Make your writing flow
Flow is never a problem if you know what your argument is, you can identify the points and you know which order they should take.
Wrestling with the question
Wrestling with the question indicates that you’re not accepting the usual assumptions and you’re up for a battle of ideas.
A critical thinking game
Students use critical thinking all the time but often aren't sure how to apply it to academic tasks.
Paragraphs: the stepping stones in your argument
'Swiftly reading your own or other people’s work for the flow of ideas across paragraphs is a great way to improve your argumentation.'
Logical ligaments
Words such as ‘therefore’ and ‘however’ have a specific use - make sure you are using them correctly.
Keep a critical prompts notebook
Keep a list of critical prompts to help you to adopt a questioning attitude.
Pictures make words
Max Adams During workshops with undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students, I use images – anything from films to works of art – to help them to develop their sense of story and visualise its shape. In great art, as in…
Think in points
When you are planning your essay, it helps to get yourself into a critical frame of mind.
Paraphrasing
To paraphrase properly, you need to really understand what you’re reading and be able to explain it.
Summarise your argument
Check your argument is sound by summing it up in a couple of sentences before you start writing.