A careful method of reading

Method

Define, attribute, verify, contextualise and correct.

Read precisely

Fix the scene. Who speaks, when, before which audience and in which institution?
Mark the verbs. Who acts, suffers or decides, and who disappears behind an abstraction?
Return to facts. Which documents, dates, acts and consequences can be checked?
Notice the cost of disagreement. Who can correct without risk?

Keep levels distinct

Separate data, interpretation, hypothesis, moral judgement and a call to action. Compare accounts, look for an omission and a competing explanation, then make the limit of the inference visible.

Read the full language and discursive pressure source.