In this installment of the Reading Critically Exercises, I chose to go with an easier, shorter, and perhaps more interesting passage. The length is closer to what you would see on the SAT (though still a bit longer) and the author’s purpose is a little more obvious.
Because of that it is a little harder to pose questions about this passage that challenge one to read the passage critically, but since that is my intention the questions that follow do still get at the author’s purpose and the function of things in the passage.
So here is the link and the questions. Sample answers will follow in a separate post.
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/false-memory-crime?intcid=mod-latest
1) How would you describe the author’s purpose and tone in the passage?
2) What kind of evidence does the author use to support his point?
3) What does the word malleability mean (in the last paragraph) and what clues does the surrounding context provide in terms of helping you guess the meaning if you didn’t know it?
4) In the last paragraph the author cites some specialists who question the accuracy of memory more generally. Do you think the author agrees with their assessment and why?
For analysis of the above passage and “answers” to the above questions, see the Analysis Post.