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Hmmm critical thinking, what does it mean? For me it is a process of examining parts of our lives, whether its a choice we made or maybe looking at a book we read; thinking critically is the way we look at ourselves or others and compare it to how we feel or maybe the actions that we take. Has a friend or family member ever done something where you thought, "Would I do the same thing in that situation?" You examined what they did or did not do, and decided for yourself that is was either ultimately right or worng and then how you felt about it. Could a better action been taken or was it the best answer at the time? That's what I believe happens when decide to look at our lives and think critically of ourselves.

When thinking about this in terms of reading, we must go passed what we actually read and try to see the thoughts of the author behind the words. We should try to figure out a deeper meaning and compare it to the world around us for a better understanding of both the written work and where the author is coming from when they wrote their story. When I read I try to pick out deeper meanings as best as I can, even though I'm most definitely not the best at it. Picking out a change in tone or word choice may show the author's ture feeling on the situation. After I pick something out I compare it to how we live now and how this work may impact it.

Even though this is how I feel about critical thinking, unfortunately I don't personally do it in my life all that often. I tend to live and look at things on the top layer; although from time to time I look at a piece of news and start to examine it and try to discover a deeper meaning. The news is usually something of a political nature because it is one of the easier areas of real life to look at and say "What would I really about this or that? Would it be better than what was done?"

As I said earlier I am not the best at viewing things critically or seeing a deeper meaning, so through the course of ENGL 103 I hope to get a better understanding of what it means to look at something in a critical way in both written works and real life. As of right now it is fairly difficult for me to look at written work and come to a conclusion that is not totally obvious, hopefully through the work we do here and the discussions we have I can personally get a better understanding of this and come out better than before. Lastly, after the course is completed I hope to see the world for what it really is or at least be able to look at a piece of news and be able to dissect it to get the relevant information from it that I need.



I apologize of any spelling or grammar mistakes.