer selections that follow, indicate
whether the information presented is mostly fact, mostly opinion, or a
combination. State also whether the statements belongs to relevat
fact, irrelevant fact, justified opinion, and unjustified opinion.

American Favourite Food: The Hamburger

It’s not only the president who enjoys a good hamburger.
Americans consume some 38 billion hamburgers a year. And according
to a fast food expert, they account for nearly 60 percent of all
sandwhiches sold over the counter replacing the hot dog as the
nation’s most popular food item.
Hamburgers are popular because they are great tasting and
basic, yet can be adapted to suit vrious tastes, suggested Linda

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vaughan, vice president of new products of new products for jack in
the box restaurants, which sold 200 million hamburgers last year.
Americans consume about 25% percent of their meals away
from home, and about half of that in fast food restaurants, she said.
So, it’s no wonder that nearly five billion hamburgers and
cheeseburgers were served in commercial restaurants in 1993,
according to the National Restaurant association.
No one can claim the exact date the first hamburger was made,
but America’s favourite sandwich got it’s name in the 18th century
from German immigrants from the city of hamburg who brought their
popular broiler chopped steak to the United States. The rest is
hamburger story.
What makes today’s hamburger perfect is a matter of debate,
but no matter. Variety in hamburgers has become the norm,Vaughan
said. Though some restaurants specialize in basic burgers, others pride
themselves on making every condiment count.
But whether it’s a secret sauce or bacon and onion rings that
draws people to hamburgers, Americans have many ways of creating a
sandwich unique to them. They can be made to suit individual tastes
from the basic to the exotic,’ said vaughan.
“ In our research, we discovered many people literally crave the
taste of a hamburger, some claiming that they can eat a good burger
everyday of the week.” In fact, she said Jck in the box, a fast food
chain targetted primarily to more adult tastes, is refocusing its efforts
on the hamburger in its many varieties as a business strategy. “It’s a
taste people don’t get tired of, even as food trends come and go”.

Exercise 3
Directions : For each of the longer selections that follow, indicate
whether the information presented is mostly fact, mostly opinion, or a
combination of both. Also, indicate which of the passages, if any,
present information that is informed opinion.

Should Humans Be Cloned?

The cloning of human beings is now possible. Scientists can take an
egg cell, remove its DNA, insert DNA from a cell of any person, and
create an embryo who is that person's younger but identical twin. This
technology offers a miracle option for families who cannot have
children of their own by any other method. After 25 years as a fertility
specialist, trying to help couples have babies, I have joined with
scientists in Europe and elsewhere to develop that option. By doing so,
I believe, we will be helping humanity.
It is true that the cloning of animals-such as Dolly the sheep,
created in Scotland in 1997-has so far had a high failure rate and is
fraught with risks. But those risks have been exaggerated, and many
of them have resulted from improper cloning. Meanwhile, I can show
you e-mails from thousands of families eager to accept those risks.

23
They say in their messages that if they are able to have a child
through cloning, they will love that son or daughter just as much as
they would any other.
Believe it or not, the genie is out of the bottle. Human cloning will
be done whether we like it or not I think we should accept it, make it
legal, regulate it, and make sure it is done in a responsible,
scientifically correct way-not left to unscrupulous black-market
exploiters.
Panos Zavos, Ph.O., Director, Andrology Institute of America Lexington, Ky.

Don't think about human cloning from the point of view of the
person being cloned. Think about it as if you were the younger,
duplicated copy. If you do, you'll see at once why cloning a human
being is deeply unethical.
First, the known grave risks of abnormality and deformity seen in
animal cloning make attempts at human cloning an immoral
experiment on the resulting child-to-be. Second, even if you were a
healthy clone, would you want to be constantly compared with the
adult original in whose image you have been made? Wouldn't you want
to have your own unique identity and an open-ended future, fully a
surprise to yourself and the world?
If you were the clone of your "mother," would it help your
adolescence to turn into the spitting image of the woman Daddy fell in
love with? If you were the clone of your "father" but your parents later
divorced, would you like to look just like the man your mother now
detests?
Third, don't you think it is a form of child abuse for parents to try to
determine in advance just exactly what kind of a child you are
supposed to be? Do you want to live under the tyranny of their
biologically determined expectations?
Finally, would you like to turn human procreation into manufacture,
producing children as artifacts? Cloning is tyrannical and
dehumanizing. We should have none of it.
Leon R. Kass, M.D., Professor, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago,
New York Times Upfron, April 30, 2001, p 26.

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 UNIT 4
MAKING INFERENCE

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Pretend that you have had professor Arlene Brown as a
mathematics instructor for the past two semesters. She is a friendly
person who always greets her classes in warm manner. This past
Tuesday, professor Brown gave a difficult midterm examination in your
algebra courses. It covered rather complex material, and many of your
classmates were concerned about their grades.
When the class met again on Thursday morning, Professor brown
arrived late, and when she came through the door she was not smiling
at al. In fact, she walked briskly to the front of the room, slammed her
briefcase on the desk, gruffly told the students to take out their
notebooks, and began to cover new material immediately.
Consequently, most of your classmates concluded that Professor
Brown was upset about something.
They based that conclusion on three factors; first, their knowledge
of what people in general behave when they are upset; second, the
experience they have had with professor Brown in previous session;
third, their using her behavior or actions as clues. That she was upset
was reasonable conclusion because it rested solidly on their knowledge
and experience and flowed logically from the clues of facts at hand.
What we have been discussing here is inference-“educated
guesses” by which we go beyond what is explicit in order to fill in
informational gaps, come to logical conclusions and make sense of the
world around us. In other words, an infeence is a logical connection
that you draw between what you know or notice and what you do not
know.

Activity 1
Complete the following statements by making inferences from
what is known.

1. We may infer from the large diamond necklace and platinum rings
the woman wore that she is probably...
a. Beautiful b. Wealthy c. Poor d. Charming

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2. We may infer from the pale face of Ana that she is ....
a. Sick b. Good c. Lazy d. Nice
3. We may infer from man’s grease-stained hands and fingernails that
he probably has been...
a. Working on engines b. Molding clay c.making bricks
4. We may infer from grade A that Sally got that sally is....
a. Clever b. Lazy c. Poor d. Rich

Activity 2
Directions: for this activity, your instructor will divide the class into
three groups. Each group will read only one of the three paragraphs
that follow and use knowledge, experience, and clues to try to infer
what person is being described. The paragraphs vary in terms of the
clues that they provide, so be careful not to jump to hasty conclusion
unless your group is reasonably sure of that conclusion.

One solitary life

He was born in an obsecure village, the child of a peasant

woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a
carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an
itinerant preacher. He never had a family or owned a home. He never
set foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from
the place he was born. He never wrote a book, or held an office. He
did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.
While he was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion
turned against him, His friends deserted him. He was turned over his
enEmyes, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a
cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners
gambled for the only piece of property he had-his coat. When he was
dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the
central figure or much of the human race. All the armies that ever
marched and all the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments
that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have
not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this “ one
solitary life”.
Activity 3
Directions: Read and think critically about the words to the Lee ann
womack song “ I hope you Dance”, which were found on the internet
(http://lyrics.astraweb.com). In your notebook, use your inference skill
to answer the question that follow.
I you never loose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
may you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love'll ever leave you empty-handed

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I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Chorus: I hope you dance, I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path with least resistance
Livin' lively takin' chances, they're worth takin'
Loving might be a mistake but it's worth makin
Don't let some healthin' heart leave you bitter
When you come close to coming out reconsider
Give the heavens above more that just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Chorus

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
i hope you dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

Questions:
1. In your view, to whom is the song being sung? Why?
2. Write your interpretation of the lines listed below:
a. I hope you never loose your sense of wonder
b. You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
c. I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
d. Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
e. I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
f. Never settle for the path with least resistance
g. When you come close to coming out reconsider
h. Give the heavens above more that just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance,I
hope you dance

B. Making Inference From Conversation

Have you ever overheard part of a conversation and tried to
imagine what it was about? If so, you are making inferences. In the
following exercises, you will practice inferring information from short
dialogues.

Activity 4

27
Read this conversation and infer the answer to the question
A: So how was it?
B: Terrible.
A: Really? You were so excited about going.
B: I know, but I tell you, I’m glad to be back
A: What happened?
B: First of all, there was the weather. It rained everyday. Not just a
little, but all day. There we were gorgeous beaches and no sun!
A:I guess you didn’t get much of the tan
B: Look at me, I’m as pale as before
A: At least you must have gotten some rest
B: Rest! the second day we were there, my husband got sick. He was
sneezing andd coughing for three days and nights. And then I
caught his cold. I felt just awful for another three days.
A: well, how was the food?
B; That was the only nice things about the whole week. Except that we
were too sick, to enjoy it half the time.Anything new here in the
office?
A: Not much, it’s been a slow week.

1.Where are these people?

2. What is their relationship?
3. What are they talking about?
4. Are they men or women? How can you tell?

Activity 5
Read this conversation and infer the answer to the question
A: Fill it up, please.
B: Regular or super?
A: Want me to check the oil?
B: No, that’s all right.
A: what about the windshield. Need a cleaning?
B: Sure, go ahead.
A: OK
B: How much?
A: ten fifty
B: here, put it on my Visa
A: We don’t take credit cards!
B: No credit cards! Hope I’ve got cash. Let’s see, let me check in my
jacket pocket. No, oh here, it makes ten. I must have another
fifteen cents on me somewhere.
A: Don’t worry about it
B: Really I’m sorry. I thought I can use my Visa
A: ok, you can give me next time

1. Where are there people?

2. What are they talking about?
3. Are they men or women? How can you tell?

C. Inference in Reading

28
 Making inference is not restricted to everyday situations only.
When you are reading you also have to make inference quite
frequently. This happens because the meaning of a sentence, a
paragraph, or an article is not always stated directly. In many cases
the readers In have to rely on clues and hints given to arive at the
meaning of the text. So quite similar to daily situations, an inference in
reading is an intelligent guess about what the author does not say by
using the hints and clues the author does give.

D. How To Make Inference

There are no specific steps to follow in making inferences, because
each inferences depends on the situation and the facts that the author
gives us and on our knowledge and experience with the situation.
However, there are some points that you should keep in mindwhile you
read.
1. Be sure to understand the literal meaning first
2. Ask yourself some question:
a. What the author is trying to tell you?
b. Why does the author need to give you that fact?
3. Consider the descriptive language or the figurative language that
the writer use.
4. Consider the author’s purpose

E. Summary
The meaning of a sentence, a paragrapgh, a passage may be
stated directly. Frequently, however, the text only hints at or implies
the meaning. You must then use the hints, clues, and other evidences
given to determine what the maning is. When you do this you are
making inference.

F. PRACTICE EXERCISES

Exercise 1.
Circle the letter of the inferences you can make based on the
information.
1. A man has been standing bi his car for five minutes. He is looking
in his pants pockets checking his briefcase. He seems upset
a. The man does not want to drive
b. The man cannot find his car keys
c. The man needs a new briefcase

2. A man and woman are at a crowded party. They see each other
from across the room. They start waving and quickly walk toward
each other. When they meet, they hug and start talking and
laughing
a. The man and woman know each other
b. The man and woman are married
c. The man and woman want to leave the party
3. A young man and an older man are walking around a parking lot
of new cars. They stop and look at several cars and examine each

29
 one carefully. The young man opens the doors and looks inside
the cars. He is asking the older man lots of questions about the
cars. The older man is showing the young man various features of
the car.
a. The older man loves cars
b. The younger man wants to buy a car
c. The older man is the father of the younger man
4. It is early afternoon, and the people on the beach begin to pack
up their things ad quickly get ready to leave. The sky is getting
darker, and the lightening strikes.
a. The people are getting hungry and want to go home
b. It usually rains in the early afternoon
c. The people are leaving bacause it is going to rain
5. The classroom s very quiet. All of the students are sitting at their
desks and ooking down at a piece of paper. Some students check
their watches and others tap tgeir pencils on the desk. Most of
them are ver busy writing on paper. The teacer carefully watches
the students
a. The teacher is bored
b. The students are interested in the lesson
c. The students are taking a test
6. A young woman holds a letter in her hand. She reads it and
immediately begins to smile. She claps her hands and says,
“YES.” Then she runs to the phone and makes a call.
a. The young woman got good news
b. The young woman is calling her best friend
c. The young woman isn’t sure who the letter is from
7. A man is in bed reading a book. After a while, he yawns, closes the
book, and turns off the light.
a. The man does not like the book
b. The man is going to sleep
c. The man always reads before he goes to sleep

Exercise 2
Direction: Read the selection, and then answer the questions
that follow
Dinosaurs are everywhere. You see them in movies, books,
museums, and TV documentaries. They show up as stuffed toys or on
T-shirts. These prehistoric beasts may be extinct—no longer living—but
they're definitely not forgotten!
It's been a long time since dinosaurs roamed and ruled Earth.
Scientists say the last ones died about 65 million years ago. We know
the dinosaurs are gone, but no one knows exactly why. After all, no
one was here to witness what happened! Most scientists believe
dinosaurs died out after a gigantic meteorite hit Earth's surface and
drastically changed the planet's climate. Birds and mammals that were
protected by feathers and fur, were better able to adapt to the weather
changes than cold-blooded dinosaurs.
Other scientists say dinosaurs aren't extinct, they just look
different! These experts believe the prehistoric beasts changed and

30
developed into birds! Still other scientists say that Earth's warmer
weather caused more male than female dinosaurs to develop. So, they
say, dinosaurs died out because there were no more females to
increase the population!
How do scientists know what dinosaurs looked like? There were
no cameras millions of years ago, so dinosaurs are the only ones who
know . . . and they're not talking! Scientists get clues from dinosaur
fossils, and infer the rest.
Bones, footprints, and other remains are evidence of how big
dinosaurs were and how they moved. To figure out how they looked
with their skin on, scientists look at animals that live today. Because
dinosaurs were lizard-like, scientists can infer that dinosaurs looked a
lot like modern-day lizards. And since modern lizards are brown, gray,
or green, then dinosaurs probably were, too! That's why dinosaur
pictures and museum models have the same colors as today's lizard
populations.
Scientists are always discovering new things about dinosaurs. In
recent years, fossils were found in Antarctica, proving that dinosaurs
lived on every continent. Experts also figured out that Stegosaurus had
only one spread-out row of plates down its back, not two individual
rows. And fossils of the smallest and the largest dinosaurs have been
found. What will scientists discover next?

1. From the first paragraph, you can infer that

a. you can see dinosaurs only in museums.
b. all dinosaurs were very tall.
c. the author doesn't like dinosaurs.
d. people of all ages are interested in dinosaurs.
2. Scientists found a rare blue lizard in Colombia, so you can infer that
a. the scientists were looking for missing people.
b. some dinosaurs might have been blue.
c. no dinosaurs had ever lived in Colombia.
d. the lizards built nests near the top of a volcano.
3. Since scientists are always discovering new things about dinosaurs,
you can infer that
a. they still might not have found the smallest or biggest dinosaurs.
b. science is no longer interested in looking for fossils.
c. prehistoric people left written records with descriptions of
dinosaurs.
d. when scientists make inferences, they are always right.
4. What can you infer from the fact that Stegosaurus has just one row
of plates?
a. Stegosaurus wasn't as old as scientists thought.
b. Old pictures and museum models of Stegosaurus had to be
changed.
c. Someone stole the other row of plates from a museum.
d. Stegosaurus means "roof lizard."
5. What can you infer about lizard eggs?
a. Cooler temperatures should produce more female lizards.
b. Hot weather should produce female lizards.

31
 c. Cold temperatures will produce more male lizards.
d. Hot weather will produce more orange lizards.
6. What can you infer about scientists?
a. They never watch TV.
b. All scientists study about dinosaurs.
c. They don't always agree.
d. They never make mistakes.

Exercise 3
Direction: Read the selection, and then answer the questions
that follow.
All toadstools are mushrooms, but not all mushrooms are toadstools!
That's because toadstools are mushrooms that are either poisonous or
have a bad taste. There are more than 2,000 mushroom species, and
there's no simple test to tell the poisonous ones from those safe to
eat! You just have to learn to recognize which is which.
Most toadstools aren't deadly if eaten, but they're likely to make
you very sick. For example, the Jack-o'-Lantern toadstool, whose
bright orange cap glows in the dark, might give you an upset stomach
or diarrhea. But some toadstools have deadly poison, and no amount
of cooking can get rid of it. They damage the liver and kidneys, and
unless the eater gets immediate treatment, he or she will die. That's
why experts warn; never eat a mushroom you find growing anywhere
unless you know it's the safe kind. Some of the loveliest toadstools
are deadly. For example, the fly agaric has a bright yellow, orange, or
red cap with white bumps on top. Some people cut up this deadly
beauty, sprinkle it with sugar, and tempt pesky flies to drop in for a
meal. If they do, they get the specialty of the house: instant death!

1. Which can you infer about mushrooms?

a.They are all poisonous.
b. They grow on soil.
c. They are all yellow.
d. They are all toadstools.
2. After reading the article, what can you infer about blue mushrooms?
a. They are extremely poisonous.
b. They are always safe to eat.
c. They will upset your stomach.
d. I don't have enough information to infer anything.
3. Which can you infer about mushrooms?
a. They are very expensive.
b. They are all flat.
c. People cook them.
d. They only grow under the ocean.

