How to improve your critical writing Presentation by Learning Services: UWE Library Date

Learning objectives At the end of the session, learners will feel more confident about: Building an argument with claims and evidence Recognising and evaluating a ‘line of reasoning’ 3. Using their ‘voice’

‘Not enough critical analysis’ Common feedback from lecturers is that student writing is too descriptive and not critical enough. This drastically reduces your potential to get a decent mark. What is critical writing? E.g. Descriptive writing Critical writing States what happened Identifies the significance States what something is like Evaluates strengths and weaknesses (Cottrell, 2011) Task 1: What are the features of good critical writing? In pairs, make a list.

The characteristics of good critical writing (GCW) Adapted from: Cottrell, S. (2011) Critical Thinking Skills. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Content: Background information/description is minimal. It analyses the evidence presented by expert writers, looking for strengths and weaknesses, and uses the evidence to build an ‘argument’. Selection of points: A good critical writer (GCW) knows which aspects of the topic are the most debated, and will cover the range of opinions. This relies on critical reading of the correct sources.

3. Clarity of language: Points are presented so that a general reader can understand. Good writers check through their writing several times i.e. edit. 4. Structure: GCWs group together similar viewpoints and analyse them before looking at alternative viewpoints. This is more logical for the reader. 5. Linking of points: GCW is planned out well so that the most important points stand out clearly. Good signposting helps the reader to understand the sequence used by the writer.

Building an argument You summarise and paraphrase what the ‘experts’ say but also note down your thoughts. You develop your viewpoint on the topic, based on your reading. Then, you use this evidence to prove what you believe. Building an argument is like building a case in a court of law. This is called a line of reasoning. You can plan out the line of reasoning before you start writing so that it is logical and clear, just as you would select the bricks to build a strong tower.

Task 2: a) Imagine you have a virtual pile of children’s building bricks in front of you and that a young child asked ‘Can you build a tower for me?’ Draw the tower you would build, showing the bricks clearly. b) Now, imagine that your tower is a piece of writing and answer the questions asked. Questions for b): 1. How many bricks does your tower have? Each brick represents a piece of evidence/ a reference. If you don’t have enough, subdivide your bricks to put more references in! 2. Is there a strong foundation/ base in your tower? This would be the introduction. What should an introduction contain to make it strong? 3. Are the bricks equally distributed on both sides of the tower, or is it lopsided? This could mean an imbalance of evidence on one side. It may be the case that there is more evidence published on one side than another and if this is the case, then say so (but be sure you are correct !) 4. Is there an obvious end point to your tower? A point/peak? If not, you are missing a conclusion! Your evidence must lead to a conclusion, where you say what the evidence means/shows/indicates/implies etc. N.B A conclusion is NOT simply a summary of the main points! 5. Are there any spaces between your bricks? Do they fit together well? If not, add some cement quickly! This would be the signposting/linking words and phrases which connect sentences within paragraphs, and paragraphs to each other so that the writing is clear and well-organised. E.g. There are 3 reasons for this phenomenon. Firstly, …/ However, … / In addition to this, …. 6. Finally, is there a misshapen brick in your tower? A wobbly brick? If I tapped a wobbly brick, what would happen to the tower? It would collapse. The wobbly brick is a weak piece of evidence you have included in your argument. Rather than include it, omit it and find some stronger evidence to include! Otherwise, your lecturer will write something like ‘Your argument began well but collapsed in the middle’ or ‘You started well but your line of reasoning became weak.’

