How to improve your critical writing Presentation by UWE Library Learning Services 2017 / 2018

Learning outcomes 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’ Using their ‘voice’ Academic skills are real world skills: Assessing information Writing a report

‘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. (Cottrell, 2011) Activity 1: What are the features of good critical writing? In pairs, make a list. Descriptive writing Critical writing States what happened Identifies the significance States what something is like Evaluates strengths and weaknesses

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.

Clarity of language: Points are presented so that a general reader can understand. Good writers check through their writing several times i.e. edit. Structure: GCWs group together similar viewpoints and analyse them before looking at alternative viewpoints. This is more logical for the reader. 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.

Activity 2: 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. Now, imagine that your tower is a piece of writing and answer the questions asked.

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! https://pixabay.com/en/italy-pisa-architecture-tower-989251/ [garrymccann77] CC0 Public Domain Free for commercial use No attribution required Image from: https://unsplash.com/search/collections/tower

Weak or strong argument? Activity 3: Read the paragraph on the handout. Where is the writer’s claim? 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. 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). From the limited amount of research as yet undertaken, it does seem that using Facebook extensively can, in some cases, diminish a person’s intellectual ability. 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? 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? Activity 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.   

Activity 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 activity 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).

Practise! Look at a paragraph from your own critical writing: is your voice clear? Is it obvious that you have evaluated the best evidence available? What conclusions are you drawing from the evidence? If it is not clear, rewrite the paragraph. Take a key section of something you are reading. Identify the claim(s) and the premise(s) which support it. How does the writer add their own claim to the evidence used from other people’s writing? If you are taking notes from your reading to use in your writing, identify the claims and premises so that you can then evaluate them.   

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