Exercise 4
Directions: Your instructor is going to divide the class into small
groups in order to apply the basic method for personal problem solving

32
to the following situation. This was a real-life problem I encountered
that required the use of inference skills in order to come to a logical
conclusion regarding the doctor's motivations. When discussing the
situation in your group, try to figure out what logical conclusion the
author came to and what solution he decided on. Because this problem
actually occurred, your instructor will let you know what I found in
Step 5 when I "checked back on the problem and the possible
solution." In other words, your instructor will tell you how the entire
episode turned out
. You are in the surgeon's office with your daughter three weeks
after he operated successfully on her for a thyroid tumor, and you ask
him to recommend an internist because you have a lump on the side of
your neck. Dr. Rosin informs you that the neck area is one of his
specialties and starts immediately to examine you. After about two
minutes, he advises you that one of your salivary glands is swollen. He
proceeds to prescribe two antibiotics, schedules an X-ray for you at the
hospital to determine if there is a stone in the gland, and sets up
another appointment with him in three weeks.
On your return visit, you tell Dr. Rosin that you think the lump
changes in size and is smaller at least some of the time. After
reexamining you for about three minutes, he declares that the X-ray
showed no evidence of a stone, the antibiotics have been ineffectual,
and in his opinion the lump has gotten bigger. You ask him if the X-ray
showed anything else, and he advises you that he was only testing for
a stone. Furthermore, Dr. Rosin warns that either the gland is inflamed
or it has a tumor that has a 50-50 chance of being malignant. Even if it
is just inflamed, he continues, you will probably wake up one morning
in excruciating pain with the lump three times bigger. He adds that he
would not wish that kind of pain on his worst enemy.
Dr. Rosin explains further that he could do a needle biopsy in his
office to determine if the lump is malignant, but he does not advise
doing that because in his opinion those kinds of biopsies usually do not
give accurate readings. He urges you to have surgery and explains
how the operation will be performed, adding cautiously that he will not
know for three days after surgery whether or not the lump is
malignant Finally, Dr. Rosin explains that the chances are high that
during surgery, a nerve in your neck will get severed, affecting your
lower lip when you smile. However, he assures you that the
functioning of your mouth will not be affected. After listening, you tell
him that you will have to think about what to do, and he agrees with
that course of action. As you are leaving, he concludes by saying that
if you decide on the operation, you should schedule it through his
office. Otherwise, he would like to see you in about a month.

Exercise 5
Directions: First, read and think critically about the following short
story written by Kate Chopin. Then, without looking back at it,
summarize and/or paraphrase the story in your notebook. Finally, use
your inference skills to determine why the author titled the story “The

33
Storm." Be prepared to discuss your summary and conclusions with
your classmates.
The Storm
A Sequel to "The 'Cadian Ball"
Kate Chopin

I
The leaves were so still that even Bibi thought it was going to
rain. Bobinot, who was accustomed to converse on terms of perfect
equality with his little son, called the child's attention to certain sombre
clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west,
accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar. They were at Friedheimer's
store and decided to remain there till the storm had passed. They sat
within the door on two empty kegs. Bibi was four years old and looked
very wise. "Mama'll be Traid, yes," he suggested with blinking eyes.
"She'll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin' her this
evenin'," Bobinot responded reassuringly. "No, she sent got Sylvie.
Sylvie was helpin' her yistiday," piped Bibi.
Bobin6t arose and going across to the counter purchased a can
of shrimps, of which Calixta was very fond. Then he returned to his
perch on the keg and sat stolidly holding the can of shrimps while the
storm burst. It shook the wooden store and seemed to be ripping great
furrows in the distant field. Bibi laid his little hand on his father's knee
and was not afraid.

II
Calixta, at home, felt no uneasiness for their safety. She sat at a
side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. She was greatly
occupied and did not notice the approaching storm. But she felt very
warm and often stopped to mop her face on which the perspiration
gathered in beads. She unfastened her white sacque at the throat. It
began to grow dark, and suddenly realizing the situation she got up
hurriedly and went about closing windows and doors.
Out on the small front gallery she had hung Bobinot's Sunday
clothes to air and she hastened out to gather them before the rain fell.
As she stepped outside, Ale& Laballiere rode in at the gate. She had
not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone. She
stood there with Bobin6t's coat in her hands, and the big rain drops
began to fall. Alcee rode his horse under the shelter of a side
projection where the chickens had huddled and there were plows and a
harrow piled up in the corner.
"May I come and wait on your gallery till the storm is over,
Calixta?" he asked.
"Come 'long in, M'sieur Alcee."
His voice and her own startled her as if from a trance, and she
seized Bobin6t's vest. Alcee, mounting to the porch, grabbed the
trousers and snatched Bibi's braided jacket that was about to be
carried away by a sudden gust of wind. He expressed an intention to
remain outside, but it was soon apparent that he might as well have

34
been out in the open; the water beat in upon the boards in driving
sheets, and he went inside, closing the door after him. It was even
necessary to put something beneath the door to keep the water out.
"My! what a rain! It's good two years sense it rain' like that,"
exclaimed Calixta as she rolled up a piece of bagging and Alcee helped
her to thrust it beneath the crack.
She was a little fuller of figure than five years before when she
married; but she had lost nothing of her vivacity. Her blue eyes still
retained their melting quality; and her yellow hair, disheveled by the
wind and rain, kinked more stubbornly than ever about her ears and
temples.
The rain bear upon the low, shingled roof with a force and
clatter that threatened to break an entrance and deluge them there.
They were in the dining room—the sitting room—the general utility
room. Adjoining was her bed room, with Bibi's couch alongside her
own. The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental
bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious.
Alcee flung himself into a rocker and Calixta nervously began to
gather up from the floor the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had
been sewing.
"If this keeps up, Dieu salt if the levees goin' to stan' it!" she
exclaimed.
"What have you got to do with the levees?"
"1 got enough to do! An' there's Bobin6t with Bibi out in that
storm—if he only didn't left Friedheimer's!"
"Let us hope, Calixta, that Bobin6t's got sense enough to come
in out of a cyclone."
She went and stood at the window with a greatly disturbed look
on her face. She wiped the frame that was clouded with moisture. It
was stiflingly hot. Alcee got up and joined her at the window, looking
over her shoulder. The rain was coming down in sheets obscuring the
view of far-off cabins and enveloping the distant wood in a gray mist.
The playing of the lightning was incessant. A bolt struck a tall
chinaberry tree at the edge of the field. It filled all visible space with a
blinding glare and the crash seemed to invade the very boards they
stood upon.
Calixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered
backward. Alcee's arm encircled her, and for an instant he drew her
close and spasmodically to him.
"Bonte!"she cried, releasing herself from his encircling arm and
retreating from the window, "the house'll go next! If I only knew Were
Bibi was!" She would not compose herself; she would not be seated.
Alcee clasped her shoulders and looked into her face: The contact of
her warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into
his arms, had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire for her
flesh.
"Calixta," he said, "don't be frightened. Nothing can happen. The
house is too low to be stuck, with so many tall trees standing about.
There! aren't you going to be quiet?

35
say, aren't you?" He pushed her hair back from her face that was
warm and steaming. Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate
seed. Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed
him powerfully. As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue
eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a
sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing
for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss. It rEmynded him of
Assumption.
"Do you remember—in Assumption. Calixta?" he asked in a low
voice broken by passion. Ohl she remembered; for in Assumption he
had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his senses would well
nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight. If she
was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate; a
passionate creature whose very defenselessness had made her
defense, against which his honor forbade him to prevail. Now—well,
now—her lips seemed in a manner free to be tasted, as well as her
round, white throat and her whiter breasts.
They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the
elements made her :augh as she lay in his arms. She was a revelation
in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon.
Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright,
was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and
perfume to the undying life of the world.
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or
trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response
in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in
quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of
delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together
at the very borderland of life's mystery.
He stayed cushioned upon her, breathless, dazed, enervated,
with his heart beating like a hammer upon her. With one hand she
clasped his. head, her lips lightly touching his forehead. The other
hand stroked with a soothing rhythm his muscular shoulders.
The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away. The rain
beat softly upon .he shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep.
But they dared not yield.
The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green
world into a palace of gems. Calixta, on the gallery, watched Me& ride
away. He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted
her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud.

III
Bobinot and Bibi, trudging home, stopped without at the cistern
to make themselves presentable.
"My! Bibi, Wat will yo' mama say! You ought to be ashame' You
oughtn' put on those good pants. Look at 'em! An' that mud on yo'
collar! How you got that mud on yo' collar, Bibi? I never saw such a
boy!" Bibi was the picture of pathetic resignation. Bobinot was the
embodiment of serious solicitude as he strove to remove from his own

36
person and his son's the signs of their tramp over heavy roads and
through wet fields. He scraped the mud off Bibi's bare legs and feet
with a stick and carefully removed all traces from his heavy brogans.
Then, prepared for the-worst—the meeting with an overscrupulous
housewife, they entered cautiously at the back door.
Calixta was preparing supper. She had set the table and was
dripping coffee at the hearth. She sprang up as they came in.
"Oh, Bobinot! You back! My! but I was uneasy. Were you been
during the rain? An' Bibi? he ain't wet? he ain't hurt?" She had clasped
Bibi and was kissing him effusively. Bobinot's explanations and
apologies which he had been composing all along the way, died on his
lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry, and seemed to express
nothing but satisfaction at their safe return.
"1 brought you some shrimps, Calixta," offered Bobin6t, hauling
the can from his ample side pocket and laying it on the table.
"Shrimps! Oh, Bobin6t! you too good fo' anything!" and she
gave him a smacking kiss on the check that resounded. "J'vous
reponds, we'll have a feas' tonight! umph-umph!"
Bobinot and Bibi began to relax and enjoy themselves, and
when the three seated themselves at table they laughed much and so
loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballiere's.

IV
Alcee Laballiere wrote to his wife, Clarisse, that night. It was a
loving letter, full of tender solicitude. He told her not to hurry back, but
if she and the babies liked it at Biloxi, to stay a month longer. He was
getting on nicely; and though he missed them, he was willing to bear
the separation a while longer—realizing that their health and pleasure
were the first things to be considered.

V
As for Clarisse, she was charmed upon receiving her husband's
letter. She and the babies were doing well. The society was agreeable;
many of her old friends and acquaintances were at the bay. And the
first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant
liberty of her maiden days. Devoted as she was to her husband, their
intimate conjugal life was something which she was more than willing
to forego for a while.
So the storm passed and everyone was happy.

Exercise 6
Directions: Read the following passages, and answer the questions
that follow. Continue to use inferences, when needed, to draw logical
conclusions.

Killing Animals
Alfred Lubrano
Raising of Fenced-In Quarry for
"Hunters" Spawns a Debate

37
Beer was waiting. Now was the killing time.
"I wanna peg one of these babies and get to my Silver Bullet,"
Rex Perysian shouted, fitting an arrow into his crossbow.
The beefy redhead and his four buddies arranged themselves in
a sEmycircle around animal feeder in a clearing at the Renegade Ranch
Hunting Preserve.
In the frigid nowhere of northern Michigan, the 300-acre ranch
is a fenced patch of snow and jack pines stocked with buffalo, exotic
deer and other trophy animals that can be killed for a price. Today, the
men—dressed in camouflage and sporting eialkie-talkies—were
shooting for Russian boars, normally $450 per head, marked down to
$350.
To help the hunt, the ranch owner's son chased a snorting black
line of boars along an animal trail toward the boars' breakfast bin, and
the poised arrows.
Hiding behind a tree, Perysian fired first, hitting the first boar in
line in its hindquarters. The 250-pound animal writhed and squealed as
the whizzing arrow pierced skin and muscle with a muffled whack. The
boar hobbled up a ridge toward an 8-foot fence, staining the snow with
its blood.
Unable to escape, the animal cried, startling three rams out of a
stand of trees. Perysian delivered a second arrow, then a third, both
from closer than 10 feet. The boar shuddered and twitched, then lay
still, four minutes after the first arrow hit.
"I was pumpin', man," Perysian, 31, a commercial-sign installer
from Michigan, said into the camcorder his buddy pointed at him. "The
first arrow was high. The second hit liver. The third took lung. I like it."
Perysian stood astride the boar and, after cleaning blood off its
nose, lifted its head by the ears for the camera. "I'll grab it like I grab
my women," he told his pals.
Then Perysian dropped the animal's head and bellowed into the
woods, boasting that the kill had sexually aroused him. His voice
echoed in the woods and frightened the rams, who ran off. In the next
30 minutes, three more boars would go down at Renegade.
They're known pejoratively as "canned hunts," a different kind
of killing experience.
People without the time, ability or inclination to spend days in
the woods tracking trophy-quality animals visit fenced-in places like
Renegade to bag their prey.
"It's like taking a gun to the zoo," said Michael Carlton, a former
hunting writer who sited the fenced-in Stony Fork Hunts in Wellsboro,
Pa., 25 years ago, then vowed never to hunt again.
The hunts are fomenting national debate. Animal-rights activists
are appalled. Members of pro-hunting groups that advocate "ethical,"
non-fenced hunting label the hunts 'despicable." Meanwhile, breeders
of animals used in the hunts defend their $100 milliona-year industry,
saying it's their right to raise animals for whatever purposes they
desire. Similarly, canned-hunt owners say no one can tell them what

38
to do on their property. Even Congress has weighed in, with a
proposed bill that would criminalize the use of animal for such hunts.
What riles most opponents of canned hunts is how the deck
seems stacked again5 the animals. Many such hunts guarantee a kill.
Customers rarely need hunting licenses an may hunt any time of the
year.
As at Renegade, many ranch owners set up hunting blinds
where shooters can sit an await their prizes near the troughs where
the animals eat. It's so easy to kill an animal that a few places, like the
J.W. Hunting Preserve in Henryetta, Okla., specialize in wheelchair
hunt! At Hunters Quest Game Ranch in southern Michigan, a disabled
hunter who can't use hi arms fires his rifle by pulling with his teeth on
a leather strap attached to the trigger.
At canned hunts, many animals are accustomed to seeing and
being fed by peopl daily, which means they may not flee hunters as
truly wild animals would. If they do rur they can't get far: The ranches
are surrounded by high fencing.
Sometimes, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials report,
ranch owners drug animals to make them easier to handle. "At one
hunt, they stood up a drugged sheep like silhouette, and guys shot
arrows at it and it didn't even flinch," said Jim Beard, assistan director
of the commission's Bureau of Law Enforcement.
Some animals aren't given the chance to wander
preserves—they are shot by hunter in—or just outside—their cages,
Beard and others said.
Most of the animals in the camps are known as exotics—species
of deer and ante lope, sheep, goat, boars, gazelles, yaks and other
creatures not native to the United States
Many are grown on ranches and sold to hunting camps by
people like Bill Dyroff an Austin, Pa., math teacher who found that
raising fallow deer for hunts is more profitable than raising cattle.
"Only people who don't put pork chops on their plates can critisize," he
asserted.
Other animals are believed to come from circuses and—less
frequently—from zoos.
Canned hunts are legal in 39 states, including Pennsylvania,
which is believed by the Humane Society to be among four states that
have the most hunting preserves. The Humane Society estimates that
Texas has more than half of the nation's 1,000 hunting preserves,
although no one knows the exact number. The hunts are outlawed in
11 states, including New Jersey.
Lately, there's been movement to make the hunting of captive
exotics illegal everywhere. Two bills being considered by the U.S.
House of Representatives and the Senate would prohibit the transport
and possession of exotics held in captivity on a ranch with fewer than
1,000 acres for "purposes of allowing the killing ... of that animal for
entertainment or the collection of a trophy."
Canned hunts are so controversial, many "legitimate" hunters
rail against them.

