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WhatiscriticalwritingUniversityofLeicester

StudentLearningDevelopment
Whatiscriticalwriting
Studyguide
ForaprinterfriendlyPDFversionofthisguide,clickhere
Itiscommonforfeedbackonstudentwritingtofocusontheneedtoengagemorecriticallywith
thesourcematerial.Typicalcommentsfromtutorsare:toodescriptive,ornotenoughcritical
analysis.ThisStudyGuidegivesideasforhowtoimprovethelevelofcriticalanalysisyou
demonstrateinyourwriting.OtherStudyGuidesyoumayfindusefulare:WhatisCriticalReading?
UsingParagraphsandTheArtofEditing.

Whatiscriticalwriting?
Themostcharacteristicfeaturesofcriticalwritingare:
aclearandconfidentrefusaltoaccepttheconclusionsofotherwriterswithoutevaluatingtheargumentsand
evidencethattheyprovide
abalancedpresentationofreasonswhytheconclusionsofotherwritersmaybeacceptedormayneedtobe
treatedwithcaution
aclearpresentationofyourownevidenceandargument,leadingtoyourconclusionand
arecognitionofthelimitationsinyourownevidence,argument,andconclusion.

Whatisdescriptivewriting?
Themostcharacteristicfeaturesofdescriptivewritingarethatitwilldescribesomething,butwillnotgobeyondan
accountofwhatappearstobethere.Acertainamountofdescriptivewritingisneededtoestablishforexample:
thesettingoftheresearch
ageneraldescriptionofapieceofliterature,orart
thelistofmeasurementstaken
thetimingoftheresearch
anaccountofthebiographicaldetailsofakeyfigureinthedisciplineor
abriefsummaryofthehistoryleadinguptoaneventordecision.

Thedifferencebetweendescriptivewritingandcriticalwriting
Withdescriptivewritingyouarenotdevelopingargumentyouaremerelysettingthebackgroundwithinwhichan
argumentcanbedeveloped.Youarerepresentingthesituationasitstands,withoutpresentinganyanalysisor
discussion.
Descriptivewritingisrelativelysimple.Thereisalsothetrapthatitcanbeeasytousemany,manywordsfromyour
wordlimit,simplyprovidingdescription.
Inprovidingonlydescription,youarepresentingbutnottransforminginformationyouarereportingideasbutnot
takingthemforwardinanyway.Anassignmentusingonlydescriptivewritingwouldthereforegainfew
marks.
Withcriticalwritingyouareparticipatingintheacademicdebate.Thisismorechallengingandrisky.Youneedto
weighuptheevidenceandargumentsofothers,andtocontributeyourown.Youwillneedto:
considerthequalityoftheevidenceandargumentyouhaveread
identifykeypositiveandnegativeaspectsyoucancommentupon
assesstheirrelevanceandusefulnesstothedebatethatyouareengaginginforyourassignmentand
identifyhowbesttheycanbewovenintotheargumentthatyouaredeveloping.
Amuchhigherlevelofskillisclearlyneededforcriticalwritingthanfordescriptivewriting,andthisisreflectedinthe
highermarksitisgiven.

Findingyouracademicvoice
Whenyouengageincriticalwritingyouaredevelopingyourownacademicvoicewithinyoursubject.Wellingtonetal.
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(2005p.84)offersomesuggestionsfordistinguishingbetweentheacademicandthenonacademicvoice.Theysuggest
thattheacademicvoicewillinvolve:
healthyscepticismbutnotcynicism
confidencebutnotcockinessorarrogance
judgementwhichiscriticalbutnotdismissive
opinionswithoutbeingopinionated
carefulevaluationofpublishedworknotserialshootingatrandomtargets
beingfair:assessingfairlythestrengthsandweaknessesofotherpeoplesideasandwritingwithout
prejudiceand
makingjudgementsonthebasisofconsiderablethoughtandalltheavailableevidenceasopposedto
assertionswithoutreason.
WellingtonJ.,BathmakerA.,HuntC.,McCullochG.andSikesP.(2005).Succeedingwithyourdoctorate.London:
Sage.
Trytogetintothehabitofwritingcritically,bymakingsurethatyoureadcritically,andthatyouincludecritiquein
yourwriting.

Stringingtogetherofquotes
Itcanbetemptingtostringtogetherquotestosupportanargument,feelingthatthemorequotesyouinclude,the
strongeryourargument.Itisimportant,however,torememberthatyoualsoneedtointerpretthequotestothereader,
andtoexplaintheirrelevance,discusstheirvalidity,andshowhowtheyrelatetootherevidence.

Strategicuseofparagraphs
Thereareseveralwaysinwhichyoucanusetheparagraphtoenhanceyourcriticalwriting.
Youcanuseparagraphstomakeaclearandvisualseparationbetweendescriptivewritingandcriticalanalysis,by
switchingtoanewparagraphwhenyoumovefromdescriptiontocriticalwriting,andviceversa.Thiscanhelpin:
emphasisingtothereaderthatyouareincludingbothdescriptionandcriticalanalysis,byprovidingavisual
representationoftheirseparationand
pushingyoutoproducethenecessarycriticalwriting,especiallyifyoufindthatyourdescriptionparagraphsare
alwayslonger,ormorefrequent,thanyourcriticalanalysisparagraphs.
Aparagraphbreakcanprovideabriefpauseforyourreaderswithinalongerargumentgivingthemtheopportunityto
makesuretheyarekeepingupwithyourreasoning.Paragraphsthatareoverlylongcanrequirereaderstoholdtoo
muchintheirmindatonce,resultingintheirhavingtorereadthematerialuntiltheycanidentifythepointyouare
making.
Youcanalsouseparagraphstopushyourselftoincludecriticalwritingalongsidedescriptivewritingorreferencing,by
consideringeachparagraphalmostasanessayinminiature.Withineachparagraphyouwould:
introducethepointyouwanttomake
makethepoint,withsupportingevidence
reflectcriticallyonthepoint.

