Here's a breakdown of key aspects:
* Going beyond the surface level: Critical literacy moves beyond simply comprehending the literal meaning of a text. It delves into the underlying messages, assumptions, biases, and ideologies embedded within it.
* Identifying power structures: It examines how texts reflect and reinforce social, economic, political, and cultural power structures. Who created the text? Who is the intended audience? Whose perspectives are represented, and whose are excluded or marginalized?
* Recognizing bias and ideology: Critical literacy helps us identify biases, both overt and subtle, and understand how they shape the message. It explores how ideology (a system of beliefs and values) is communicated and perpetuated through texts.
* Questioning assumptions: It encourages critical thinkers to challenge the assumptions and beliefs presented in texts, rather than passively accepting them as truth.
* Analyzing context: Understanding the historical, social, and cultural context in which a text was created is crucial for a critical interpretation.
* Considering multiple perspectives: Critical literacy encourages considering multiple perspectives and interpretations of a text, rather than relying on a single, dominant reading.
* Taking action: Ultimately, critical literacy aims to empower individuals to critically engage with texts and use that understanding to challenge injustice and promote social change.
In short, critical literacy is an active, engaged, and questioning approach to reading and interpreting texts of all kinds, recognizing the power they hold to shape our understanding of the world.