39
 "It's cheating," said Lark Ritchie, a Cree Indian who guides
hunts in northern Ontario "The men involved do it to show off [their
manhood], for status. There's a lot of 'hunters I call killers."
Some believe canned hunts violate the widely held hunting ethic
of "fair chase," which demands that a hunter pursue and take wild
game in a manner that doesn't afford him improper or unfair
advantage.
The Boone and Crockett Club, a hunting and conservation
organization founded by Teddy Roosevelt that keeps track of wild-
game hunting records (biggest antlers, widest head) won't allow the
entry of any animal taken in a hunting preserve into its books. Fences,
club members say, render the chase unfair.
The National Rifle Association's federal lobbyist, Heather
Wingate, said, "We are not in favor of canned hunts." Still, the NRA is
opposing the proposed captive-exotics legis!ation, for fear it could lead
to restrictions on all forms of hunting.
While Perysian went after the first boar at Renegade, 25-year-
old Eric Heiss aimed for :he second.
"I never shot an animal before," said Heiss, who works for a
Michigan chEmycal company. His eyes were wide, he spoke rapidly.
"But I shot an artery with the first arrow. You can see the blood. The
second shot slashed heart and lung. I was more scared than anything.
But it was a rush."
Beaming for the camcorder, Heiss said to his buddies: "I used to
raise hogs for the state `air. I once won a blue ribbon." He paused,
allowing the irony to float away. "Oh, well. How's -v hair?"
A ranch hand came by to gut the animal, pulling its internal
'organs into a pile. The hunters told Heiss to sit astride his boar and lift
up its head for the camera, as Perysian had.
"Poor thing, abusing it like this," Heiss suddenly said.
Jim Kurdziel, the videographer, was puzzled by the remark:
"You shoot him, then you feel bad?"
As the men spoke, vapor from the boar's newly hollowed body
cavity wafted into he freezing air, like the smoke from a barbecue.
Some hunters feel that hunting on game ranches is a perversion
of a noble American sport.
"I feel most alive when I'm hunting," said the Rev. Theodore
Vitali, chairman of the philosophy department at St. Louis University,
an avid hunter, and a member of the Boone and Crockett Club. But
Father Vitali finds "canned hunts despicable."
"I'm celebrating life. There is no life without death. When I kill
an animal, my immediate response is gratitude to the animal and
nature ... for giving me his life. It's the dialectic of life and death.
There's no other game in town."
Asked whether killing animals is at odds with being a priest,
Vitali, who mounts the heads of the animals he's killed on his walls to
"honor them," said: "It's not against Christianity to kill, unless we take
illicit pleasure in it."
His friend Dan Pletscher, a biologist at the University of
Montana, said hunting was natural for a predator like man. Still, he

40
added, "Predation is hard to understand because it is not pretty. But if
you eat meat, you're part of the food chain. I always feel better
because when I hunt, I know where it comes from."
Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger, February 11, 1996, pp. 39-40

Comprehension Questions
1. What is the topic of the passage?
2. What is the central message of the passage?
3. Determine what is at issue. What is your initial personal viewpoint?
4. Distinguish among opposing viewpoints, and provide the rationale
for each.
5. Think carefully about the viewpoints. Express a personal viewpoint,
and give the reasons why you favor it. Does it differ from your initial
personal viewpoint? Why or why not?
6. Write a few paragraphs in support of the viewpoint that you do not
favor

Thought and Discussion Questions.

1. Would you ever participate in a "canned hunt"? Why or why not?
2. What can you infer from the article regarding Rex Perysian's view of
women? Why? Can you infer that those who participate in "canned
hunts" have a similar view of women? Why or why not?
3. How do you interpret the statement "Only people who don't put
pork chops on their plates can criticize" (paragraph 21)?
4. List any questions that came to mind while you were reading this
selection, and be prepared to discuss possible answers to them.

41
 UNIT 5
GENERALIZATION

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Generalizations can be a valid method of argument. Inductive
reasoning, in particular, is based on the ability to generalize from
repeated experiences or observations. The soundness of an inductive
generalization can usually be determined by asking the following
questions:
1. Do we have a sufficient number of instances to draw a conclusion?
2. Is the breadth of the conclusion drawn supported by the evidence?
3. Are the terms of the conclusion consistent with the terms of the
evidence?
Making generalization is closely related to identifying opinions.
In fact, many opinions are generalizations. In other words,
generalization is conclusion about whole groups drawn from knowledge
of individual cases. For example, suppose you choose to spend your
vacation in the Island of Ionai and spend some times there. During
your stay occasionally dropped by villagers. The few times you visited
them you were served coffee, and you thought that the coffe tasted
terrible. Later you told your friend everything about Ionai was great
except the coffee. In this case, you have made generalization. From a
few visits you drew a conclusion that the coffee in Ionai was bad.
You have expressed an opinion as well. Most generalizations are
opinions but not all opinions are generalizations. If you say,” I love red
shoes”, you have stated an opinion but not generalization. But if you
say, “ All girls loves red shoes” you are making both an opinion and
generalization.Since generalizations are also opinions they are are
distinguished from facts the same way opinions are. Look at activity 1
and find out whether you can differentiate generalizations from facts.

Exercise 1
On the lines below write F is the sentence is factual statement; write
G if the statement is a generalization. Remember that a statement of
fact is not necessarily true but can be shown true or false.

42
Example
All the guests at the party preferred the chocolate cake
Answer: G
____1. The licorice plant is used to make cough medicine
____2. Malaysia is a nice country
____3. China is most populated country
____4. Sukarno is the first president of indonesia
____5. The licorice plant is used to make cough
____6. Ladies preferred pink rather than red
____7. It is always prestigious to shop at the supermarket
____8. Fruitful ideas come up when we are in a forced condition
____9. Falling in love is beautiful
____10. Mathematics is a pure science

B. Hasty Generalizations
A hasty generalization is one in which there is an insufficient
number of instances on which to base the generalization. Consider the
following examples:
1. Jana has been to San Diego several times, and the sky was always
blue and the temperature ideal. The weather must be perfect in San
Diego all the time.
2. Tina bought a used camera while she was up in Portland, and got a
great deal. Portland must be a good place to buy used cameras.
3. I read where there have been no reported cases of HIV infection in
Liberty Lake. The people of Liberty Lake must be free of the HIV
virus.
In the first two examples, generalizations were made on the
basis of little evidence--several days in San Diego, one camera
purchased in Portland. These clearly provide an insufficient basis for
the conclusions they are used to support, and are therefore examples
of hasty generalizations.
The third example is a little different. There, a generalization is
made on the basis of no evidence at all. The lack of evidence to the
contrary should never be used as sufficient grounds for any
generalization. For example, the absence of a suspect's fingerprints on
the murder weapon is not sufficient in itself to prove his innocence, nor
is the lack of any evidence of life in soil samples taken so far on Mars
sufficient in itself to prove that no life exists there. This is a special
case of hasty generalization, usually known by its Latin name,
argumentum a silentio, or argument from silence, because
instead evidence to support the argument, all we hear is silence.
The problem in each of these cases should be obvious: without
more data, we have no way of knowing if the evidence presented is
representative or not. Maybe Jana happened each time to visit San
Diego during unusually good weather, maybe Tina was really lucky to
get a good deal on the camera, maybe people are reluctant to reveal
that they are HIV-positive in Liberty Lake. Without sufficient support
for the generalization, these are just anecdotes.

Exercise 2

43
On the lines next to the generalizations, write H (hasty) if the support
is not sufficient, write HH if the statement is not supported at al;
write A (accepted) if the statement is sufficiently supported.
Example: H Students attend college to prepare for a career
Statements:
___ 1. Marriages just cannot survive these days. Three of my friends
are already divorced
___ 2. Pink is popular for girls than red.
___ 3. Government welfare programs are filled with people who are
cheating the taxpaying public. In today’s newspaper, for
example, there are three cases of welfare fraud.
___ 4. Marriages just cannot survive these days.
___ 5. Pink is popular for girls than red. When I was in the mall today,
nobody wears read, all girls wear pink

C. Acceptable Qualifiers
We have just learned that for generalizations to be accepted they
must have actual proof. In everyday life, however, it would be very
formal, boring and maybe annoying if we always try to give scientific
proof for our statement, or always require proof from the others. In
informal situation outside the world of science we can be less strict
about acceptability. We can consider a generalization acceptable as
long as we use acceptable qualifiers. Without acceptable qualifiers or
without a qualifier a generalization remains unacceptable. What are
acceptable qualifier and unacceptable qualifier? Acceptable qualifiers
are words like most, some, occasionally, likely, genrally, almost, and
the like. Using them means that you are careful with your statement.
You don’t say” All women tend to be emotional, you say Most women
tend to be emotional. It means that you realize nothing in this world is
absolute, there are always exceptions, and therefore you leave some
possibilities open.. So, avoid making generalizations that use the
words all, never, always, none, and the like. These words are called
unacceptable qualifiers.
To recognize acceptable generalizations in this informal sense
also needs practice. Do the following activity in order that you develop
this skill.

Exercise 3
Identify which generalizations are acceptable (A) and which aren’t(NA).
Mention the qualifiers or the reasons that make them either acceptable
or unacceptable.
Example:
1. People in the military are very dogmatic.
2. Even the most radical youth are likely to grow conservative when
they acquire power and property.

Answer:
1. NA, because not all people in the military are dogmatic
2. A because the qualifier likely

44
Statements:
1. Some Mexicans are hot-headed and love to argue
2. All Indonesians are lazy.
3. Young people today is not likely to obey their parents.
4. Many students are like machines; they should be oiled regularly with
recreation and given frequent rests or they will wear out.
5. Only college eduaction that can increase one’s earning power.
6. If the New York Times say so, it’s probably true.
7. HEmyngway is regarded as one of the graetest writers of this
century. Everyone who reads his likes him.
8. All politians are dishonest.
9. Televeisian programs harm the children’s mind.
10. A person who has taken three writing courses will generally write
better than the person who has taken none.

D. Summary
A generalization is a conclusion that is made about a large group
or a class of items based on observation of or experience with a part of
that group or class. For example, the conclusion. The writing teacher is
always late is a generalization made based on observations and
experiences during the writing courses.
Geeralization is an important reading skill because it is a means
to summarize one’s observations and experiences. However, when
reading, in identifying as well as in making generalizations, you should
always take a critical attitude. Watch out for hasty generalizations-
generalizations that are neither supported by sufficient facts, nor
provided with acceptable qualifiers.

E. PRACTICE EXERCISES
Exercise 1
On the lines below write F is the sentence is factual statement; write G
if the statement is a generalization.
1. Everybody drins coca cola
2. All American cars have shoddy workmanship
3. Data is the plural form of datum
4. Girls like to gossip
5. A dog is a four-legged animal
6. All dogs have cats
7. Titanic sank in 1912
8. Most women love to shop

Exercise 2
As you read each paragrapgh, you will find information presented in a
way that is typical of the source identified above the paragraph.

A. MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Traffic in India is almost beyong our imagination. Mixed with the noise
and speed of taxis, streetcars, and buses are the rickshaws and
oxcarts of old. In addition to all this clutter, monkeys and cows wander

45
about freely, protected from harm by followers of the Hindu faith. The
traffic in India’s three largest cities-Clcutta, Bombay, and Delhi has all
this confusion plus great masses of people.

B. SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOK

The economy of India is based largerly on agriculture. The great
majority of Indans live in a small settlements. Rice and vegetable fiels
surround these villages. Today most land in India is still plowed with
water buffalo.

C. NEWSPAPER INTERVIEW
During a brief interview this morning, a visiting teacher from India told
his reporter, “ the world knows about the vast populations in our three
largest cities. Few realize, however, that 90 percent of all Indians live
in a small agricutural settlements”.

D. TRAVEL FORDER
Contrast is truly the name for India. In its cities sleek cars, buses, and
trolleys compete with rickshaws, tongas, and oxcart. Most Indians still
live in small villages. They raise their crops in the same simple way
used for centuries. The traveller may be surprised, however, at the
sophistication of the three largest cities in India-Bombay, Delh and
Calcuta.

Check each of the following generalizations that you can make on the
basis of the information you have read above. On the spaces provided,
write the letters identifying the paragraphs that contain the necessary
facts upon which the generalization can be made.
____1. The water buffalo is important to Indias’ economy
____2. Meat is served with almost every Indian meal.
____3.The movie industry in India is the largest in the world.
____4.The Hindu religion permits certain animals wander around
freely.

Exercise 3
Directions: Read the following passage about choosing the winner of
the Nobel Prize in Literature. Then, answer the questions that follow.

The Nobel prize

The Nobel Prize in Literature is an important award given to a
writer each year. It takes a long time and many steps to choose the
winner. Writers are nominated, or suggested, by members of the
Swedish Academy, by professors of literature from around the world,
and by previous winners. Each year, about two hundred names are
submitted. During the spring, the Nobel Committee, a small group of
experts, examines the names carefully. The Committee discusses the
work of each writer in detail and then gives a list of about twenty
candidates to the Academy. By the end of the summer, the list is
usually reduced to about five candidates. In October, the Academy
chooses one winner, who must have more than half the votes.

46
 (mildpdf.com/result-reading-generalization-practice-activities.html)
Questions
1. Based on details in this passage, what generalization can you make
about the process of choosing a winner? Begin your generalization
with the words “The process of choosing a winner . . “

2. Identify three details in the passage that support your

generalization.
a.............................................................................................
b.............................................................................................
c..............................................................................................

47
 UNIT 6
SUMMARIZING

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Summarizing is the retelling of the important parts of a passage
in a much shorter form. The reasons for summarizing can be to make
sure you have understood something, to explain the sense of a
passage to someone else, or to review texts for examinations. A
summary is a shorter version of a longer piece of writing. The
summary captures all the most important parts of the original, but
expresses them in a [much] shorter space.
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own
words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to
attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summarized ideas
are not necessarily presented in the same order as in the original
source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take
a broad overview of the source material. We do summarizing when:
 We want to establish background or offer an overview of a topic
 We want to describe common knowledge (from several sources)
about a topic
 We want to determine the main ideas of a single source
A good summary includes:
 The main ideas and the major supporting points
 A good summary does not include minor details, repeated details, or
the reader’s opinions.

B. Summarizing sentences
Summarize a sentence by taking out the unnecessary words.
Use summary words to take the place of groups of words about the
same topic. Keep only the words which tell the main point of the
sentence. Use few words as possible.
Example:
The tall cowboy put the saddle on his horse, untied him from the
fence, waved goodbye and rode off into the sunset.
Summary: The cowboy left.
Explanation: You can leave out the word tall, since that is not an
important fact. All of the things that the cowboy did (put saddle on
horse, untied him, waved good-bye, and rode off) can be summarized
in one word: left.

Exercise 1
Summarize the following sentences.
1. Mathematics deals with seize, order, shape, and other relationship
among quantities.

48
Summary:___________________________

2. Computer science, probability, statistics, and operations research

are often considered part of applied mathematics, whereas abstract
algebra, number theory, and topology are usually considered part of
pure mathematics.
Summary:________________________________

3. NON-EUCLIDEAN GEOMITRIES have been developed by denying the

validity of the famous fifth postulate (parallel postulate), which
stated that “given a line and a point not on the line, one and only
one coplanar line can be drawn through the point parallel to the
given line”.
Summary:________________________________

4. The development of modern computers and calculators has enabled

mathematicians to solve problems that previously were extremely
difficult or impossible to solve.
Summary:________________________________

5. Today a good education in mathematics in careers such as

environmental studies, business, engineering medicine, and
psychology, as well as in the biological, mathematical, and physical
sciences.
Summary:_________________________________

Exercise 2
Summarize the following sentences.
1. After she turned on the oven, Michiko mixed the sugar, flour,
eggs,milk, oil, and vanilla in the new blender, poured the butter into
the buttered pans, and put the cake in the oven
Summary:___________________________

2. As the bus rolled into her hometown, Liz looked around at the
familiar streets and shops which she had not seen for two years.
Summary:___________________________

3. When the Chen family returned fro their vacation, they found the
back door broken open, the television set missing, and all the food
in their freezer gone.
Summary:___________________________

4. In Natasha’s library you can find mysteries, novels, biographies,

travel books, how to manuals, science fiction thrillers, and reference
books.
Summary:___________________________

5. With her new credit card, Yoko bought groceries at the supermarket,
shoes at the department store, and a new set of tires for her sports
car at the auto supply store.

49
Summary:___________________________

C. Summarizing Paragraphs
A paragraph summary should be as short as possible but it must
be complete sentence. The summary of a paragraph is the main idea
of the paragraph. Often (but not always), the main idea is found in the
topic sentence.
Step 1. Read the paragraph contains a topic sentence.
Step 2. Check to see if the paragraph contains a topic sentence
 If the paragraph has a topic sentence, does it state the main idea of
the paragraph? If so, you can use the topic sentence as the
summary
 If the topic sentence is not good statement of the main ideas, write
a summary which states the main idea
Step 3. take out unnecessary word

Example 1
Original text
Shopping malls have produced a revolution in United States shopping
and living habit in just 45 years. Before 1950, there were no malls, but
now almost every city or region has at least one. In fact, shopping
malls have become a part of daily life. Many people even think of them
as social centers. In a way, malls have taken the place of Main Street.
Shops and services which were once spread over several city blocks
are now in one place at the mall. Busy householders can save time by
doing their shopping at the mall. And people young and old, with time
on their hands, often say, “Let’s go to the mall”

Topic sentence: shopping malls have produced a revolution in the

united States shopping and living habits
Summary
Shopping malls have changed United States.

