critical thinking is “the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to...

Critical Thinking is ldquothe art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better more clear more accurate and more defensiblerdquoPaul Binker Adamson and Martin (1989)

EconomicsCritical Analysis

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individuals own reason and critical analysisrdquo

Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist 1989 Nobel Peace Prize b1935)

The ability to read critically is not only important in academic study

It is also important in business because critical abilities enable practitioners to keep up to date and adjust to change

To assess and comment on problems and proposed solutions published in professional literature

And to evaluate and comment on solutions proposed in the workplace

Make an ArgumentA critical analysis paper

asks the writer to make an argument about a particular book essay movie etc

The goal is two fold one identify and

explain the argument that the author is making

and two provide your own argument about that argument

One of the key directions of these assignments is often to avoidminimize summary ndash you are not writing a book report but evaluating the authorrsquos argument

To be critical means that you are required to bull ask questions about the ideas and

information presented in the text and bull to comment thoughtfully by engaging in a

process of evaluating or bull making judgments about the validity or

relevance of the text to your research or field of study

What is meant by critical

Part of the process of being critical is to use the information gathered from questioning to understand the topic from different perspectives and in relation to relevant theoretical frameworks in the field

Furthermore asking the right questions will help you to make links with previous information develop a position and arguments to support it

The Process

Evaluation is the process that encourages you to show an understanding of the text content by

analyzing the purpose and the structure of the text

assessing and making judgments about its appropriateness according to various academic criteria

What is meant by evaluation

To approach a topic analytically is to examine carefully the content issues and structure by separating them into component parts and explaining how they interrelate

The ability to summarize is another skill that is essential to writing a critical review

To summarize means to express the main points of an idea or topic in fewer words and without including examples or details

What is meant by analysis

1) summarize the article briefly (a one paragraph introduction)

2) critique the article

To complete the critical analysis you need to a) state your thesis (main point) b) comment on the articles good points c) comment on the articles bad points and d) provide a conclusion

You should write your review for people who have not read the article

To write a critical review you need to

To develop ideas for your critique you should look at specific details such as these 1 What problems

weaknesses or strengths do you find in the article What parts of the article are weak or strong

2 Is the authors logic correct Point out any fallacies or contradictions in the authors argument

3 What are the authors basic assumptions Does the author support them Are they valid useful

4 Does the author distort facts or omit ideas Why does the author do this Is this appropriate

5 What questions does the author leave unanswered or answer well Are the explanations clear

6 What is the purpose of the article Does it meet the authors purposes Who is the audience for the article Does it meet the readers needs

Work on organizing your critique

Pattern B

Introduction RelevanceSummaryThesis

Good points Bad points Your response Conclusion +

Recommendation (article not so good) Note Give bad points first if

you think the article is good)

Pattern A

IntroductionRelevanceSummaryThesis

Your response Conclusion +

Recommendation

Be sure each paragraph has a specific purpose You can organize your critique in many ways but here are the easiest ways

What steps should you take in summarizing the article

1 Take a quick overview of the article by reading

1048721 the title1048721 the abstract1048721 the introduction1048721 the subheadings1048721 the conclusion

Briefly state your position state why the problem you are working on is important and indicate the important questions that need to be answered this is your Introduction

Read the Article Carefully2 Read the article

without taking notes in order to gain an overall idea of its aim and main idea

3 Read the article again analytically and make notes of main ideas and main topic

1048721 Highlight important ideas

1048721 Make brief notes in the margin or on paper

Check Your Notes4 Check your notes

to ensure that they include

10487211048721 the main aim of the article eg to analyze explain evaluate argue criticize discuss opposing views

Because you are in high school your analysis REQUIRES an outside professional source supporting or refuting your articlersquos thesis

In Your Summary5 Use your notes to

write a summary6 In your summary

ensure that you have paraphrased not plagiarized the authors words and used quotations sparingly

At the end of your article you must identify the works you used ndash Works Cited

What is involved in commenting critically on an article

Commenting critically on an article involves analysis and evaluation

Analysis of the article involves dissecting the information presented in order to identify the purpose the main points the methodology and the findings or conclusions of the article

(This is done in theinitial summarizing step)

What criteria can be used for evaluating an article

The following criteria are useful however not all of them will be relevant for evaluating all articles

the logic of the view put forward

the validity of the evidence put forward

the validity of the conclusions

the thoroughness with which the article treats the topic

its value compared to that of other articles on the topic

What is the structure of a critical review

Like most other writing you do at university level a critical review has an introduction a body and a conclusion

