Being a Critical Writer

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Being Critical

What Does It Mean to Be “Critical”?

A Quick Introduction to Being Critical

Criticality is a word which refers to the ways in which students demonstrate that they are being critical. And what does this word mean? It means that you are thinking for yourself. And thinking for yourself can be demonstrated when you speak as part of a class debate or discussion, ponder what the teacher has just said in class as part of lecture and certainly when you write your essays. So the key aspect of being critical—no matter how you do it—is to demonstrate that you have your own mind. To put it another way, the following are some ways to show that you are not being critical:

  • When you write your essays, you largely cut and paste the content of the class handouts the teacher gave you.
  • You just cite the content of what the teacher told you in class and go no further.
  • You present the content of what you read in your academic textbooks (or any other reading source, for that matter), but nothing more.

So why are these practices uncritical? Simple: They don’t show to the teacher—who’s also going to mark your essays—that you are providing anything original. There is no real evidence that you are at least attempting to say something new. And by “new,” I do not mean that you need to pressure yourself into conjuring up some absolutely new idea, theory, or perspective (if you do, then you will of course get a good score). Instead, I simply mean that you need to tell the teacher something in your work that makes it clear that you’re using classroom handouts, class lecture, and/or textbook content as a springboard into what you think on the matter.

Again, the key here is not to stress out regarding saying something that is 100% brand new. How would you even know? It could be that a student at the University of Sydney is saying something very similar in his or her essay at the same time as you are. No, all you need to do is prove to your teacher that you are making an effort to show your understanding of the subject you’re writing about. And the easiest way to do this is to present information—whether an opinion, evaluation, or illustration—that shows an attempt to say, “here’s how I understand this subject.” Now, how can you demonstrate your own personal understanding if you mainly, or entirely, regurgitate what someone else wrote in a book and/or what your teacher told you in class? You can’t. You’re at university to think for yourself. And this may well apply to nonacademic aspects of university life, such as maintaining a personal budget for the first time, choosing new friends wisely and generally, becoming more independent. But in terms of assessments, thinking for yourself means taking what you learn each week in class, and what you learn each time you read your textbooks for homework, and asking the key question—a question designed to jump-start the process of being critical, which is the title of the next section.

What Does This Mean to Me?

The answers generated by this question will reflect the many different ways in which the question itself can be answered. That is, you can give an opinion; you can agree; you can disagree; you can give an illustration; you can explain things in your own words. How you answer the question will also depend on the content of what you’re reading. Let’s now put this all together, by considering the following example:

Example 1

School uniforms remove students’ individuality.

OK, so what does this sentence mean to you? You might instinctively disagree. You might agree. You might not know where you stand just yet. The point is though that whatever you come up with, make sure it’s your thinking. Your ideas. Your perspectives. But agreeing or disagreeing isn’t enough, of course. That’s just the start. You need to explain why you agree or disagree—that’s the critical part because the explanation you give will show the details and logic behind your opinion. Let’s consider.

School uniforms remove students’ individuality, because if all students wear the same clothes in terms of color, material and design, then this showcases the school perhaps, but not who the students are—or indeed, how they want to be seen by others.

OK, the example paragraph is off to a good start. But it is just the start. It now needs to expand on its key ideas (e.g., individuality), and explain things further such as what is meant by “who the students are.” And why is this so important anyway? After all, children are in school to get an education, not to be in a fashion show. How might you in fact address this claim? That, too, will require you to think critically—think for yourself. Now, let’s consider another perspective deriving from the same sentence:

Example 2

School uniforms remove students’ individuality perhaps, but this is not an inherently negative issue. Indeed, students, by being less focused on wearing the latest designer labels and in some cases flaunting their parent’s wealth, can instead be more focused on study—that is the purpose of school.

Deciding which of the two examples is “better” might be based on which example reflects your own feelings or perhaps on which example you feel simply “sounds” better. But at this stage, don’t be persuaded by the style of writing. Example 2 is critical, as is the first example, precisely because it shows the writer’s stance on the matter but more importantly, it explains the writer’s stance on the matter.

Many other reasons could of course be put forward as to why you agree, or not, with the original proposition regarding the wearing of school uniforms. And I also acknowledge that you might not think a sentence is sufficient to get the critical thinking started—after all, your reading will consist of book chapters each week no doubt, not book sentences. However, by starting small with just one sentence, you can get a good idea of what being critical is all about.

Offering an Illustration to Be Critical

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Offering an Explanation to Be Critical

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Questioning to Be Critical

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Being Uncritical

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