Example 2.
Original text
‘At a typical football match we are likely to see players committing
deliberate fouls, often behind the referee’s back. They might try to
take a throw-in or a free kick from an incorrect but more advantageous
positions in defiance of the clearly stated rules of the game. They
sometimes challenge the rulings of the referee or linesmen in an
offensive way which often deserves exemplary punishment or even
sending off. No wonder spectators fight amongst themselves, damage
stadiums, or take the law into their own hands by invading the pitch in
the hope of affecting the outcome of the match.’ [100 words]
Summary
Unsportsmanklike behaviour by footballers may cause hooliganism
among spectators. [9 words]

50
Exercise 3.
Summarize the following paragraphs.
Although every shopping mall is a bit different in design, shoppers
often quickly feel comfortable in a new mall. That is because malls
usually share certain features. You can almost find most of the
following: a department store, a pharmacy, a toy store, a book shop,
clothing shops for all ages, shoe shops, a bank, and places to eat.
These businesses are all under one roof. Most malls are enclosed, so
that shoppers never have to go outdoors once they get to the mall. A
few malls sometimes also have doors to shops on the outside of the
mall. Every mall is surrounded by a large parking area.
Summary:
________________________________________________________

2. Malls are not all exactly alike. In a suburb of Chicago where many
wealthy people alive, malls are quite large and beautiful. One of these
malls is two stories tall and houses about 50 businesses. These range
from small specialty sops to large luxury department stores. The roof
of the mall is made of glass and is twice as tall as the shops inside.
Musicians play for the customers in the evenings, and trees and
fountains are found in central seating areas. In a poor, rural town in
the southern Mine, however, a typical mall is plain and rather small. It
might have a supermarket, a pizza parlor, a book and gift shop, a
Laundromats, and a bank. All its shops are found on one level and the
interior of the enclosed mall is plain and undecorated. Recorded music
is piped in through speakers.
Summary:
________________________________________________________

3. When shopping malls have changed American life, not all of their
effects have been positive. Most of the shops and services found in
malls are parts of large corporations. These business have taken away
customers from smaller shops in the area and forced them to close.
That has meant a fewer individually owned business and less local
control over jobs. In addition, malls are harmful to the environment.
They have sometime been built on land that is important for the
survival of birds and wild animals. Whenever they are built on land
that cover large areas with buildings and parking lots – instead of trees
or grass. Thus the contribute to the general loss of nature. And finally,
malls are usually far from any town center, so people must use cars to
get there. This results in increased air pollution and heavy traffic on
the roads near the mall.
Summary:
________________________________________________________
4. Neil's Life Years ago when Neil was a boy, he was on the debating
team at the local high school. He had a slick quality, which helped with
the arguments and was often applauded. He had a good speaking
voice. Words are nothing to him now. He doesn't talk to anyone and
complains about the bedbugs under his mattress. He doesn't bother to
shoo the flies away from his morning oatmeal. He remembers

51
sometimes that he ruined his life and although he can't blame it all on
drink, drinking is his whole universe. Often he doesn't bother to get
out of bed or even open his eyes.
Summary:
________________________________________________________

5. A Glimpse of Chinese History In September 1931 the Japanese

invaded Manchuria when China's government was in confusion. They
set up a state with Puyi, the last Chinese emperor, as a puppet head.
Chiang, the Chinese head, was afraid of Communism and went ahead
with his extermination drive to kill Communists. His slogan was
"Pacification first, resistance later." The Communists convinced
Chiang's generals to capture him and an anti-Japanese alliance was
formed. But it did little to stop the advance of the Japanese who
launched an all-out invasion in 1937. By 1939 they had captured and
controlled most of eastern China, forcing the anti-Japanese forces to
retreat west. To this day, many Chinese are distrustful of the
Japanese.

D. Summarizing Passages
Summarizing passage means condensing the main points of
messages in the text which are built from every paragraph in the text.
In this case, we should be brief to get the main point of every
paragraph and then finally using connecting words the summarized
sentence of every paragraph in the text is combined.
For instance, if we read a text containing 5 paragraphs,
summarizing the main point of each paragraph should proceeded first
before combining all paragraph summary into one text summary with
the support of connecting words.

Exercise 4
Summarize this short passage. Work with another student. When you
have finished, compare your work with another pair of students.

A New Way to Visit the Wilderness

A People who are looking for outdoor adventure often go to Maine.
This state in the north-eastern United States contains large areas
of wilderness. There you can enjoy a new and exciting sport: white
water rafting. In the past, this sport was practiced only in the
western states. But now, several outdoor travel companies offer
weekend rafting trips. They provide guide service, equipment, and
even food and they invite people who have had no experience at
all. Thus, city residents, too, can get a taste of wilderness. All they
need to bring with them is a desire for adventure.

B "White water" is the water of a river when it moves very fast over
rocky areas. As the water fills with air bubbles, it looks white. The
areas of white water are also the most exciting areas for rafters-
and also the most dangerous. In fact, rafting guides must always

52
 be on the look for white water. And rafters must be ready to swim,
because the raft can tip over in white water. For that reason,
rafters should always wear special life vests that will keep them
afloat.

C Rafting is a sport that almost anyone can do. It does not require
great physical strength. Sometimes, at very rocky parts of the
river, rafters will need to walk for a while. They may also need to
carry the rubber rafts at times, but these are very light, Paddling
the boats is easy because they are going down river. The main
activity is simply to enjoy the wonderful wild scenery.

D Most rafting companies offer overnight trips that combine with

camping. This kind of trip is ideal for a family with children over
twelve. Several rafts of people will start out from a base camp.
Their food supplies, sleeping bags, tents, and other necessities are
sometimes packed onto the rafts. Or all the supplies might be
brought by car to the next camp site. The guide often is also the
cook for the group of rafters and may be quite a good chef. After a
day of rafting, in any case, the food tastes good and sleep comes
easily.

Write one sentence to summarize each paragraph.

 Paragraph 1:
 Paragraph 2:
 Paragraph 3:
 Paragraph 4:
 Now tie the sentences together to make one short paragraph. Write
the final summary below. Use only the words which are absolutely
necessary.

E. Summary
If you are truly reading critically, at the end of each paragraph you
should be able to give a one-sentence summary of what that
paragraph said. You might also make a two or three word summary at
the top of every couple of pages, then a longer two- or three- sentence
summary at the end of the reading.

53
PRACTICE EXERCISES
Summarize the following passage and compare your work with your
partner.
Lie detector
A new form of lie detector that works by voice analysis and
which can be used without a subject’s knowledge has been introduced
in Britain. The unit is already widely employed by the police and
private industry in the US, and some of its applications there raise
serious worries about its potential here. The Dektor psychological
stress analyser (PSE) is used by private industry for pre-employment
screening, investigating thefts, and even periodic staff checks.
Although at least 600 of the devices are used in the US, there are
apparently only three in Britain. Burns International Security Services
showed its PSE at the International Fire and Security Exhibition in
London last week. Philip Hicks, assistant manager of Burns’ Electron
Division and the Burns official trained to use the PSE, said that one of
the other two units was being employed by a private firm for pre-
employment checks.
In addition to the normally understood voice generation
mechanisms - vibrations of the vocal chords and resonance of cavities
inside the head - there is a third component caused by vibration of the
muscles inside the mouth and throat. Normally, but not under stress,
these voluntary muscles vibrate at 8-12 Hz, and this adds a clearly
noticeable frequency-modulated component to the voice. The PSE
works by analysing this infrasonic FM component. Dektor claims that
the muscle tightening occurs very quickly, and can change from one
word to the next, so that it is possible to pick out a word or phrase
that caused stress.
Dektor emphasises that the device shows only stress, not
dishonesty. Three steps are suggested to overcome this difficulty.
First, the subject is supposed to see a full list of the questions in
advance. Second, there are ‘neutral’ questions and one to which the
subject is specifically asked to lie. Third, if an individual shows stress
on a vital question (such as Have you stolen more than £100 in the
last six months?), then additional questions must be asked to ensure
that this does not reflect an earlier theft or the subject’s knowledge of
someone else responsible.
The standard report recommended by Dektor is simply the
statement ‘After careful analysis, it is the opinion of this Examiner that
the Subject’s chart did contain specific reaction, indicative of
deception, to the relevant questions listed below.’ And Hicks admitted
that if a person showed stress and Hicks was unable to ascertain just
what caused the stress, he would assume that the stress was
‘indicative of deception’.
In the US, the device is used for pre-employment interviews,
with questions such as ‘Have you used marihuana?’ and for monthly
checks with branch managers, asking questions like ‘Do you suspect
any present employees of cheating the company?’- which at least
prevents a manager from setting his own pace to investigate possibly
suspicious behaviour. Finally, US insurance investigators are now using

54
the PSE. They need not carry it with them - only tape record the
interview, usually with the permission of the unsuspecting claimant.
Not only does an assessor go through the claim form to look for false
claims (a questionable practice, because a person is just as likely to
stress over being rEmynded of a lost or damaged object as to lying),
but he also offers less money than requested. The claimant’s response
can, apparently, be analysed to show if he is, in fact, likely to
eventually accept.
The potential application of the PSE in Britain is extremely
disquieting, especially as there seems no law to prevent its use. The
most serious problem is that its primary application will be in situations
where people may not object - such as pre-employment interviews.
But it can also be used to probe a whole range of personal issues
totally unrelated to job - union and political affiliations, for example.
And, of course, the PSE can be used without the subject even
knowing; its inventors analysed the televised Watergate hearings and
told the press who they thought was lying. Finally, the device is not
foolproof but depends on the skill of the investigator, who receives
only a one-week course from Dektor.
In the US, where lie detectors of all sorts are much more widely
used, Senator Sam J. Ervin has introduced a bill to virtually prohibit
their use by private companies. There may be a privacy bill from the
UK government this summer, and hopefully it will include the use of lie
detectors. In the interim, trade unions and consumer groups should
prevent their use before they become widespread.
(Article by Joseph Hanlon in New Scientist

55
 UNIT 7
PARAPHRASING

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
In reading comprehension paraphrase skill is an important skill
that is to be possessed to check the reader’s comprehension. It does
not mean only to express ideas but also to retell what has been
understood in such a way that it is still the same as the original idea.
To paraphrase means to read and understand a text and then
retell or rewrite it using different words to express the same meaning
as the original idea from the text. In other words, A paraphrase is a
restatement of an author’s original ideas into your own words. It is
essentially a translation of the author’s published ideas into the
reader’s interpretation of them. It shows that a reader has really
understood what he/she has read. The important things here are: the
ideas must retain the same and the words are not the same as the
original. It means that the reader has to possess some other skills
supporting this, such as grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills. It is
so since in paraphrasing it is necessary to change grammatical
structures, to use similar vocabulary, to reorder the sequence of
details, and above all to use the reader’s own style.

EXAMPLE
The original sentence:
“Until recently, criminologists could not afford to analyze DNA
evidence for all homicide cases.”
An effective paraphrase of this sentence:
“Crime labs now can use DNA for all murder cases.”

NOTE: This paraphrase utilizes synonyms to replace key words. Some

are very close (DNA vs. DNA evidence and homicide vs. murder), while
others take more liberties (criminologists vs. crime labs and could not
vs. now can). The essential meaning has been retained, however,
despite these significant changes. Avoid choosing synonyms that
evoke different meanings or different degrees of meaning (such as
woman vs. girl or good vs. great).
Paraphrase when:
 You plan to use information on your note cards and wish to avoid
plagiarizing
 You want to avoid overusing quotations
 You want to use your own voice to present information
The idea in the new version has to be the same as the original
one. This is sometimes what makes paraphrasing seem difficult since
some changes have to be done in terms of grammar, vocabulary,
structure, etc except unchangeable terms.
Here are some suggestions to paraphrase.

56
1. Structure: The grammatical structure should be changed without
changing the meaning of the original. It can be done by combining
some parts, either words, phrases, or clauses, or by making a
(complex) structure into smaller parts.
2. Meaning: The paraphrase made must have the same meaning as the
source. In addition, it should have similar relationship between the
ideas (the main and supporting details)
3. Words: you should use different vocabulary when possible. This can
be done by using synonyms/expressions and simpler phrases. It is
important however to use specialized terms which have no
synonyms (e.g. calcium, plastic, neutron) Proper names (e.g.
Europe, Asia, United Nations), number and formulae.
4. Length: the length should not change a lot compared to the one in
the original
5. Style: it should be your own style and not an imitation or copy from
the original.

Look at the following example:

China has long been the world’s most populous nation-but no one
knew exactly how populous it was until last week.
Paraphrase:
Although China has been the world’s most heavily populated country
for many years, the exact population was not known until a week ago

B. Paraphrasing Techniques
1. Replace a Phrase with a Word (or a Word with a Phrase)
When summarizing lengthy or complex quotes or passages, you can
shorten the number of words you use in your paraphrase by
condensing phrases into words.

EXAMPLE

The original sentence:

“Until recently, criminologists could not afford to analyze DNA
evidence for all homicide cases.”
NOTE: If you can choose to begin your paraphrase with the word
“criminologist,” then naturally shorten the phrase “until recently” by
using it as a simple adverb (such as “recently” or “now”), eliminating
the need for the extra words in the paraphrase

Start the Sentence Differently

Sometimes, many of the sentences that you summarize from abstracts
end up being written in the same sentence construction. Therefore,
you may need to rearrange a few phrases or clauses to enhance your
variety and readability.

EXAMPLE

57
 Instead of beginning your paraphrase with the adverb phrase
“Until recently,” begin with the simple subject (“criminologists” or
“crime labs”).

2. Replace a Word with a Synonym

Many words, especially nouns, verbs and adjectives, have counterparts
that are interchangeable with the author’s original words.

EXAMPLES

Replacing the author’s original word “criminologists” with the word

“cops” may change the intended meaning of the idea, since “cop”
implies different connotations, images, and stereotypes than does
“criminologists.” Perhaps “crime lab” would work well.
Likewise, strong synonyms exist for other words in that original
sentence: “homicide” can become “murder” and “DNA evidence”
can be shortened to “DNA.”
I don’t think that “use” is the most effective replacement word for
my sample paraphrase, but I felt that the verb “analyze” needed to
be changed, since it dominates the author’s language in the
original sentence. Words like “scrutinize” and “interpret” would
have been better choices in many circumstances, but, since
criminologists are really “using” the new DNA scanning technology
to place subjects at the scene of a crime, maybe this simple word
works well enough.
Remember, you are not trying to change an author’s original
wording into baby talk, but you don’t want to puff it up artificially
with bigger words either.

NOTE: Specific nouns that are essential to the meaning of a

sentence must remain intact (such as the U.S. Civil War, or
President Harry S. Truman).

3. Change Passive into Active Voice/Negative Slant to Positive

Replace any linking verbs with action verbs. This will increase your
options and improve the clarity of your summary.

Exercise 1: Paraphrasing sentence

Direction: Complete the sentences using the words in brackets. Use
two to five words.

1. Mehmet has a good relationship with his neighbours. (get)

Mehmet_________________________________________ his
neighbours.
2. It was difficult for my mother to set up the new software. (found)
My mother_________________________________________ up
the new software.
3. The escalator isn’t working; please use the stairs instead. (out)

58
 The escalator___________________________; please use the
stairs instead.
4. Shall I call Mr.Paro for you? (me)
Would________________________________ Mr.Paro for you?
5. Murat doesn’t mind driving for two hours to work everyday. (used)
Murat_______________________________________________
for two hours to work everyday.
6. “I’m sorry I broke your mug” Janet said. (breaking)
Janet__ ______________________________________________
my mug.
7. They cancelled the flight because of thick fog. (off)
The flight_ _____________________________________ because
of the thick fog.
8. The summit meeting will be held in Istanbul. (place)
The summit meeting_________________________________ in
Istanbul.
9. Roberto took a month to design the concept car. (him)
It________________________________________to design the
concept car.
10. My father took up bowling three years ago. (been)
My father___________________________________________
three years.

C.Paraphrasing Longer Texts

Besides paraphrasing sentences we also should be able to
paraphrase longer texts such as paragraphs or essays. Here are some
suggestions on the steps to paraphrase longer texts.
1. Read the original text
2. Understand it
3. Put away the original text
4. Make a simple list of the main points you get from reading the
source
5. Reread the text quickly to assure all important points are included
already
6. Put away the original text again
7. Combine the points you have made into a newly formed structure
with good grammar.
8. Reread your paraphrase while correcting some grammar parts and
organization if needed.
9. Check your paraphrase against the source. Is it a good paraphrase?

By following these steps it is expected that you can make a good

paraphrase which is
 accurate (the ideas are the same between the original and the
new one)
 original (the language use is different from the source)
 grammatical (it is grammatically correct without changing the
meaning)
10. Rewrite your good paraphrase following those three criteria

59
Example 1.
Read the following passage and see the possible paraphrase.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei published a small book describing astronomical
observations that he had made of the skies above Padua. His
homemade telescopes had less magnifying and resolving power than
most beginners’ telescopes sold today, yet with them he made
astonishing discoveries: that the moon has mountains and other
topographical features; that Jupiter is orbited by satellites, which he
called planets; and that the Milky Way is made up of individual stars.
From David Owen, “The Dark Side: Making War on Light Pollution,” The
New Yorker (20 August 2007): 28.

Possible Paraphrase
There is not a single correct answer, but you could paraphrase the
above passage by writing something like this:
Galileo was able to make some amazing discoveries with his telescope.
He made discoveries about the moon, about Jupiter, and about the
Milky Way. He was able to do this with a telescope that was less
powerful than even today's most basic telescopes.
Your paraphrase doesn't have to be a work of art. However, it should
contain the author's main ideas and it should be written in your own
words. You can find more passages for paraphrasing on the pages that
follow.

