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A good critical reader doesn't just look at what the author is saying and doing, but at what the author is ABOUT to say and do. In other words, your job is to stay several steps ahead of the author at all times.

Now, sometimes this is a fairly obvious task:

Three factors contributed to the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade.

It takes no stroke of genius to recognize that we're about to hear what those three factors are. (Though we would hope that you'd skim past the details to locate such signals as "For one thing," "Secondly," and "Finally." They'll show you where the three contributing factors are!)

But even when the hints of what's to come are less obvious, you still need to pick them up. The author of the following excerpt will have to discuss four ideas to create a persuasive passage. To be an active and critical reader, always consider what elements the author must address.

By redefining the concept of "radicalism," historian Gordon S. Wood has challenged the conventional meaning of Lexington and Concord.