critical-reading

Files (9)

• SKILL.md
• academic-paper-reading-protocol.md · references/
• affidavit-reading-protocol.md · references/
• contract-reading-protocol.md · references/
• court-decision-reading-protocol.md · references/
• argument-extraction.md · templates/
• response-ready-extraction.md · templates/
• section-purpose-table.md · templates/
• weakness-log.md · templates/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Critical Reading Skill

Slow reading, structured.

Most documents you'll encounter — court decisions, opposing affidavits,
academic papers, contracts — reward decomposition. Read once fast to get
the shape. Read again slowly, with a structure. This skill is that structure.

---

## Skill Tree

| Module | Domain |
|---|---|
| 1 | Document Type Recognition — what you're actually reading |
| 2 | Structural Decomposition — what work each section does |
| 3 | Argument Extraction — what the author claims and why |
| 4 | Evidence vs Assertion Sorting |
| 5 | Hidden Assumption Surfacing |
| 6 | Weakness Identification |
| 7 | Cross-Reference Mapping |
| 8 | Productive Marginalia — what to write in the margins |
| 9 | Reading for Response — what you'll need to answer |
| 10 | The Second Read |

---

## Module 1: Document Type Recognition

Before you can read a document well, you need to know what kind of
document it is. Different types do different work.

### The Document Type Taxonomy

```
LEGAL DOCUMENTS
  Court decisions       — reasoning applied to facts, binding force varies
  Tribunal decisions    — same, lower binding force
  Affidavits            — sworn statements of fact
  Petitions/factums     — argumentative pleadings
  Statutes              — enacted rules
  Regulations           — subordinate rules
  Contracts             — negotiated obligations
  Expert reports        — opinion evidence with methodology
  Legal memos           — internal analysis, not binding

ACADEMIC DOCUMENTS
  Peer-reviewed papers  — claims with methodology and evidence
  Preprints             — same, without peer review filter
  Theses                — extended arguments with literature review
  Books                 — extended treatments
  Textbooks             — synthesized state of a field
  Reviews / surveys     — meta-treatments of a literature
  Conference papers     — shorter, sometimes higher-velocity

TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS
  Specifications        — normative descriptions of a system
  RFCs                  — standards proposals
  API docs              — reference material
  Design documents      — proposals with rationale
  Post-mortems          — retrospective analysis
  Whitepapers           — hybrid academic/marketing
```

Each type has a different reading protocol. A court decision is read
differently from an affidavit which is read differently from a spec.

### Type-Specific Notes

- **Court decisions** — separate reasoning (ratio) from asides (obiter);
  identify the standard of review, the test applied, and the specific
  findings; note dissents if any
- **Affidavits** — everything is sworn; distinguish knowledge (personal),
  information & belief (secondhand), and argumentative statements
  (usually improper)
- **Academic papers** — separate the CONTRIBUTION from the CONTEXT;
  most papers are 80% context; the load-bearing claim usually fits in 1-2
  paragraphs
- **Specs** — identify normative language (MUST, SHOULD, MAY per RFC 2119
  convention); note ambiguities

---

## Module 2: Structural Decomposition

Every document has structure. Some documents make it explicit (headings,
numbered sections). Some hide it (long affidavits, dense academic prose).
Extract the structure either way.

### The Section-Purpose Table

For any substantial document:

```
SECTION | PURPOSE                | LOAD-BEARING?
────────┼────────────────────────┼──────────────
[1]     | [what this section does] | [Y/N]
[2]     | [what this section does] | [Y/N]
[3]     | [what this section does] | [Y/N]
...
```

Load-bearing sections carry the argument. Non-load-bearing sections
frame it, provide background, or fill space.

### Load-Bearing Section Signals

Load-bearing sections usually:
- Introduce a novel claim
- Apply a rule to specific facts
- Present evidence that supports a conclusion
- State a holding
- Draw a distinction the rest of the document depends on

Non-load-bearing sections usually:
- Restate what's already been said
- Provide historical or general context
- Handle procedural or administrative matters
- Acknowledge counterarguments only to dismiss them briefly

From dmang69/bc-legal-ai, MIT.

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