Example 2.
Original passage:
Nobody called him Abe--at least not to his face--because he loathed
the nickname. It did not befit a respected professional who'd struggled
hard to overcome the limitations of his frontier background. Frankly
Lincoln enjoyed his status as a lawyer and politician, and he liked
money, too, and used it to measure his worth. By the 1850's, thanks
to a combination of talent and sheer hard work, Lincoln was a man of
substantial wealth. He had an annual income of around $5,000--the
equivalent of many times that today--and large financial and real-
estate investments.
Oates, Stephen B. Our Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, and the Civil War
Era. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1979. p. 65

Incorrect paraphrase:
No one used Lincoln's nickname, Abe, because he detested it. It didn't
go with a lawyer and politician who had worked to get away from the
restrictions of his country heritage. Lincoln liked his new position, and
his wealth, and used it to gauge his status. By mid-century, his skill
and labor had made him a fairly wealthy man. He had a yearly income
of approximately $5,000 - equal to several times that now - and hefty
business and land commitments.
** This is incorrect because it uses the same basic structure as the
original with some word changes and does not credit the author.
Correct paraphrase:

60
By the middle of the century, Lincoln enjoyed life as a well-respected
lawyer and politician, having acquired a position of status and wealth
that was well removed from his early "frontier background". He now
was bringing in $5,000 a year (this translates to $87,500 in 1997
dollars [Derks, 2]), and had substantial "financial and real estate
investments". As a consequence, he disliked being called Abe because
of its association with his rural heritage. (Oates, 65)
** This is correct because it portrays the ideas of Oates' passage and
gives Oates credit for his ideas. The writer has used his own words to
present those ideas and has used quotation marks for those phrases
that are from Oates. The writer has also included additional research
on the value of the income and has sited the source for that as well.

Exercise 2. Paraphrasing Paragraphs

Direction: Read the following passage and paraphrase it by
putting it into your own words.
1. In American society, Introverts are outnumbered about three to
one. As a result, they must develop extra coping skills early in life
because there will be an inordinate amount of pressure on them to
“shape up,” to act like the rest of the world. The Introvert is
pressured daily, almost from the moment of awakening, to respond
and conform to the outer world. Classroom teachers unwittingly
pressure Introverted students by announcing that “One-third of
your grade will be based on classroom participation.” From Otto
Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen, Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types that
Determine How We Live, Love and Work. New York: Dell Publishing, 1989.
2. "Michelangelo was a man of tenacious and profound memory,”
Vasari says, “so that, on seeing the works of others only once, he
remembered them perfectly and could avail himself of them in
such a manner that scarcely anyone has ever noticed it."
That “scarcely anyone has ever noticed it,” is easy to understand.
For, Michelangelo, when exploiting the “works of others,” classical
or modern, subjected them to a transformation so radical, that the
results appear no less “Michelangelesque” than his independent
creations. From Erwin Panofsky, Studies in Iconography. New York: Harper and
Row, 1971.
3. By mid-December, 1914, British troops had been fighting on the
Continent for over five months. Casualties had been shocking,
positions had settled into self-destructive stalemate, and sensitive
people now perceived that the war, far from promising to be “over
by Christmas,” was going to extend itself to hitherto unimagined
reaches of suffering and irony. From Paul Fussell, The Great War and
Modern Memory. London: Oxford University Press, 1977.
4. It has never been denied that Dante the political philosopher as
well as Dante the poet assimilated to the full the political doctrines
by which his century was moved. In fact, Dante held a key-position
in the political and intellectual discussions around 1300, and if in a
superficial manner he has often been labeled reactionary, it is
simply the prevalence of the imperial idea in Dante’s
works—different though it was from that of the preceding

61
 centuries—which obscured the overwhelmingly unconventional
features of his moral-political outlook. From Ernst H. Kantorowicz, The
King’s Two Bodies. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
5. It is natural, and in so rapid and superficial review as this
inevitable, to consider the criticism of Wordsworth and Coleridge
together. But we must keep in mind how very different were not
only the men themselves, but the circumstances and motives of
the composition of their principal critical statements. Wordsworth’s
Preface to Lyrical Ballads was written while he was still in his
youth, and while his poetic genius still had much to do; Coleridge
wrote the Biographia Litteraria much later in life, when poetry,
except for that one brief and touching lament for lost youth, had
deserted him, and when the disastrous effects of long dissipation
and stupefaction of his powers in transcendental metaphysics were
bringing him to a state of lethargy. From T. S. Eliot, The Use of Poetry and
the Use of Criticism: Studies in the Relation of Criticism to Poetry in England.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961. Wordsworth and Coleridge 58-77.

D. Summary
Paraphrasing seems quite similiar to summary in a sense that we use
our own words to express the writer’s idea. Yet, paraphrasing includes
everything in the original or details and examples.

E. PRACTICE EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Read the following sentences and choose the best paraphrase.
1. “In short, adoption is a ubiquitous social institution in American
society, creating invisible relationships with biological and adoptive
kin that touch far more people than we imagine.”
a. In America, more people are adopted than was originally
thought.
b. Adoption touches a surprising number of people throughout
American society.
c. Because adoptees are “invisible,” their circumstances are hard to
imagine.
d. Relationships between biological and adoptive kin have
international scope.
2. “While raising a family is inherently stressful, adoption is filled with
additional tensions that are unique to the adoptive relationship.”
a. Families that adopt children can avoid some of the tensions
inherent in biological families.
b. Raising a family under stressful conditions can discourage
potential adoptive parents.
c. The adoptive relationship is inherently stressful.
d. Families with an adopted member face more challenges than
biological families.
3. “Third, in a nation that sanctifies blood kinship, adoptive families
and adoptees are stigmatized because of their lack of biological
relationship.”

62
 a. Nations that sanctify blood relationships are often stigmatized.
b. Adoptive families and adoptees are treated like criminals in
nations that over-value blood relationships.
c. Where blood kinship is excessively valued, adoption is considered
inferior.
d. In some nations, adoptees do not have the same legal
relationship to their adoptive parents as blood kin have to their
birth parents.
4. “Opposing these adoptees, some birth mothers argued that they
were promised secrecy when they relinquished their children for
adoption and that abrogating that promise constituted an invasion
of privacy.”
a. Some birth mothers who were promised secrecy about their role
felt that breaking that promise was an invasion of their privacy.
b. In order to retain their privacy, some birth mothers refused to
reveal their identities when they relinquished their children for
adoption.
c. Some adoptees support their birth mothers’ right to secrecy, even
if it was promised to them when they gave their children for
adoption.
d. Some birth mothers felt that their biological children’s pursuit of
their identities should be abandoned based on the possibility that
the birth mother requested privacy.
(taken from https://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472031333-samplereading5.pdf)

Exercise 2
Read and paraphrase the following passages.

Acquiring new knowledge.

In all learning, advances tend to come irregularly and in bursts,
as you gain fresh insights into the subject. In order to obtain these
insights you must thoroughly understand what you are studying. If you
really understand a subject not only do you remember it easily, but
you can apply your know ledge in new situations. The important thing
is not what you know, but what you can do with what you know. The
extra effort involved in getting a firm grounding in the essentials of a
subject is repaid many times in later study. How are you to achieve
understanding? Understanding involves (1) linking new knowledge to
the old and (2) organizing it and remembering it in a systematic
fashion. To retain and make sense of any new concept or fact it must
be linked in as many ways as possible to your existing body of
knowledge. All good introductory textbooks are constantly giving
familiar examples, or using analogies, or appealing to common
experience.
In setting out the differences between daylight vision and
twilight vision, for example, most writers point out that as twilight falls
in the garden, blue flowers remain blue for some time after red
blossoms appear black, illustrating, by appeal to common experience,
that under dim illumination the colours of the blue end of the spectrum
become relatively brighter than those of the red end. Or again, to

63
illustrate that the movement of any particular electron during the
passage of an electric current is only a few centimetres a second,
although the velocity of the current is extremely great, the analogy is
often used of a truck run into the end of a long line of trucks in a
shunting yard, a corresponding truck being rapidly ejected from the far
end. Linking new information to familiar experience in this fashion
always helps understanding. In order to tie the new information to
your stock of knowledge with as many links as possible, you must
reflect on it, and try and relate it to what you already know. Thinking
the matter over by yourself, writing out summaries of the main points,
and talking to other students about it, are all valuable for fixing it more
clearly in your mind.'
How to Study, Maddox (Pan)

64
 UNIT 8
SYNTHESIZING

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Once you have analyzed each of your sources and discovered their
similarities and differences, you then reassemble these parts into a
more coherent whole. This process is called synthesis. Although you
may regard analysis and synthesis as contradictory operations, they
are actually overlapping stages of a single, larger process. In other
nwords, synthesis is a way of thinking—a reasoning process that draws
multiple inferences from an entire passage or integrates information
from outside the passage to reach a new understanding. Solving
synthesis questions is much like solving a puzzle. In a puzzle all of the
pieces when linked together give you the full picture. Synthesis
requires you to link the pieces you have observed and what you know
from your experiences to form a new context. According to Bumgarner
(2010) synthesizing is the process whereby new information is merged
with prior knowledge to form a new idea, perspective, or opinion or to
generate insight.

B. Ways to synthesize
There are several ways to synthesize:
a. How to Synthesize Multiple Sources
When you write from sources, your object is not to establish a
single “right” conclusion but rather to present a thesis statement of
your own that is based on your examination of a variety of views or a
diverse collection of information.
1. Step One: Analyze and Break Down Information
First, break down a mass of information into individual pieces
and then examine the pieces. Look for similarities and distinctions, as
well as the basic principles underlying what you read. Only when you
have taken apart the evidence of each source to see how it works can
you begin to find ways of putting everything back together again in
your own essay.
Responses from multiple sources almost always overlap. Notice the
common meanings in this condensed list of five sources’ responses
when asked what the word foreign means.

 John Brown: “Foreign” means unfamiliar and exotic.

65
 Lynne Williams: “Foreign” means strange and unusual.
 Bill White: “Foreign” means strange and exciting (as in “foreign
body”).
 Mary Green: “Foreign” means exciting and exotic.
 Bob Friedman: “Foreign” means difficult and incomprehensible (as in
“foreign language”).
Exercise 1
Find the two main shades of meaning for the word “foreign” given in
the above definitions.

Planning your essay depends on finding common meanings, not writing

down the names of the five sources. That is why the one-source-per-
paragraph method should hardly ever be used (except on those very
rare occasions when all the sources completely disagree). When you
organize ideas taken from multiple sources, you should reject the idea
of devoting one paragraph to each pages of your notes, simply
because all the ideas on that page happen to come from the same
source. If you did so, each paragraph would have a topic sentence that
might read, “Then I asked John Brown for his definition,” as if John
Brown were the topic for discussion, instead of his views on “foreign.”
And if John Brown and Mary Green each get a separate paragraph,
there will be some repetition because both think that one of the
meanings of “foreign” is “exotic.” “Exotic” should be the topic of one of
your paragraphs, not the person (or people) who suggested that
meaning.

Exercise 2
Find the two main shades of meaning for the word “individualist” given
in the following explanations.

Richard Becker: an “individualist” is a person who is unique and does

not “fall into the common mode of doing things”; would not follow a
pattern set by society. “A youngster who is not involved in the drug
scene just because his friends are.” A good word; it would be insulting
only if it referred to a troublemaker.
Simon Jackson: doing things on your own, by yourself. “She’s such as
individualist that she insisted on answering the question in her own
way.” Sometimes the word is good, but mostly it has a bad
connotation: someone who rebels against society or authority.
Lois Archer: one who doesn’t “follow the flock.” The word refers to
someone who is very independent. “I respect Jane because she is an
individualist and her own person.” Usually very complimentary.
Vera Lewis: an extremely independent person. “An individualist is a
person who does not want to contribute to society.” Bad meaning:
usually antisocial. She first heard the word in psych class, describing
the characteristics of the individualist and “how he reacts to society.”

b. Synthesize and Build Back Up Information in a New Form

66
 Consider the responses to the questions, “Would you buy a
lottery ticket? Why?” First, read through these summaries of all seven
responses.
Mary Smith: She thinks that lottery tickets were made for people to
enjoy and win. It’s fun to try your luck. She looks forward to buying
her ticket because she feels that, for one dollar, you have a chance to
win a lot more. It’s also fun scratching off the numbers to see what
you’ve won. Some people don’t buy tickets because they think the
lottery is a big rip-off; but “a dollar can’t buy that much today, so why
not spend it and have a good time?”
John Jones: He would buy a lottery ticket for three reasons. The first
reason is that he would love to win. The odds are like a challenge, and
he likes to take a chance. The second reason is just for fun. When he
has two matching tickets, he really feels happy, especially when he
thinks that dollars can be multiplied into hundreds or thousands. “It’s
like Russian roulette.” The third reason is that part of the money from
the lottery goes toward his education. The only problem, he says, is
that they are always sold out!
Michael Green: He has never bought a lottery ticket in his life because
he doesn’t want to lose money. He wants to be sure of winning. Also,
he says that he isn’t patient enough. The buyer of a lottery ticket has
to be very patient to wait for his chance to win. He thinks that people
who buy tickets all the time must enjoy “living dangerously.”
Anne White: Buying a lottery ticket gives her a sense of excitement.
She regards herself as a gambler. “When you win two dollars or five
dollars you get a thrill of victory, and when you see that you haven’t,
you feel the agony of defeat.” She thinks that people who don’t buy
tickets must be very cautious and non competitive, since the lottery
brings “a sense of competition with you against millions of other
people.” She also knows that the money she spends on tickets goes
toward education.
Margaret Brown: She feels that people who buy tickets are wasting
their money. The dollars spent on the lottery could be in the bank,
getting interest. Those people who buy tickets should expect to have
thrown out their money and should take their losses philosophically,
instead of jumping up and down and screaming about their
disappointment. Finally, even if she could afford the risk, the laws of
her religion forbid her to participate in “any sort of game that is a form
of gambling.”
William Black: He would buy a lottery ticket because he thinks it can
be fun, but he wouldn’t buy too many because he thinks it’s easy for
people to get carried away and obsessed by the lottery. He enjoys the
anticipation of wanting to win and maybe winning. “I think that you
should participate, but in proportion to your budget; after all, one day
you might just be a winner.”
Elizabeth Watson: She wouldn’t buy a lottery ticket because she
considers them a rip-off. The odds are too much against you, 240,000
to 1. Also, it is much too expensive, “and I don’t have the money to be
throwing away on such foolishness.” She thinks that people who
indulge themselves with lottery tickets become gamblers, and she’s

67
against all kinds of gambling. Such people have no sense or self-
control. Finally, “I’m a sore loser, so buying lottery tickets just isn’t for
me.”

C. Summary

To synthesize is to weave together material from several sources,

including your personal prior knowledge, to create a new whole.
Unsynthesized ideas and information are like separate spools of
thread, neatly lined up, possibly coordinated but not integrated.
Synthesized ideas and information are threads woven into a new whole
that shows relationships.
To synthesize, consciously apply several strategies. For instance,
compare ideas in sources, contrast ideas in sources, create definitions
that combine and extend definitions in individual sources, apply
examples or descriptions from one source to illustrate ideas in another,
and find causes and effects described in one source that explain
another.

D. PRACTICE EXERCISES

Exercise 1
Read the two articles below and, in a paragraph of not more than 100
words, sum up the discovery described in the two articles, saying what
is known and what is still not known about the creature.
The biggest flying monster in the world
The largest known creature ever to have flown, an extinct reptile with
an estimated wingspan of 51ft, has been discovered by fossil hunters
in west Texas.

The creature, which lived more than 60 million years ago, had twice
the wingspan of the biggest previously known pterodactyl, or winged
reptile, and nearly six times the wing-span of the condor, the largest
bird now alive.

The estimated size of the creature is derived from calculations based

on the size of many fragmentary, and some complete bones found in
excavations during the past three years at Big Bend national park in
Brewster County, Texas.

Announcement of the discovery, in the present issue of Science, is

expected to rekindle an old debate among palaeontologists over
whether flying reptiles flapped their featherless, leathery wings or
merely climbed on to high perches and leapt into the air currents to
soar like gliders.

One scientist familiar with the discovery said that the mammoth size of
the newly found creature made improbable the theory that it was able
to rise into the air under wing-power alone. He noted, however, that

68
the lack of a reliable estimate of the reptile's weight virtually precluded
any calculation of its aerodynamic properties.