Ifitsworthincluding,itsworthtellinguswhy
Acertainamountofdescriptivewritingisessential,particularlyintheearlierpartsoftheessayorassignmentor
dissertation.Beyondthat,however,thereisadangerthattoomuchdescriptivewritingwilluseupvaluablewordsfrom
yourwordlimit,andreducethespaceyouhaveforthecriticalwritingthatwillgetyouhighermarks.
Ausefulhabittogetintoistomakesurethat,ifyoudescribesomeevidencerelevanttoyourargument,youneedthen
toexplaintothereaderwhyitisrelevant.Thelogicofyourexplanationcontributestothecriticalcomponentofyour
writing.
So,asentenceortwomightdescribeandreferencetheevidence,butthisisnotenoughinitself.Thenextfewsentences
needtoexplainwhatthisevidencecontributestotheargumentyouaremaking.Thismayfeellikeduplicationatfirst,
orthatyouareexplainingsomethingthatisobvious,butitisyourresponsibilitytoensurethattherelevanceofthe
evidenceisexplainedtothereaderyoushouldnotsimplyassumethatthereaderwillbefollowingthesamelogicas
you,orwilljustworkouttherelevanceofthequoteordatayouhavedescribed.

Lineofargument
SofarthisStudyGuidehasconsideredthedetailofwhatyouwrite.Theotherkeyelementincriticalwritingisthe
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WhatiscriticalwritingUniversityofLeicester

overallstructureofyourpieceofwriting.Formaximumeffectiveness,yourwritingneedstohavealine,orlinesof
argumentrunningthroughitfromtheIntroductiontotheConclusion.
Justasyouhaveusedparagraphsonamicroscaletopresentyourcriticalwriting,soyouneedtoconsidertheordering
ofthoseparagraphswithintheoverallstructure.Theaimistoleadyourreaderscarefullythroughthethreadofyour
argument,toawellsupportedconclusion.

Exampleofeffectivecriticalwriting
Thetextbelowisanexampleofgoodcriticalwriting,andisbasedonessaymaterialsuppliedbyUniversityof
LeicestersSchoolofPsychology.
Theauthorreferstotheavailableevidence,butalsoevaluatesthevalidityofthatevidence,andassesseswhat
contributionitcanrealisticallymaketothedebate.
Thereareanumberofinherentmethodologicaldifficultiesinevaluatingtreatmentefficacyinthisarea,andthishas
contributedtocontroversywithintheresearchliteraturesurroundingtreatmentoutcomesforthisgroupofoffenders
(Marshall,1997).Firstly,whilethereisnodoubtthattheprimarycriterionoftreatmentsuccessisareductioninthe
rateofreoffending(Marshalletal.,1999),reconvictiondatadoesnot,inisolation,providearealisticrepresentationof
actuallevelsofreoffendingbythisgroup.Itiswellestablishedthatthereisadiscrepancybetweenreoffendingand
reconvictionrates:thelatterunderestimatingthenumberofoffencescommitted(Grubin,1999).Indeed,asignificant
proportionofoffencescommittedbyoffendersareeitherunreported,ordonotresultintheoffenderbeingconvicted
(Abeletal.,1987).
Youcanseehowtheauthorisconsideringtheavailableevidence,butalsothelimitationsonthatevidence,andwillbe
takingallofthisintoaccountindrawingconclusions.

Checklistforanoverallreviewofyourwriting
Itisalwaysworthtakingacriticallookatyourownwritingbeforesubmittingitforassessment.Thekindsofquestions
thatmightbeusefultoaskatthatstageare:

Whatisthebalancebetweendescriptiveandcriticalwriting?
Whileacertainamountofdescriptionisnecessarytosetthecontextforyouranalysis,themaincharacteristicof
academicwritingisitscriticalelement.Ausefulwaytocheckthisbalanceinyourownwritingistousetwocoloured
pensandtomarkinthemarginwhetherthelinesaredescriptiveorcritical.Thebalancewillchangeatdifferentpoints,
butyouneedtomakesurethereisenoughofthecolourthatrepresentscriticalwriting.

WhyshouldthereaderbeconvincedbywhatIvejustwritten?
Rememberthat,justasyouareaskingWhyshouldIbelievewhatIvejustread?,thereadersofyourworkwillbe
askingthesamequestionofyourwriting.Acriticalreadthroughyourownwritingmayrevealgapsinyourlogic,which
youcanrectifybeforeyousubmititforthecritiqueofothers.

Ismyconclusiontrailedandsupportedsufficientlywellbymyprecedinganalysisand
argument?
Checkouttheconclusionsthatyouhavedrawn,thenlocateandcheckthesupportingevidenceyouprovideearlieron.
Thisisagoodwayofmakingsureyouhaventforgottentoincludeacrucialpieceofevidence.Itisalsoawayof
checkingthat,whenyourreadercomestotheendofyourwriting,theconclusionsmakesense,ratherthanbeinga
surprise,oranunconvincingleapoflogic.

HaveIincludedanyunsubstantiatedstatements?
Sometimesageneralised,sweepingstatementcanslipthrough:thekindofstatementthatmightbeacceptableon
conversation,butnotinacademicwriting.Therearethreemainwaysofdealingwithsuchstatements:
presenttheevidencetosupportthestatement
rephrasethestatementtosoundmorecautiouse.g.:itcouldbearguedorthissuggeststhat
removethestatement

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