Introduction In the introduction you

shouldbull provide a context for the

article (background information or shared knowledge)

bull give the title of the article and name of author (full name is possible here)

identify the writer by profession or importance if appropriate

bullinclude some indication as to why the subject is important and thus worth writing about

bullidentify the purpose of the article

bullgive an indication of your overall impression of the article in general terms

Body

In the body you should summarize and analyze the contents

of the article bullmake clear by frequent reference to

the author of the article that you are presenting the author(s) views not yours

bullevaluate the article

The following is a suggested structure

bull an analytical summary of main findingsargumentsconclusions of article

bull strengthsusefulness of article bull weaknesseslimitationsproblems

of the article especially for your purposes

(Or you might put these together so that each paragraph includes all four)

Conclusion In the conclusion you

should

summarize the previous discussion

make a final judgment on the value of the article

comment on the future of the issuetopic or implications of the view expressed

What makes a good critical review

A good critical review gives correct information about

the author date and article in the introduction

summarizes the purpose and main idea of the article in the introduction

bullshows evidence of analytical thinking in the summary section

bullevaluates the article against a number of criteria

bullprovides a final evaluation indicating the balance that is seen to exist between the strengths and weaknesses of the article

makes sufficient reference to the author of the article

bull provides full bibliographical details of the article at the end of the review

Economic analysis involves

Identification of alternativeshellip their consequenceshellip and their costshellip the values of these hellip and how they compare hellip to inform the decision on whether you

should do it

Final Reminders

bull Even though you are potentially only referring to one source you still need to cite your information using either parenthetical citation or footnotesendnotes

Double check the assignment to make sure you have covered all the points that your teacher has asked

DIRECTIONS FOR ACTIVITY Now do an analysis of the following paragraph for homework Identify one of the criteria for evaluation and follow one of the formats suggested

in this lesson

from Money (1984) by Martin Amis In LA you canrsquot do anything unless you drive Now I canrsquot do anything unless I

drink And the drink-drive combination it really isnrsquot possible out there If you so much as loosen your seatbelt or drop you ashes or pick your nose then its an Alcatraz autopsy with the questions asked later Any indiscipline you feel any variation and therersquos a bullhorn a set of scope sights and a coptered pig drawing a bead on your rug

So what can a poor boy do You come out of the hotel the Vraimont Over boiling Watts the downtown sky line carries a smear of Godrsquos green snot You walk left you walk right you are a bank rat on a busy river This restaurant serves no drink this one serves no meat this one serves no heterosexuals You can get your chimp shampooed you can get your dick tattooed twenty-four hours but can you get lunch And should you see a sign on the far side of the street flashing BEEF--BOOZE--NO STRINGS then you can forget it The only way to get across the road is to be born there All the ped-xing signs say DONrsquoT WALK all of them all the time That is the message the content of Los Angeles donrsquot walk Stay inside Donrsquot walk Drive Donrsquot walk Run I tried the cabs No use The cabbies are all Saturnians who arenrsquot even sure whether this is a right planet or a left planet The first thing you have to do every trip is teach them how to drive

Economics Critical Analysis

The ability to read critically is not only important in academi

Make an Argument


The Process




To develop ideas for your critique you should look at specific



Read the Article Carefully

Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders

DIRECTIONS FOR ACTIVITY

The ability to read critically is not only important in academic study

It is also important in business because critical abilities enable practitioners to keep up to date and adjust to change

To assess and comment on problems and proposed solutions published in professional literature

And to evaluate and comment on solutions proposed in the workplace














The Process






















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Pattern A



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Body











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Final Reminders




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Make an Argument


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Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders















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Pattern B





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Body











should















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Final Reminders




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Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders























Pattern B





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Body











should















should do it

Final Reminders




in this lesson






Make an Argument


The Process








Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders








































Body











should















should do it

Final Reminders




in this lesson






Make an Argument


The Process








Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders













should do it

Final Reminders




in this lesson






Make an Argument


The Process








Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders


Final Reminders




in this lesson






Make an Argument


The Process








Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders



in this lesson






Make an Argument


The Process








Check Your Notes

In Your Summary




Body



Final Reminders


critical thinking is “the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to...

Documents

recommendation article

main points

critical thinking

authors argument

main topic

notes of main ideas

articles good points

critical analysis paper