The fossils were found by Mr Douglas Lawson, a graduate student at

the University of California, who began searching in the Big Bend area
while a student at Texas University. His continuing explorations and
study of the fossils are being carried out under the auspices of the
university's vertebrate palaeontology laboratory.
Although the reptile clearly represents a new species, it has not yet
been given a formal scientific name. There are many known species of
flying reptiles. Scientists generally refer to all as pterosaurs, but the
popular name pterodactyl is also considered correct. All are extinct.
'What's so extraordinary about this thing is its tremendous size', Dr
Wann Langston, director of the vertebrate palaeontology laboratory,
said. 'There has never been anything like this before.'
In his report Mr Lawson says he has discovered the partial skeletons of
three of the large pterosaurs, including the remains of four wings, a
neck, the hind legs (forelimbs with claws are frequently part of the
wing structure), and jaws, which were toothless.
Unlike most previously known pterosaurs, the Big Bend creature was
found in non-marine sediments, suggesting that its habitat was away
from oceans. Most pterosaurs are considered to have been fish eaters,
scooping up their prey while gliding over the waves.
The Big Bend fossils were found in fresh-water sediments far from the
oceans of that time. In his report Mr Lawson writes that the reptile's
unusually long neck suggests it may have been a carrion-eater,
feeding on dead dinosaurs, much as the condors and other vultures of
today consume dead animals

Monster could not flap wings

The extinct reptile with an estimated wingspan of 51ft, found by fossil
hunters in western Texas, would have been a warm-blooded creature,
with a furry coat like that of a mammal, according to Mr Adrian
Desmond, of Harvard University museum of comparative zoology.
Mr Desmond, who is in England writing a book about dinosaurs and
pterosaurs, said yesterday that the creature was much larger than any
pterosaur - the popular name of which is pterodactyl - found before.
The one found in 1970 in Soviet Kazakhstan was furry.
'It is wrong to think that the pterodactyl had featherless, leathery
wings, because they were warm-blooded creatures, and the one found
in Russia had furry wings, and fur on its fingers', he said. 'In that, they
were like mammals, although they are called reptiles.'
The size of the creature found in the Big Bend national park in
Brewster County, Texas, was derived from calculations based on the
size of many fragmentary, and some complete bones, excavated over
the past three years.

Mr Desmond said that it would not have flapped its wings, because
they would be too heavy for the creature to cope with if flapped. It

69
would simply have raised them and floated into the air when it wished
to fly.

'The find is much larger than anything discovered before. The largest
one found before the Texas excavation had a wingspan of 23ft, and the
latest find is extraordinary because it was never thought that there
could be anything bigger. It is very fascinating indeed.'
(Reports from The Times )

70
 UNIT 9
TONE AND BIAS

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
A writer's tone or mood is a reflection of the writer's attitude
or feelings toward a given topic or issue. It is expressed by the words
and phrases used in the information presented. As with purpose, it is
important for you to recognize the tone, because it helps you
determine a writer's motivations or reasons for writing, which can in
turn make it easier to recognize bias and distinguish between facts and
opinions. Furthermore, it is part of the whole evaluation process that
you should use when considering not only what you read but also what
you see and hear.
Thus tone is an important consideration when you deal with
contemporary issues and also when you gather information from
people and written sources for problem-solving purposes. When
interacting face to face, a person's tone of voice and body language
will sometimes reveal the person's feelings on a given matter, so you
may find yourself in a better position to assess the quality of the
information the person is giving you. This, in turn, may help you solve
a problem more efficiently. The same benefit applies when dealing with
written sources for problem solving, when you want to weigh their
objectivity.
As with purpose, writers don't always come right out and say
what they are feeling about a particular topic or issue. In those
instances it becomes necessary to "read between the lines" and use
inference skills to help determine tone. Thus the words and phrases
acate that the writer's purpose is to entertain and vice versa. On the
other hand, if the tone is matter-of-fact, the purpose is likely to be
informational.
When trying to recognize the tone, there are several possibilities
to be considered. This is certainly the case when dealing with
contemporary issues, where writers sometimes have more than one
purpose. In addition, they may also express more than one attitude
toward the subject matter. On those occasions, follow the same
procedure that you used when dealing with a combination of purposes:
Concentrate on the most important messages and the information that
lends direct support to them. This should help you uncover the overall
tone.
We will focus on five common tones or moods that are often
expressed by writers: matter-of-fact, humorous, angry, sad, and
ironic. Each one represents an overall feeling or attitude by a given
writer toward a particular subject. Let us look at each of these.

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B. Variations of Tones

1. Matter-of-Fact Tone
When adopting a matter-of-fact tone, which is common in
textbooks, the writer sticks the facts and presents them in a
straightforward, unemotional manner. In other words, is a concerted
attempt to be evenhanded and objective. The purpose is informational.
For example, read this paragraph:
Although progress has been made with regard to
women’s rights in the United States, it appears that there is
room for improvement. There are still jobs not open to them,
and they are sometimes paid less than men occupying the same
or similar positions. Furthermore, some women have been the
victims of out-and-out sexual harassment on the job. In short,
it will take a while longer before we can safely say that there is
equality between the sexes.
The paragraph expresses little emotion as the author attempts
to present the information in a straightforward and unbiased way. For
the most part, the words used are not extreme or slanted.

2. Humorous tone
A humorous tone is the one in which a writer presents
information in a lighthearted manner designed to entertain or make
the reader laugh. For instance, read the following paragraph, which
deals with the same subject matter as the previous one:

If you believe that there has been much progress with

regard to women’s rights in the United States, you probably
also believe in the Tooth fairy wake up and smell the
aftershave lotion! Women are still excluded from some jobs as
if they were suffering from some weird contagious disease. And
just compare their pay scales to those of men in certain
positions-you could die laughing. Not to mention that some
males turn into cavemen when they are around women on the
job. Equality between the sexes? Give me a break!

Although the paragraph makes basically the same points as the

previous matter-of fact one, it does so in a much more lighthearted
way. The use of expressions like "Tooth ,airy," "weird contagious
disease," "you could die laughing," "turn into cavemen" and the
various exclamations are an attempt to be funny and make the reader
laugh.

3. Critical Tone
It is true that many tones can be used to criticise, but the
critical tone itself criticises straightforwardly. The author points out
that the actions and beliefs of a person or institution which he judges

72
to be wrong. The following is the letter from a politician to the local
newspaper.

Example:
When we do not know the complete facts about a story,
we must be careful not to draw conclusions that may not be
true. In judging whether or not the President is making use of
his power for his own sake, need to be proven by some facts.
Has anyone proved that the President is so? If not then it is
better not to make an early judgment.

a. Who/was is the professor criticizing?

b. Besides a critical tone, is there any other tone present?

4. Cynical Tone
Reveals a sense of helplessness and hopelessness toward life--a
feeling that nothing really can be changed, that evil will prevail, that
man is basically selfish, incapable of being reformed. As an example of
cynicism, consider the following statement made by a person of voting
age.
Example: "Don't talk to me about voting or politics. I'm not
interested. All politicians are self-serving and corrupt. My vote won't
change a thing."
a. According to the writer, what does he think about the issue?
b. What words does the writer use to establish the cynical tone?

5. Sarcastic Tone
Like criticism and cynism, sarcasm is used to criticize, but on a
more personal level. Sarcasm aims at hurting person’s feeling and can,
therefore be very sharp and painful. The writer uses words which show
the writer’s contempt, anger, spite, malice at a certain person.

Exampe:
I am sick and tired of hearing how much "progress" has been
made with regard to women's rights in the United States. Women are
prevented from filling some jobs and are paid ridiculously low wages in
certain positions, compared to men. Furthermore, some men behave
obnoxiously when they are around women on the job. It is absurd to
say that we have achieved equality between the sexes.

The paragraph is presented in much more emotional manner. The

use of the expressions sick and tired," "ridiculously low," "behave
obnoxiously," and "absurd" clearly express he writer's anger.

6. Sentimental Tone
Identifies that which is affectedly or extravagantly emotional
instead of rational; it may also reveal romantic feelings. A good
example is the paragraph which follows:
Example:

73
 Jim and Mary Smith had looked forward to the trip for months.
They were returning to a city they had fallen in love with during the
five years it was their home over a decade ago. So many memories
were rooted in those years when they lived near Washington D.C. They
had bought their first house while they lived in a nearby suburb. Their
two sons had begun school during those years, and Jim and Mary had
established many close friendships. Above all, they had become caught
up in the excitement of living in the nation's capital, with its continual
political intrigue and constant awareness of international affairs.
Indeed, they were more than eager to return, see friends, and visit the
beautiful city they loved

7. Moralizing Tone
Attempts to explain or interpret good or bad features of
something. It is explicitly and clearly trying to reform. There is no
subtlety involved. An example of moralizing is the following statement:
Example:
"Well, if you want to live like a yuppie, you better study hard and
complete your education. That piece of parchment is the bottom rung
of the yuppie ladder!"

8. Nostalgic Tone
Reveals a kind of homesickness for the past, a desire to return
to "the good old days." The following statement reflects nostalgia:
Example:
"Oh, for the halcyon days of our childhood when there was time for
playing family games, reading good books, enjoying dinner
conversation; we knew each other; we shared our joys and
disappointments--no boob tube then," the mother reminisced.

9. Sad Tone
A sad tone presents information in a gloomy, melancholy, or
sorrowful way. For instance, read the following paragraph on the same
topic as the previous ones:

Although some slight progress has been made with

regard to women's rights in the United States, there is,
regrettably, ample room for improvement. It is discouraging to
realize that some jobs are still not open to women and that
women are too often paid less than men occupying the same or
similar positions. Furthermore, some women are still the
unfortunate victims of sexual harassment on the job. In short,
equality between the sexes at this point remains far beyond our
grasp. What a sad state of affairs!

Once again, the points that are made in the paragraph are
similar to those found in the others, but this time they are presented in
a downcast manner. The use of "regrettably," "discouraging,"
"unfortunate," and "sad state of affairs" and the generally negative

74
approach to the material indicate that the writer is pessimistic about
the situation.

10. Ironic Tone

The dictionary defines irony as "a method of humorous or
sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words used
is the direct opposite of their usual sense" or "a combination of
circumstances or a result that is the opposite of what might be
expected or considered appropriate." Thus an ironic message conveys
its meaning by using words to mean the opposite of what they usually
mean, and an ironic event is an occurrence that is the opposite or
reverse of what is normally expected. We might describe a bad day in
a sarcastic manner by saying "What a wonderful day I've had!" or we
might observe the irony and the fact that the first ship specifically
designed to be unsinkable, the Titanic, sank on its very first voyage. A
writer generally uses irony to present messages in a catchy, unusual
way so that readers will take notice and remember them. Let us look
at another example of irony, an occurrence that is the opposite of what
is normally expected:

1. Earnest, lean Regilio Tuur, looking like a strip of copper wire with
muscles, was nonsense as he shadowboxed outside the bloodstained
ring at Gleason's Gym near the Brooklyn waterfront. But he
permitted himself an ironic laugh when his workout was over and he
talked about how his craft had changed.

2. He remembers when his big concern was how to keep from being
cut badly. These days, he worries more when an opponent starts
gushing blood. You never know anymore, said this young man....
Who can say where the other fellow has been?

3. "I've fought four times in the last year and had four H.I.V. tests,
and my manager made sure that my opponents were tested, too,"
said Mr. Tuur, a Suriname-born Dutchman now living on Long
Island. "This is a blood sport. You can't be careful enough. People
talk about testing and the right to privacy, but that's a crock. We're
talking about lives here. Going into the ring with some who's tested
positive, that's an act of suicide, isn't it?"
Clyde Haberman, 'H.LV. Testing for Boxers: Is Rule Fair? Is Anything?" New York
Times, February 16, 1996, p. 132

Here the irony involves how one circumstance has changed

completely in the sport of boxing. In the past, the boxer discussed in
the passage was concerned about sustaining a bad cut, whereas now,
with the AIDS problem, he is more worried about an opponent's
getting cut. Thus what is happening is the opposite of what normally
has been expected. Notice that the writer explicitly lets the reader
know that there is irony in this situation by calling the boxer's laugh
"ironic."

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C. Objective Reporting Vs Subjective Reporting
When an author has stated a certain opinion, his opinion is
usually accompanied by a particular attitude. If for example, an author
says that” dogs are better pets than cats”. We can say that he is
subjective, because the opinion and the attitude is his only and others
may not agree with him. Because he is subjective, his writing is called
subjective reporting.
Even if so, however, an author might not always being
subjective and always reflects a certain tone. In this case, an author
does not always use a particular tone. It is possible that the writer
tries to be neutral and does not include his own personal feelings in
his writing. This kind of writing is called objective reporting.
Consequently, the words he uses do not need to be emotionally
loaded, and he uses less connotative language than in subjective
reporting.

Example:
Mr and Mrs Saint are very wealthy and live in an expensive part of the
city called Blue Hill. On April 14th, they had a dinner party. It is said
that the food they served tasted bad. We do not know why. Some
people say that it was a matter of the catering’s fault.

Activity 1
Read the following paragraphs. Decide if the author uses certain tone.
Then label each paragraphs “S” for a subjective report or “O” for an
objective report.
1. The Middle Age really was not fun to live in. Most people never
bathed except for once a year. As well, leftover food was often
thrown on the floor and covered up with herbs and hay. In
addition, a house for a peasant was just a shack. Unless you were
royalty, life was very hard in the middle Ages.

2. The life of a pirate was not like what you see in the movies. Many
sailors died from either falling overboard in shark infested waters
or from plunging onto the deck from working the sails. Also, many
pirates died from diseases such as scurvy and malaria. The only
food they sometimes ate was hard tack and dried, salted meat. It’s
no wonder most of them didn’t live very long!

D. Bias
An important skill of critical reading is the ability to detect an
author's bias and prejudice. The reason you need to be able to do
this, of course, is that bias and prejudice may invalidate an author's
claim.

Activity 1
Read the ad below, and then answer the question following by
choosing the best option.

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 Fresh and Tasty, Safe and Healthy, Straight from a self-flowing
springs, processed and bottled with modern, hygienic high technology
equipments
The most unique product
AQUA-natural maountain spring water
Pioneer of the bottled water industry in Indonesia
First awarded the Indonesian Industry Standard-SII NO 2040-90

Question:
1. What is the tone of the writer?
a. emotional
b. informative
c. serious
d. praising
2. What does the writer hope to accomplish?
a. Persuade the readers
b. Explain the process
c. Attract the audience
d. Describe the features
3. What is the object of the writer’s bias?
a. AQUA bottled water
b. All bottled water
c. Bottled water industry
d. Bottled water standard
4. What bias do the underlined words reveal?
a. Weakly negative
b. Weakly positive
c. Strongly positive
d. Moderately positive
In this ad, the writer is bias because he just features the godd
sides of AQUA. By recognizing the writer’s bias, you can evaluate his
purpose. Now that you know the writer biased towards AQUA, you will
not be so easily convinced that AQUA is the best. How do we know that
he is positively biased? By looking at the underlined words that they all
have positive connotation.

E. How To Identify Bias

There are several ways to detect an author's possible bias and
prejudice, for example:
1. Analyze the tone and purpose
2. Analyze the connotative meaning, it may be both positive or
negative
3. Notice the descriptive language
4. Look at his opposing viewpoints? Does the author present only one
view point (his ow) or does he give both sides.

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F. Summary
Like tone in a voice, tone in writing is an aspect that reveals the
author’s feelings and contributes to the overal message. Many human
emotions can be communicated through tone,. E.g. disaproval, hate,
admiration, disgust, gratitude. Tone is very often the author’s main
tool in expressing his feelings and attitudes, it is very important for the
reader to learn to recognize tone.

