The ability to tell the difference between facts on one hand and the writer's opinions or interpretations on the other is a crucial comprehension skill.
Facts are statements that tell what really happened or what the case is, and they are usually based on direct evidence. For example:
After Sandy had left for school, Jane Finch sat down in peace and quiet to drink her coffee. She sipped slowly and tried to read the newspaper. Soon her husband joined her. (Para. 1)
Opinions, on the other hand, are statements of belief, judgement or feeling. Opinions, of course, are often based on facts - but they also involve the writer's personal interpretation of the facts, which may or may not match your interpretation of them. Some examples from the same text are:
It's probably that awful music that wakes me up every morning.(Para. 3)
Sometimes it isn't easy to separate fact from opinion. Writers may combine fact and opinion in a way that makes it hard to say where the facts end and the opinions begin - or they may present opinions as if they were facts:
I suppose they're expressing their identity but it's so very different from what we did.(Para. 10)
The biggest difficulty in distinguishing fact from opinion, however, may arise when you agree with the writer's opinion: When we believe something very strongly, it's easy to mistake our opinions for facts! So critical reading involves careful examination of our own beliefs as well as the author's.
The particular reading skills introduced for this unit is distinguishing between facts and opinions. The ability to tell the difference between facts on the one hand and the writer’s opinions or interpretations on the other is a crucial comprehension skill.
Facts are statements that tell what really happened or what the case is, and they are usually based on direct evidence. Here we would look at some examples from Passage A.
The radio clicked on. ...She looked at the clock; it was 6:15 A.M. (Para. 1, Passage A)
Opinions, on the other hand, are statements of belief, judgement or feeling. Opinions, of course, are often based on facts—but they also involve the writer’s personal interpretation of the facts, which may or may not match your interpretation of them. Some examples from the same text are:
No, it isn’t really music. It’s weird. It is definitely horrible stuff. (Para. 2, Passage A)
We understand that Sandy enjoys the music very much as it has a powerful message whereas according to her parents’ opinion it is no music at all.
Sometimes it isn’t easy to separate fact from opinion for different kinds of reasons.
Believe me, all the girls at school wear makeup. (Para. 25, Passage A)
Here we are not sure whether all the girls wearing makeup is a fact or it is just a judgment from Sandy.
But anyway, it is very important to distinguish between facts and opinions in order to have a better understanding of what the reading passage means.