How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor: A Smart, Irreverent Guide to Biography, History, Journalism, Blogs, and Everything in Between

An algorithm is a programmed set of instructions that determines how digital platforms process and prioritize information. Foster uses the term to critique how social media and search engines manipulate visibility and engagement, often amplifying sensational or misleading content. Algorithms, he argues, have no ethics; their neutrality in function leads to moral consequences when profit and misinformation intersect.

An argument is the logical structure through which a writer advances a claim supported by evidence and reasoning. Foster emphasizes that most nonfiction beyond pure reportage is inherently argumentative, seeking to convince readers of a particular interpretation. Understanding an argument enables readers to evaluate credibility and detect manipulation.

“Bias” refers to the subtle or overt leanings that influence how information is presented and interpreted. Foster insists that all writers possess bias, whether their work acknowledges it or not, and that readers must identify it without assuming that bias equals falsehood. Recognizing bias is essential for balanced, critical reading.