G. PRACTICE EXERCISES
Exercise 1.
1. Happy National Apathy Day (Will Durst)
Don't vote. You don't have to. No one's going to make you. This
isn't the Soviet Union in the 50's. You won't be forced from your bed
and dragged to the polls against your will. Relax. None of your friends
are voting. And things are pretty good the way they are, right? If it
ain't broke, don't fix it. What do you care if some barren deserted
beach does or doesn't get blanketed by a thick film of 30-weight
because of offshore drilling? Find another beach. What's the big deal?
Don't vote; you know you don't want to. Parking is a pain, the print is
so tiny, and it's always on a Tuesday-what's that all about, anyway?
Besides, haven't the pollsters already told us who's going to win? Why
beat your head against a wall? It's a done deal. Out of your hands.
Don't even need to wash them. It'd be totally different if it actually
mattered. But it's not as it we have any real choice. If voting were
effective they would have made it illegal by now.
Don't vote. Everyone knows the big corporations have the
politicians so deep in their pockets they've got to brush the lint out of
their hair before photo ops. It's common knowledge. Conventional
wisdom. You'll only end up encouraging them.
You must have better things to do. Jog on over to the library before it
gets closed down and read up on other people who never voted. Or
you could work on that extra room for Grandma when Medicare fails
and she has to move in. Or take a farewell trip on your local mass
transit and wave bye-bye to the neighborhood rec center. That would
be fun.
Besides, what difference does it make? One lousy little vote. A
spit in the ocean. Don't worry. Be happy. Stay home. This is still a free
country, last time I looked. Who cares?
Not you.
New York Times, November 2, 1998, p. A27
Tone:_______________________

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2. My Father's Keeper (Richard Pirozzi)
We buried my mother on my twenty-fourth wedding
anniversary, after her short battle with pancreatic cancer. She
succumbed to the disease a few days after surgery in the early
morning hours during her stay at a hospital in southern New Jersey.
Although I was prepared as much as one possibly can be for the
departure of a mother, I cannot make the same claim regarding the
care of my 85-year-old father. That very year he had survived open-
heart surgery only to lose his wife of over 50 years. His feelings for her
are best expressed by the words he uttered tearfully the day she died:
"I have lost everything."
In fact, my mother was the centerpiece of the entire family. At a
very early age, I disco vered that, if you wanted to get anything done
in our house, you simply had to know just one word: Jo. That was
what everyone called my mother instead of Josephine, which was her
formal name. She did everything for my father-from serving as his
personal secretary to satisfying his every need. It became so extreme
that, as he watched television, he would occasionally use a bell to
beckon her when he needed something, which was often. I grew up
wondering if my mother was a wife or a slave left over from pre-Civil
War days. Not only would she be an impossible act to follow, no one
even wanted to try.
There was little time for me to grieve her loss because we were
all too busy trying, unsuccessfully, to ease my father's pain. My
brother, who is my only sibling, lives with his family in Georgia, so it
became painfully obvious almost immediately who would be given the
responsibility of looking after my father. It was both a necessary and
logical arrangement because at the time he was still living in southern
New Jersey, while my home was an hour away in the northern part of
the state.
Caring for my father for the next three years would be an
experience that had moments of hilarity, moments of frustration, and
moments of great sadness. Most of the lighter times were a result of
his pursuit of romance, which came as a complete shock to the rest of
the family. It seems he came to the conclusion that he was irresistible
to women of all ages. This phase really began right after he moved to
my neighborhood in order to be closer to me. I enrolled him in the
senior citizens day-care center, where he met a woman whom he
thought was to be his next true love. It did not make a bit of difference
to him that she was 40 years old and already had a boyfriend. Much to
everyone's chagrin, he tried unsuccessfully to talk her out of the
relationship by extolling his own unlimited virtures. It was not a
coincidence that she happened to be a nurse who could provide him
with the necessary medical services. His affection for her explains, in
no small part, why he would often claim not to be feeling well while at
the center, so that he could be sent to the nurse's office. Believe me, I
received telephone calls about it.
Next on his list was a 24-year-old whom he politely told one day
that her impending marriage would be over in a year because her
prospective husband was not in the same business with pleasure. Then

79
he went through a series of waitresses, ranging in age from 16 to 30,
before finally settling for a 70-year-old woman whom he had met at
the senior citizen residence where he lived for a few months. In fact,
we went on a double date with them-the highlight of which was his
attempt to kiss her goodbye. The problem was
that she did not realize what he was attempting to do!
As startling as these escapades were, at least they involved real
people. There was the time my father, in trying to find a bathroom in a
restaurant, began to have a conversation with his reflection in a full-
length mirror. Because of very poor eyesight, he mistook his reflection
for a lovely woman (which must explain why he had the most radiant
smile on his face). I waited a moment to help him, not out of
indifference or cruelty but because I had not seen him so happy in
years. Love does that to people.
There were, of course, the bad times as well that go along with
aging and the loss of a lifelong partner. The obvious emptiness that he
experienced at major family events, the endless appointments with
doctors, the various tests that needed to be taken, and the general
deterioration of my father's body and mind made his final years
anything but "golden." On top of all this, I came to the sad realization
that, when you are old and failing, no one seems to want to be with
you anymore. I will never forget how one of my father's business
associates turned around and walked in the other direction when he
saw him coming; how members of his family disappeared, forgetting
all the things that he had done for them through the years; and how
even his sons sometimes thought of our own needs over his. There
was the time, for example, when he showed up at my house on New
Year's Eve with his blanket because he did not want to sleep at the
senior citizen residence. I had plans, so I angrily talked him into going
back there to be with the other residents. Later, I found out that he
had had an argument with the head nun earlier in the day. I can never
forgive myself for not letting him sleep over that night. Unfortunately,
there would be no chance to redeem myself, for it would be
my.father's last New Year's Eve.
My father was not happy at the residence because he did not
like the head nun. In fact, he called her Sister Baccala to her face. (For
those who do not know, baccala is the Italian word for dried cod fish,
which has the most abominable smell.) But my father's dislike for her
did not extend to the other nuns who worked there, to one of whom he
proposed marriage. Apparently, he thought it was time to liberalize the
rules of the Catholic church.
 The end came almost three years to the day after my mother's
death. Those intervening years saw a rapid decline in energy and
spirit. A benign brain tumor called a meningioma took from May to
September to kill my father. By that time, he was emaciated from
weight loss: a mere shadow of the man I had affectionately called
Charlie. But even in the final days, he managed to humor us twice
more by coming out of a near-comatose state to yell, "Get rid of
her!" when he heard me mention one of the housekeeper's names,
and by defiantly holding his mouth tightly closed so the nurse could

80
 not suction it out. He could still make us laugh even when he wasn't
trying
most for for or
biased 0r against
sentence Against what? clues
(a) (1) Secret London hearings on
Muldergate Scandal that’s rocking
South Africa
(a) (2) Richard Beckinsale, who appeared
as Godber in the B B C comedy series
:Porridge” and “going straight” was
found dead at his home in
Sunningdale, Berks, yesterday. He
was 31
(b)
(3) (3)ACTOR Richard Beckinsale, the
boyish star of TV’s “Porridge” and
“Rising Damp” died yesterday at
31.
(a) (4) Another savage racial attack
(b) Pupils attack black teacher
(a) (5) TONY BODLEY urged England to
appoint davis last month...now it’s
happened. We get things right!
(b) 6) Mighty Mike is a new leader
Mike Davis—a man feared even by the
mightly Colin Meads—has been given
the job of picking English rugby off
the floor
(7) New coach davis aims to
make England arrogant
(a) (8) The Rugby Union announced
yesterday that they had accepted the
recommend appointed Mike Davis, the
england schools coach, to replace
Peter Colston as the england team
coach.

Exercise 3
Directions: Read the passages below to see if you can detect the
words that reveal each author’s bias. Also, think about the direction of
that bias. Then answer the questions that follow.

(1). The New Jersey Pine Barrens, 650,000 acres of wilderness,

represents a vast ecological wealth of rare plants and animals, as well
as a priceless reservoir of natural water. Irresponsible land developers,
however, are threatening to rape parts of the Barrens and replace
them with shopping malls and condominiums.
1. The biased words are
a. New Jersey, wilderness, water, malls.
b. wealth, priceless. irresponsible, rape
c. acres, represent, plants, developers.
2. The author’s bias is against
a. the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
b. the land developers.

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(2). The Hopi Indians of northern Arizona have admirably withstood
the U.S. Government’s attempts to blend them into America’s melting
pot. The Hopis are rightly more concerned with seeking harmony with
themselves and their environment than they are in adopting
conventional American ways. Thus their worthy culture still survives.
1. The biased words are
a. Hopi, Arizona, environment, ways.
b. admirably, rightly, worthy.
c. government, seeking, culture.
2. The author’s attitude toward the Hopi culture is one of
a. disappointment.
b. admiration.

(3) Horror-fiction writers such as Stephen King and Peter Straub are
guilty of influencing some people to commit acts of corruption and
violence. Through their twisted imaginations, horror-fiction writers
plant evil seeds in the minds of readers. On more than a few
occasions, these seeds have blossomed, resulting in an individual
committing a horrifying act. Later, the individual will explain, “I got the
idea from a Stephen King novel.”
1.The biased words are
a. guilty, corruption, twisted, horrifying.
b. horror-fiction, acts, readers, idea.
c. writers, occasions, individual, novel
2.The author’s bias is
a. in favor of honor-fiction writers.
b. against horror-fiction writers.

Exercise 4
Directions: Read each paragraph. Write a main idea statement for each
and then identify the author’s purpose, tone and point of view.
1. Advertising is an ever-present form of propaganda in our lives. Four
common techniques are often observed in the advertising we see
and hear every day. One technique, the testimonial, involves a well-
known person appearing on behalf of a product being sold. The
assumption is that if we like Cher and admire her looks, we will but
the product that she endorses. Another common technique, the
bandwagon, makes us want to be “one of the gang.” This uses
phrases like “Everybody’s switching to...” and “All across America
people are discovering...”. The plainfolks propaganda technique is
especially popular now. We see and hear regular” consumers talk
about their experiences using a certain brand of coffee, headache
remedy, or phone company. A final technique, the transfer,
encourages us to link two unrelated objects in our mind. When a
powerful cougar prowls around a shiny new car, for example,
advertisers hope we will transfer our sense of the animal’s speed,
strength, and beauty to our vision of the car. These four devices are
put to work in ads every day on TV and in newspapers and
magazine.

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 a. Main idea sentence:
b. Author’s purpose:
c. Tone:
d. Objective or biased:
2. Millions of coyote, bobcat, raccoon, muskrat, and other wild animals
are caught in the steel jaw leg hold trap every year. The trap shuts
tight on the animal’s leg, like a car door slamming on your finger.
The animal may be left for hours or days in panic and pain. On the
other hand, some fur animals like mink or fox, are bred in captivity.
They are often raised in small ages that are crowded together.
Controlled breeding for new pelt colors sometimes causes blindness
or deformities. These animals are killed by clubbing, poisoning,
electrocution —methods chosen because they do not harm the pelt.
Finally, most seal furs are obtained by clubbing the seal into
unconsciousness, then stabbing and skinning it. In some hunts, the
seals are harassed and driven some distance over rocks before
being killed. EVERY FUR COAT HURTS—DON’T BUY FUR!!!
a. Main idea sentence:
b. Author’s purpose :
c. Tone :
d. Objective or biased:

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 UNIT 10
THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.

Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
Throughout this textbook, we have emphasized the importance
of evaluating what you see, hear, and read as a necessary part of
critical thinking. You have been cautioned not to rush to judgment by
accepting everything at face value but instead to take the time to
consider what you have before you, regardless of your personal
viewpoint. When reading, part of the evaluation process involves
recognizing the writer's purpose, or reasons for writing. That, in turn,
can help you distinguish between facts and opinions, uncover bias, and
assess the overall reliability of information.
Although writers always have a purpose for writing, they usually
do not come right out and say what it is. Consequently, it is up to the
reader to make an inference or an educated guess regarding their
motivations, based on:
 Author's background or affiliation
 Publication in which the writing appears
 The information itself
 How the information is presented
For example, a physician who is a member of the American
Medical Association may write a piece in a popular magazine dealing
with the high cost of malpractice insurance in order to persuade
readers to be sympathetic to rising medical fees. In doing so, she may
not state that purpose explicitly but instead present convincing
information that supports that point of view without providing any
contradictory information. Thus the reader could infer her purpose by
taking into consideration the fact that she is a physician who is
affiliated with the major medical association representing doctors, by
keeping in mind that the article appears in a magazine that is read
widely by the general public, and by recognizing that the information
provided appears to be one-sided.
Generally speaking, a writer's purpose for writing is usually to
inform, to persuade, to entertain, or some combination of the three.
The ease with which you will be able to recognize these purposes will
often depend on how obvious a particular writer chooses to be in the
presentation of the material. As noted, it will sometimes be necessary
for you to use your inference skills. Let us look more closely at each of
the three purposes.

B. Apparent Purpose Vs Non-Apparent Purposes

Sometimes an author will be very clear in stating his purpose
toward his writing. It might be giving information, share experience,
arouse sympathy, persuade readers and the like. Some authors are

84
being vague in stating his purpose so the readers get to work hard to
find out what the author means.

Activity 1
Decide whether the author’s purpose is apparent (A) or non-
apparent(NA)
1. The beef against....beef
2. Is school unfair to girls?
3. Do the poor deserved good education?
4. Ms Kidvid calls it quits
5. The strange burden of a name

C. Author’s Purposes
1. To Inform
When the purpose is to inform, a writer simply provides facts, data, or
information about a given subject so that you can learn more about it.
Textbook writers generally have this as their overall purpose
2. To persuade
3. To entertain
A writer whose purpose is to entertain must try to bring enjoyment to
readers by treating a topic in a light, cheerful, funny, or laughable
manner.

D. How To Identify The Author’ Purpose

To identify the author’s purpose, consider the following steps:
a. Who is the intended audience?
b. What is the tone?
c. What is the point of view
d. Does the writer try to prove something?

E. Summary
Authors write for a variety of purposes: to inform, to persuade,
to entertain. To be effective reader you must be aware of the author’s
purpose. The writer’s purpose may be obvious, or hidden. It will help
you to arrive at the author’s purpose if you know the audience the
writer has in mind, his tone, and his point of view.

F. PRACTICE EXERCISES

Exercise 1
Directions: read the following passages and decide the author’s
purpose.

Passage 1
Biology Is Connected to Our Lives in Many Ways
Global warming, air and water pollution, endangered species, genetic
engineering, testtube babies, nutrition, aerobic exercise and weight
control, medical advances, AIDS and the immune system-is there ever
a day that we don't see several of these issues featured in the news?
These topics and many more have biological underpinnings. Biology,

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the science of life, has an enormous impact on our everyday life, and it
is impossible to take an informed stand on many important issues
without a basic understanding of life science.
Much of biology's impact on modern society stems from its
contributions to technology and medicine. Technology is the
application of scientific knowledge. Many discoveries in biology have
practical applications. The technology of modern birth control, for
instance, grew out of an understanding of the structure and function of
the human reproductive system.
Perhaps the most important application of biology to our lives
today is in helping us understand and respond to the environmental
problems we currently face. One of our biggest environmental
challenges is the possibility of global changes in weather and climate.
Rain forests, which we have featured in this chapter, have a major
effect on climate. In this capacity, tropical rain forests are vital to life
as far away as Siberia and Antarctica.... Every year, as human
demands for wood, food, and minerals increase, vast areas of tropical
rain forest are destroyed. (At least 85% of North America's rain forests
have been heavily logged.) Destroying rain forests kills off untold
numbers of species. It also produces large amounts of carbon dioxide
(C02) gas. The COZ traps heat from sun light and can warm the
atmosphere. Many scientists content that the destruction of rain
forests at the current rate, coupled with CO2 (and other gases)
increases from sources such as industrial pollution, is raising global
temperatures. Higher temperatures might melt galcial and polar ice,
cause worldwide flooding, and alter the world’s climates even more
drastically.
Evaluating news reports on problems of this magnitude requires
critical thinking and familiarity with many aspects of biology. For
instance, in considering the possible effects of rain forest destruction,
it is useful to know something about whole plants, cells, and
molecules, as these subjects relate to photosynthesis and other kinds
of energy transformation. It is also useful to know about carbon and
water cycling in ecosystems, the growth patterns of the human
population, and the effect of climate and soil conditions on the
distribution of life on Earth.
Biology-from the molecular level to the ecosystem level-is
directly connected to our everyday lives. It may also help us find
solutions to the many environmental problems that confront us.
Biology offers us a deeper understanding of ourselves and our planet,
and a chance to more fully appreciate life in all its diversity.
Neil A. Campbell et al., Biology, 3rd ed., p. 12

Passage 2
Getting Help When Anger Turns Inward
Thomas H. Matthews
When Jerome W. was 13 years old, he tried to kill himself. He
thought that pressures in his life had grown so large that ending his
life was the only solution.

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 He had thought for weeks about how he would do it. Then one
day, with family gathered around him, he simply walked to the window
of his fifth-floor apartment in Brooklyn and began to crawl to the edge.
As he poised for the jump, his mother realized what Jerome was doing
and pulled him back into the house.
"I was very serious," Jerome said. "I wanted to die. I began to
ask myself, 'Why am I here?"'
Jerome said his problems stemmed from his relationship with his
mother. After he was 9, there was no father in his house, so he was
responsible for his brother and sister. He helped care for them, making
their breakfast every day and taking them to and from school. He felt
a great deal of pressure trying to go to school himself and care for his
siblings.
He also began to feel that his mother was turning against him.
This, his motherere was a fight everyday,’ he said. “ I couldn’t
figure out why she was doing this to me”.
After the suicide attempt, his mother chided him, saying that if
he tried it again, she would let him. And thet response, coupled with
the ongoing arguments, he said, caused Jerome to shut down and say,
“No more”.
I couldn’t believe she said those things to me” he recalled. From
that day on, I blocked my mother out. I no longer showed any
emotion. I didn’t expect it to go as far as I did.
It went on for more than 10 years.
A psychotherapist for Jerome was recommended by the UJA Federation
of New York, one of seven agencies supported by the New York Times
Neediest Cases Fund, now in its 84th year. The Times pays the fund’s
administrative costs so donations go directly to the charities.
The therapist, Kiki Vouyiouklis quickly realized that Jerome had
successfully isolated himself from the world. He had lost touch with
everyone’ she said.
While seeing Ms Vouyiouklis over 10-month period, jerome was
able to let out what he had held back for years.” I was forced to hate,
but I was able to release all of that, he said. It was a big time relief.”.
I’ve come such a long way, said Jerome, 25 who now works as a
freelance production assistant in the televisiaon and movie industry.
I’m proud of what I have been able to do. I feel like a whole person
now.
New York Times, February 16, 1996, p. B2

The passage above is intended for the most part to inform the reader
about how Jerome W overcame much adversity and developed into a
successful person. However, the reader is also told that he was able to
accomplish this through the help of one of seven agencies supported
by the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, which depends in part on
donations. Hence, in a subtle way, the writer is suggesting that others
like Jerome could be helped similarly if readers of the passage would
donate money. It is not unusual for writers to present facts with the
intention of encouraging us to do something.

