Writing critically means being questioning or sceptical about sources of information, considering where it has been published, who has published it and if it is relevant to your assignment and its aims and objectives?

In order to demonstrate that you are thinking critically you need to consider different aspects of your sources:

1) Are they appropriate to your topic?

2) Are they written by an expert in that area?

3) Are the sources biased or do they not provide the whole picture?

4) Are the sources designed for mass markets or academic audiences?

5) Are sources relevant to your argument?

6) Many academics provide contradictory arguments

7) Are the arguments convincing or has something been missed?

8) How does the evidence collected relate to your point of view? Have you put forward a convincing and evidenced argument? 

Ensure that when you are writing you aim to persuade the reader by convincing them rather than informing the reader of what other people have stated. 

This may result in your assignment being too descriptive rather than analytical. 

It is important that you explain to your reader what the evidence you have put forward means, why does this matter and how does this answer your question? 

By being critical you need to justify why you have included your points and ensure that they are in a logical order.

Does the evidence lead to the claims put forward by the writer of your source? 

Where do you stand? Ensure that this is clear as there is no right answer, you need to convince the reader by covering the topic concisely and clearly. This means acknowledging other positions and arguing your main point, considering weaknesses on other arguments and strengths in you own. 

Ensure that your evidence is strong and justified in addition to the viewpoints of others. 

Your introduction should highlight the main points that you are going to explore in the assignment. Each paragraph should address one main point with a progression towards your conclusion. 

Conclusions, at the end of your assignment should include a summary of your position and no new information. 

Why not watch the video below which summarises the main points relating to critical writing? 

It may be useful to consider moving on from being descriptive to producing analytical writing. 

The Plymouth Model of Critical Thinking encourages you to move on from descriptive questions like What and Who to address analytical questions about your sources and to evaluate them. This means considering why they matter and help you to answer your overall question. 

There is a link below to the Plymouth Model of Critical Thinking, with further information and examples of it being used in context. 

Developing an academic voice is important at university and it may be something your lecturers have commented on within assignment feedback. Sometimes students feel that they can't express their own ideas in academic writing, this is not the case. 

Academic arguments should be based on the evidence and ideas of others and you decide what is relevant to critique from the points of others in order to come to a well reasoned and justified conclusion. 

When coming to the end of a main point or idea that has been critiqued and evidenced in order to demonstrate your understanding you will make suggestions about how the point links to your wider learning outcomes and why it matters in relation to your subject area. This is your academic voice and can result in well reasoned evidenced suggestions for wider practice. 

When considering how to develop an academic argument in your writing at university, take a look at the links below for more hints and tips on the topic. 

Why not try the game below to develop your knowledge to support you in becoming an effective academic student?

Plymouth University (2003) Critical thinking. Available at: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1710/Critical_Thinking.pdf (Accessed: 8 December 2023). 

University of Hull (2017) Critical writing. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btUY6jTt2Ys (Accessed: 8 December 2023). 

University of Hull (ND) Critical writing: your voice. Available at:https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/criticalwriting/voice (Accessed: 19 December 2023). 

University of Leeds (2023) Critical thinking: critical writing. Available at: https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/1401/academic_skills/105/critical_thinking/5 (Accessed: 8 December 2023).