Critical writing — transkrip

Students are always being told that they need to read more critically, think more critically

and write more critically - but how do you demonstrate that you are

reading and thinking critically in your writing? Critical reading and also

thinking is about five main things. First, judging the appropriateness of your sources.

Some sources carry more academic weight than others. You should perhaps

not view "Joe's blog' as an authoritive academic voice, whereas something in a

peer-reviewed journal should be much more reliable.

The appropriateness of some sources is less clear-cut. Websites or YouTube videos, for example,

can be official or reputable or can also be unofficial and disreputable.

You will need to show that you've used the appropriate level of criticality when

using them as academic sources. Equally, a newspaper may be an excellent source for

gauging public opinion about the topic but even reputable broadsheets can be

very selective over the facts they use in order to make a story seem more newsworthy.

Even books can need judgment about their appropriateness.

Are they seriously academic or more popular, designed for mass markets and so less

likely to be checked and edited rigorously.

The next stage in critical reading

is to decide which of the sources you've looked at are the most

relevant to your particular argument. You will read many appropriate sources which

may be interesting but are only marginally relevant and so will not make

it into your final piece of writing. Choosing the most relevant shows you are thinking critically.

Another aspect of critical reading is to show a healthy skepticism

about what you are reading. Don't just believe something because it

is in an academic paper. These are just opinions of academics - many contradict

each other and it is your job to work out which one you find the most persuasive.

The way you do this is to evaluate the quality of the arguments

you read. Do the premises (that is the evidence put forward by the author)

lead to the claims and conclusions made within the paper? Are you fully convinced?

Finally, you must choose where YOU stand. You need to think carefully about the

different points of view and balance the arguments. What is your personal position?

Just where do you stand on the spectrum of possible positions?

This is really important as it's the starting point for showing criticality in your writing.

The first rule of critical writing is therefore to tell the reader your position.

Make sure you are clear about where you stand on the topic at hand.

This position informs your mega argument. In the US this is called your thesis statement.

It is the overall argument that you will develop throughout the

piece of writing.

The next rule of critical writing is to make sure you persuade rather than inform

Don't just describe what you've read in the

literature and expect the reader to make up their own mind that would be too descriptive.

You need to explain to the reader what the evidence means, answering

the so what question and therefore making your argument persuasive.

You need to convince your reader that your position is the most credible one to hold.

Without that attempt to persuade, you're not making an argument, you're

just stating information. As part of that argument you need to justify the

inclusion of EVERY SINGLE POINT you make. Each of these points (or mini-arguments

which will be in separate paragraphs) must add up to your mega argument.

Within every paragraph you must justify the inclusion of the point by explaining to

the reader the relevance it has to your mega argument.

You must metaphorically take the reader by the hand and lead them through your

reasons for thinking the point is important. To be credible, your argument

must be balanced. This doesn't mean you have to take a middle position (quite the opposite)

but you must admit alternative positions, whilst justifying your own.

There is no 'right' answer in academic writing. The position you take

is one of many possible positions and they may all have some merit.

You must give these opinions respect and acknowledge their existence, whilst

arguing that your own is the best one to hold - either because you write about the

flaws in the other arguments or because you write about why your position

has STRONGER arguments. In order to do this, you must make sure your own arguments

ARE strong. Your own claims must be well-founded, based on the evidence

you've included to back them up. You must use the same level of criticality that

you would when analyzing the arguments of others.

Is your evidence the most relevant?

Have you made appropriate connections between it and your claims?

Are you persuading or just informing?

Make sure your overall conclusion is obvious and expected.

It should have no new information and should certainly

never be a surprise to your reader. You should have already let the reader know

where you intend to go in your introduction. Each of the points in

the main body of your argument should naturally progress

towards the conclusion.

We should summarize them into a neat package for the reader to finish with.

The last thing your reader needs is you to introduce any new points at this stage.

This could lead to somewhere unexpected. Resist this temptation and

end at the anticipated conclusion to finish your assignment with a satisfying close.

To summarize: Read critically by making sure your sources are appropriate

and relevant. Read with a healthy skepticism, deciding if you think the

writer's arguments are strong. You should then be able to decide your own position on the issue.

Start your writing by stating your position. Try to convince your reader that this

is the best position by persuading rather than informing.

Justify EVERY paragraph by helping the reader understand how each

point relates to your overall arguments. Make sure you are balanced - acknowledging

other viewpoints but arguing your own. Be critical about your own arguments.

Make sure they will stand up to scrutiny and make sure your points all lead to a

natural and expected conclusion