The strong argument

What you don’t want … a wobbly tower is a weak argument in academic writing and you will lose marks for this! Image from: https://unsplash.com/search/collections/tower

Weak or strong argument? Task 3: a) Read the paragraph on the handout. Where is the writer’s claim? b) In pairs, discuss the following: Is this a weak or a strong argument in this paragraph? Why? Make notes. You will need the notes for another task. c) Put it on a scale between the tower of Pisa and the yellow lego tower. Pisa _______________________________________________ Lego   

Using Facebook extensively can diminish a person’s intellectual ability. Sachs’ (2008) study of 40 students found their IQ diminished when using Facebook for more than one hour per day. Greenfield (2010), a leading neuroscientist, has also expressed concern that repeated use of social networking sites shortens a user’s concentration span. A longitudinal study of freshmen in Boston, USA, found that 82% of drop-outs used Facebook for more than two hours per day (Hoffs, 2009). Hills, D. (2011) Student Essentials: Critical Thinking. Trotman Publishing, Richmond.     

Evaluating evidence When you recognise a line of reasoning, you evaluate it: this is what your lecturers want you to do when you read and make notes. You can then decide how to use them in your writing. Students often offer weak premises to support a claim/conclusion in their argument, and so do some academic authors! You need to consider the three questions which follow when you are evaluating the evidence you are using or reading.

Ask yourself: What is the main claim of this author/ my main claim? What do they want me to believe/ what do I want the reader to believe? 2. What is the evidence offered to support the claim? Are any of the premises weak? Is there a wobbly brick in the ‘tower’ which I can see/ comment on? Are the premises relevant, necessary and adequate, or are some irrelevant, unnecessary and inadequate? Task 4: Look at the following pairs of sentences. Discuss them and identify examples of relevant, necessary and adequate premises. Be careful: there are also examples of irrelevant, unnecessary and inadequate premises!   

1. I entered a competition. I’m going to win the top prize. 2. I entered a competition and was the only person to get the correct answers. I’m going to win the top prize. 3. Jane has a headache, earache and a sore throat. Her son has had a cold. Jane has caught the same cold virus. 4. Jane has a headache, earache and a sore throat. Her throat swab showed bacterial infection in her throat. Jane has a throat infection. 5. Using Facebook extensively can diminish a person’s intellectual ability. In 2010, 18 million people were registered users. 6. Using Facebook extensively can diminish a person’s intellectual ability. Sachs (2008) found that the IQ of Facebook users diminishes with use. Hills, D. (2011) Student Essentials: Critical Thinking. Trotman Publishing, Richmond.   

Task 5: On the handout, write a sentence to evaluate each of the pieces of evidence in the paragraph about Facebook. You may wish to use the Academic Phrasebank to expand your academic language. Evaluative language: http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

Sachs’ (2008) study of 40 students found their IQ diminished when using Facebook for more than one hour per day. Greenfield (2010), a leading neuroscientist, has also expressed concern that repeated use of social networking sites shortens a user’s concentration span. A longitudinal study of freshmen in Boston, USA, found that 82% of drop-outs used Facebook for more than two hours per day (Hoffs, 2009). Hills, D. (2011) Student Essentials: Critical Thinking. Trotman Publishing, Richmond.

Using your ‘voice’ A claim is a writer’s voice. It is often unreferenced because it indicates the writer’s viewpoint. A conclusion is often a claim. In the Facebook paragraph, this is the first sentence. E.g. Using Facebook extensively can diminish a person’s intellectual ability. Hence, the theory may not be the most appropriate in this context. Task 6: Using the handout for task 5, add in your voice. a) Write the claim back in. You may wish to modify the original claim now that you have evaluated the evidence. b) Write a concluding sentence to the paragraph.

     If you feel uncomfortable using no references (because lecturers may have told you not to do this!) then you can support your claim/conclusion in a separate sentence that follows. E.g. Hence, the theory may not be the most appropriate in this context (your voice, in this case, drawing a conclusion from the evidence presented and evaluated). This is also supported by Brown (2012), Smith (2013) and Jones (2014) (using further references to support your voice/evaluation/conclusion).

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We’d love your feedback please! At the end of the session, we hope you feel more confident about … Building an argument with claims and evidence 2. Recognising and evaluating a ‘line of reasoning’ 3. Using your ‘voice’ Remember … writing skills take time to improve and you need to practise … Cheering crowd image from Pixabay