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Passage 3
The Dark Menace
Richard Pirozzi
I will never forget my first encounter with a bat; it is an experience
that will live in my memory forever. It al started at 3.00 A.M on a
muggi summer morning in late July when I got out of my bed to use
the bathroom. As I left the bedroom, in what can best be described as
a near comatose state, something went whizzing by my head. With
half closed eyes, I looked up and saw what I thought was a large moth
flying around in circles. It made several more sweeps around the
periphery of the room before I realized that this was no moth.
Never at a loss as to what to do in a potentially dangerous
situation, I did what any intelligent, if not courageous, person would
do: I ran back into the bedroom, quickly slamming the door behind
me. At that point, my wife woke to ask why I was exercising so early
in the morning. I explained what was happening and suggested that
she investigate immediately. My offer was rejected promptly with a
look of utter disappointment at my obvious lack of courage.
My last hope was our big, bad 115-pound golden retriever, who
was fast asleep on his back on our bedroom floor. After much prodding
he managed to get up, although he had a look about him of total
annoyance. Ignoring his reaction, I pushed him out of the bedroom
into the living room and quickly slammed the door shut behind him.
Now, I gloated, the bat was finished!
I listened intently by the door for the sound of what surely
would be a fierce struggle, but there was total silence. After a few
more impatient moments, I opened the door a crack and peered into
the living room. To my shock, our great protector was waiting
anxiously to return to the bedroom, which he did with great speed
nearly knocking me down in the process. It was only a matter of
minutes before he was-like my wife-again fast asleep. What a
disappointment!
With no clear remedy to the situation, I became increasingly
upset and disillusioned. Through the years I had heard several
unpleasant "bat stories," which only contributed to my apprehension:
bats fly into people's hair; bats attack; bats drink people's blood; bats
can have rabies. After much thought and soul-searching, it became
clear to me that I was going to have to be the saviour of the
household. Armed with nothing, but dressed like a soldier ready for
combat, I made my way into the living room to confront the dark
menace.
The bat was not at all impressed with my presence as she
whisked by my head several times while circling the room. Although
her body was relatively small, her wing span was wide, much the way
an airplane is proportioned. I marveled at her exceptional grace as she
flew within the confines of the darkened room never once hitting a wall
or anything else. She made no sound as she glided through the air. It
was only later that I learned that bats do Emyt high-frequency sounds
as they fly, which after striking various objects, bounce back as
echoes. Using these echoes that cannot be heard by the human ear,

88
bats navigate in total darkness without running into anything. This
explains why bats function so well as nocturnal beings and can sleep
away virtually all of their days. Although they are able to see, they do
not have to depend on their eyes to fly. In short, they are
extraordinary flying machines.
Eventually I put my admiration for the bat aside and returned to
the immediate problem of riding the premses of her company. I
theorized that if I could entice her t fly into the front hall, the inside
door and came around to the front of the house. I could open that door
and send her on her merry way. In case you are wondering why the
front door would be open at 3.00 A.M, the answer is simple. I always
leave my keys in it, which is very convenient for me as well as for any
uninvited guests who decide to visit. Needless to say, the rest of the
family is not particularly impressed with my hospitality.
a By the way, the plan worked perfectly for both the bat and me. In
the years since this episode, I have learned much about bats through
extensive reading. Although bats can be rabid, they are basically
peaceful creatures who generally do not attack humans unless
provoked. They are not particularly interested in human hair, which in
my case is irrelevant because I have so little. Finally, some bats, who
live mainly in South and Central America, are indeed called vampire
bats, but they usually enjoy the blood of animals of the nonhuman
variety and do not spend much time biting people's necks. When they
do take blood, they drink very little, and the unsuspecting victim is in
fairly good shape when they leave.
With my expanding knowledge, I have come to appreciate these
strange creatures of the night with their magnificent flying abilities.
They may not be beautiful, but they sure are fascinating to watch.
Unlike many people, I am not nearly as terrified of them as was once
the case. Nevertheless, I would just as soon meet my next bat in the
zoo!

Exercise 2
Directions: read the following passages and answer the question that
follows.
1. Queen Latifah got her start as a female rapper who consciously tried
to combat the widespread sexism in the lyrics of Gangsta Rap. Her
1989 album All Hail the Queen features lyrics written from a womans
point of view, and her songs celebrate powerful women, who don't
need guns to be strong. But the Queen of Royal Badness, as Latifah is
sometimes called, is a multi-talented personality. In her hit situation
comedy Living Single, Latifah revealed that, in addition to a riveting
presence, she also had superb comic timing. From a bit part as a sassy
waitress in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, Latifah went on to starring roles
in movies like Set It Off and Living Out Loud. Although neither movie
was wildly successful at the box office, the Queen got superb reviews,
as well she deserved. When Queen Latifah is on the screen, you cant
watch anyone else; she’s just that good.

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Purpose
a. To inform readers about Queen Latifah's background and career
b. To convince readers that rap singer Queen Latifah is much more
than a rap star
Tone
a. emotionally neutral
b. sarcastic
c. admiring

2. The snowy owl is normally found in the coldest regions of North

America. Every three or four years, however, snowy owls appear in
large numbers in towns all across the United States. Animal
behaviorists believe the periodic owl migrations are due to changes in
the owls' food supply. Snowy owls feed heavily on lemmings, and
lemmings migrate every three to four years in search of food. When
the lemmings leave the cold northern regions, so do the owls.
Unfortunately snowy owls are becoming increasingly rare, in part
because hunters often shoot them when they show up in large
numbers.

Purpose
a. To inform readers about the behavioral habits of snowy owls
b. To convince readers that something must be done to save the
snowy owl
Tone
a. emotionally neutral
b. enthusiastic
c. ironic

3. Several states are being forced to provide schooling for teenage

criminals. The reasoning is as follows: In the United States, kids have
to go to school until the age of sixteen. If their parents keep them out
of school, it's a crime. From this perspective, prison officials housing
teenagers under the age of sixteen have to provide them with
schooling or they too are breaking the law. Given the fact that most
kids in high school get to play sports, why don't we raise money to
build teenage criminals a gym or a football field? That makes just
about as much sense as spending money educating kids who have
landed in jail for crimes like armed robbery and murder.

Purpose
a. To tell readers why some states are providing schooling for teenage
criminals
b. To convince readers that providing schooling for teenagers behind
bars is a mistake
Tone
a. emotionally neutral
b. passionate
c. ironic

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4. In his book Cutting, author Steven Levenkron focuses on a
psychological problem that is too often avoided or ignored: Levenkron
describes the psychological experience of young patients, often girls,
who seek relief from pain and anxiety by cutting or scratching their
own bodies. As Levenkron points out, cutting or self-mutilation is an
all-too-common phenomenon. It may, in fact, be as common as
anorexia or bulimia, yet it is seldom discussed, in part because self-
mutilators work hard to keep their dangerous behavior a secret. It's
possible, too, as Levenkron suggests, that most people, even
therapists, don't want to acknowledge the reality of self-mutilation. In
the words of the author, "Just as we fear the human potential for
violence against others, we may also fear the possible impulse to hurt
ourselves." Fearful of what cutting means, we turn away from it, and
refuse to acknowledge its presence in our midst. Yet when five
hundred school psychologists were asked if they had treated a cutter in
the last year, they indicated that they had each treated two or three
per school. Self-mutilation among young teenage girls can no longer
be ignored. We need to acknowledge its existence and make treatment
available.
Purpose
a. To inform readers about the psychological problem known as
cutting, or self-mutilation
b. To persuade readers that self-mutilation has to be acknowledged
and treated
Tone
a. emotionally neutral
b. ironic
c. concerned

5. Author Gail Sheehy became famous with her 1976 best seller
Passages, which argued that adulthood, like childhood and
adolescence, consisted of stages or tasks that must be completed in
order to reach emotional maturity. The book struck a chord with the
American public, and Sheehy went on to write several follow-up books,
all of which emphasized the notion of life's stages. In The Silent
Passage (1993), she described the stages that women pass through in
the latter part of their lives. In Understanding Mens Passages (1998),
she outlined the emotional tasks men needed to complete once they
abandoned the role of breadwinner. Yet popular as Sheehy's books
are, they are also deeply flawed. What Sheehy doesn't ever really
acknowledge is that her descriptions apply mainly to a financially
comfortable middle class. In The Silent Passage, the women she
interviewed have the luxury of debating whether or not they will
combat the effects of menopause with hormone therapy. Yet for many
poor women, the high price of hormone pills precludes their use. For
these women, such a debate is pointless. Similarly, Understanding
Mens Passages focuses on men who can, if they are wise enough, use
the second half of their life to play new roles such as mentor,
community wise man, or benefactor. The author apparently doesn't

91
realize that many men have to work as hard in the second half of their
lives as they did in the first. After working two shifts to make sure
their kids can stay in college, these man may not fear intimacy as
Sheehy suggests. They may just be too tired to even dream of it.

Purpose
a. To describe the central point of Gail Sheehy's books
b. To convince readers that Gail Sheehys reasoning is flawed
Tone
a. critical
b. ironic
c. emotionally neutral

92
 UNIT 11
INTERPRETATION: ANALYZING WHAT A
TEXT MEANS
Syariful Muttaqin, M.A.
Sahiruddin, M.A.
Emy Sudarwati, M.Pd.

A. Introduction
This final level of reading infers an overall meaning. We examine
features running throughout the text to see how the discussion shapes
our perception of reality. We examine what a text does to convey
meaning: how patterns of content and language shape the portrayal of
the topic and how relationships between those patterns convey
underlying meaning.

B. Repeating v. Analyzing: Making The Leap

Rightly or wrongly, much of any student's career is spent
reading and restating texts. For many, the shift to description and
interpretation is particularly hard. They are reluctant to trade the
safety of repeating an author's remarks for responsibility for their own
assertions. They will freely infer the purpose of an action, the essence
of a behavior, or the intent of a political decision. But they will hesitate
to go beyond what they take a text to "say" on its own. They are afraid
to take responsibility for their own understanding. Others are so
attuned to accepting the written word that they fail to see the text as a
viable topic of conversation.

Look at Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa,

and you see a woman smiling. But you are also
aware of a painting. You see different color paint
(well, not in this illustration!) and you see how the
paint was applied to the wood. You recognize
how aspects of the painting are highlighted by
their placement or by the lighting.

When examining a painting, you are aware that you are

examining a work created by someone. You are aware of an intention
behind the work, an attempt to portray something a particular way.
Since the painting does not come out and actively state a meaning,
you are consciously aware of your own efforts to find meaning
in the painting: Is she smiling? Self-conscious? Alluring? Aloof?
Looking at the Mona Lisa, you know that you are not looking at
Mona Lisa, a person, but The Mona Lisa, a painting. You can talk not
only about the meaning of the picture, but also about how it was
crafted. What is the significance of the dream landscape in the
background? Why, when we focus on the left side of the picture, does

93
the woman looks somehow taller or more erect than if we focus on the
right side? The more features of the painting that you recognize, the
more powerful your interpretation will be.
When reading texts, as when reading paintings, we increase
understanding by recognizing the craftsmanship of the creation, the
choices that the artist/author made to portray the topic a certain way.
And yet there is still that feeling that texts are somehow different.
Texts do differ from art insofar as they actually seem to come out and
say something. There are assertions "in black and white" to fall back
on. We can restate a text; we cannot restate a painting or action. Yet
a text is simply symbols on a page. Readers bring to their reading
recognition of those symbols, an understanding of what the words
mean within the given social and historical context, and an
understanding of the remarks within their own framework of what
might make sense, or what they might imagine an author to have
intended.
There is no escape; one way or another we are responsible for
the meaning we find in our reading. When a text says that someone
burned their textbook, that is all that is there: an assertion that
someone burned their textbooks. We can agree on how to interpret
sentence structure enough to agree on what is stated in a literal
sense. But any sense that that person committed an irresponsible,
impulsive, or inspired act is in our own heads. It is not stated as such
on the page (unless the author says so!). Stories present actions;
readers infer personalities, motives, and intents. When we go beyond
the words, we are reading meaning.
Readers infer as much, if not more, than they are told. Readers
go beyond the literal meaning of the words to find significance and
unstated meanings—and authors rely on their readers' ability to do
so! The reader's eye may scan the page, but the reader's mind ranges
up, down, and sideways, piecing together evidence to make sense of
the presentation as a whole.

C. Additional Observations
A number of observations should be made lest there to avoid
misunderstanding.

All Reading Involves More Than One Form of Reading

The divisions between the three modes of reading are, to some extent,
artificial. Dividing reading into reading what a text says, does, and
means is somewhat like dividing bicycle riding into concern for
balance, speed, and direction. They are all necessary and affect one
another. Speed and direction both affect balance; we will fall off, or
crash, without all three. And yet we may focus on one or another at
any particular time. We can parse each out for analysis.
While the modes of reading and discussing texts can be separated out
for purposes of discussion, and it is relatively easy to distinguish
between the resulting forms of discussion, in practice these reading
techniques overlap. Any particular text can, and will, be read at
various levels of understanding at once. We cannot understand what a

94
text says without recognizing relationships between sentences. We
cannot even understand sentences without drawing inferences that
extend beyond the words on the page. Observations and realizations
at any one level of reading invariably support and spark observations
at another. Observations characteristic of all three forms of response
can be included in an interpretation.
Finally, while it is relatively easy to distinguish between forms of
discussion.—restatement, description, and interpretation—a description
might include restatement for the purposes of illustration, and an
interpretation may be supported with descriptions of various portions
of the text and even restatement of key points. In the end, the
"highest" level of remark characterizes the discussion as a whole.

D. PRACTICE EXERCISES
Exercise 1
1. What does the author try to say about interpretation?
2. What is the role of observation in interpretation process?
3. How does interpretation relate to other modes of reading
(restatement & description)?

Exercise 2
Read the following texts and provide your interpretation of how you
relate such information in your reality.
Text 1
Although he had broken his leg a few weeks earlier, Kevin Crowther
was still looking forward to the Glastonbury music festival. His family
told him not to go and suggested that he sold his ticket on the
Internet, but Kevin was determined not to miss the festival. He set out
for Glastonbury early on Thursday morning.
He had already decided that the best way to get there was by
hitchhiking. If you held out your thumb, a kind-hearted driver would
stop and you could reach your destination without spending any
money. Kevin was sure that his broken leg would help – drivers would
be more willing to stop for him if they saw that he had an injury.
He was wrong. He waited for three hours until a woman offered him
a lift. Unfortunately, her car broke down ten minutes later, and it was
another hour before a lorry driver picked him up and agreed to take
him to Glastonbury. Kevin was relieved, as his leg was hurting and he
was feeling tired and hungry. But the journey was unbearably slow.
The road was busy and they were held up several times in traffic jams.
Finally, Kevin booked into a small hotel for the night. The girl at
reception asked him if he had come to Glastonbury to do some
sightseeing. When he told her that he had come for the music festival,
she looked at him strangely. ‘I’m afraid you’re out of luck,’ she said.
‘The festival doesn’t begin for another two weeks!’
Text 2
Firefighters are often asked to speak to school and community
groups about the importance of fire safety, particularly fire prevention
and detection. Because smoke detectors reduce the risk of dying in a

95
fire by half, firefighters often provide audiences with information on
how to install these protective devices in their homes.
Specifically, they tell them these things: A smoke detector should
be placed on each floor of a home. While sleeping, people are in
particular danger of an emergent fire, and there must be a detector
outside each sleeping area. A good site for a detector would be a
hallway that runs between living spaces and bedrooms.
Because of the dead-air space that might be missed by turbulent
hot air bouncing around above a fire, smoke detectors should be
installed either on the ceiling at least four inches from the nearest wall,
or high on a wall at least four, but no further than twelve, inches from
the ceiling.
Detectors should not be mounted near windows, exterior doors, or
other places where drafts might direct the smoke away from the unit.
Nor should they be placed in kitchens and garages, where cooking and
gas fumes are likely to cause false alarms.

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 REFERENCES

Andreani, Sri. 2010. Modul Critical Reading. Univ. Negeri Malang.

Bumgarner. S. (2010). Synthesizing. Retrieved October 10, 2012 from
http://ohiorc.org/adlit/strategy/strategy_each.aspx?id=2
Flemming, Laraine e. 1987. Reading for Results. Boston. 6 Oughton
Miffin Company
Frodesen, Jan. Developing Paraphrasing Skills: A Pre-Paraphrasing
Mini-Lesson. University of California-Santa Barbara
Grellet, Francaoise. 1981. Developing Reading Skill. Great Britain:
Cambridge Univ. Press.
Pirozzi, Richard. 2003. Critical Reading, Critical Thinking. New York.
New Addison Weasley Educational Publisher.
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http://www.class.uidaho.edu/adv_tech_wrt/resources/general/how_to
_summarize.htm
http://www.cz-training.com/toefl/paraphrase01.html
http://www.egeacademy.com/blog/exercises/fce-sentence-
transformation-practice-rewrite-questions/
http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/0073384089/student_view0/chapter18/summarizing.ht
ml#
http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~shagin/abstract--paraphrasing.html
http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/16/how-to-summarize/
http://mildpdf.com/result-reading-generalization-practice-
activities.html)
https://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472031333-samplereading5.pdf
http://www.uefap.com/writing/exercise/report/

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