writing critically

Writing Critically

zondag 8 december 2013

Writing Critically

! Writing critically means:

• Analyzing your own work and othersʼ– Examining and breaking information into

parts• Evaluating– Making judgements about the value of

information, ideas or materials for a given purpose in a given context


Writing Critically• Presenting your point of view– Giving your opinion

• Supporting your point of view– Supplying arguments and reasons for

your opinion


Writing Critically

! In other words, you need to:

• Consider different points of view and discuss their positive and negative aspects

• On the basis of this discussion you choose a point of view and persuade the reader that your point of view is the correct one.


Support• Your opinions need to be supported• You need to provide evidence• You need to explain why the evidence

supports your point of view


Your point of view• Make sure you clearly distinguish between:

• Your point of view• Your evidence• Your reasons for believing what you do.


Your point of view

Be sure that the evidence that you are providing leads to the claim you are making

Claim (thesis)

Evidence(support or grounds)

Reasons(warrant or argument)


Presenting your argument• You can present your argument in two

ways:

• The inductive or balanced approach• The deductive or persuasive approach


Presenting your argument• The inductive or balanced approach

! You present both sides of the argument without giving your opinion until the last few sentences. You do need to provide evidence for your opinion.


Presenting your argumentWhen using the inductive/balanced approach,your plan could look as follows:1.! Introduction of the argument (Why it is

relevant)2.! Reasons against the argument. (Mention

the position, the evidence and the reasons)3.! Reasons in favor of your argument.

(Mention the position, the evidence and the reasons)

4.! Summarize the two sides, state your own point of view and explain it.


Presenting your argument• The deductive or persuasive approach

! In this type of approach you state your point of view immediately and you try to convince your reader that your are right by presenting reasoned arguments.


Presenting your argument When using the deductive/persuasive your

plan could look as follows:

Introduction of the topic in general terms and your own point of view.

1. Explanation of what your are trying to prove.2. Reasons against the argument


Presenting your argument

4.! Disposing of the above-mentioned reasons (Provide evidence and your reasons)

5.! Reasons for your argument (Provide evidence and your reasons and examples)

6.! Conclusion (Restate your claim and explain its importance)


Giving reasons and explanations!! Writing critically means that you have to

make connections between the ideas that you are presenting. You need to explain why things happen the way they do, giving reasons and examples.


Giving reasons and explanations!! The situation: Pollution is increasing

! One reason for this might be the fact that people burn more fossil fuels

! So:! Pollution is increasing (situation)! People are burning more fossil fuels (reason

or explanation)


Arguing a point of view!! Arguing means stating your claim (your

point of view). You need to support this by giving evidence and reasons why you think your evidence supports your claim. It is likely that your claim is debatable. You may believe in it, but other people may disagree with you. The objective of your argument is to prove to your reader that you are correct.


Arguing a point of view! Generalizations

! The claim that you make will be quite general and it is likely that it will apply to other contexts and situations as well, not just your own. Usually these generalizations are written in the present tense.

! The seems to be a important link between nutrition and heart disease.


Arguing a point of view! Cautious language!! It is important that you are careful about the

strength of your claims.

! Obesity during childhood may lead to an increase chance of becoming obese in later life.

! Most traffic accidents occur because of fatigue or excessive alcohol consumption.


Evaluating a point of view! Besides stating your own point of view, you

need to comment and evaluate other peopleʼs ideas as well. For example, you may want to use a point of view you have read about in a scientific journal. It is important that you explain why this point of view supports, or doesnʼt support your own.


Evaluating a point of view! When evaluating a point of view or a

conclusion, you need to:

• Present the point of view• Comment on it positively or negatively.


Advantages and disadvantages! One important way to evaluate a proposal

or an idea is to look at its advantages and disadvantages.


Comparing and contrasting! When you are writing you do a lot more than

just give information. A common function in writing is comparing and contrasting, or writing about similarities and differences. It is important that before you start writing you decide which features, items, or ideas you are going to compare and organize them accordingly.


Providing support! The claims that you make in your

discussions need to be quite general. You need to draw general conclusions that will be valuable in solving problems in the future. Again, these generalizations need to be supported by examples, details, and evidence.


Drawing conclusions! After presenting your point of view,

evaluating the possible choices (all supported with evidence), you need to come to a conclusion. The main function of the conclusion is to show that the main purpose of the text has been achieved.


Drawing conclusions! A concluding section should:

• Repeat the issues raised in the introduction• Summarize the points made in the main

body of your text• Come to a clear conclusion


Drawing conclusions! Many conclusions, especially in reports,

finish with recommendations or suggestions. For example:

! Further research is needed to determine whether ….


writing critically

Education

point of view comment

point of viewzondag

abovementioned reasons

different points of

given context zondag

writing criticallyzondag

type of approach

inductivebalanced approach