Critical thinking is an essential skill for everyone. Some people think it is hard to develop, but we know that no one is born with the ability to analyze every composition or situation perfectly. Meanwhile, critical thinking is especially important for students when they are writing their essays. There are a lot of recommendations online on how to start thinking critically and connect it in writing. Students can find good critical essay samples at such sources as Anonymous Essay and other student blogs that focus on how to improve your writing.
Even if you are not a student, it is never too late to start learning. Many people like to follow simple guides, so we are presenting brief instructions with helpful steps. Take useful information from here and develop your own strategies to improve your critical thinking and implement it in great writing as well.
- Start with a question
Despite being afraid of misunderstandings and ridicule, you should start asking questions about the topic of your research. When you want to express your thoughts but don’t know where to start, asking questions is an excellent base for developing critical thinking.
When your paper is still bare, here are the five important questions to ask: “What?” “When?” “Where?” “Who?” and “How?” By answering them in a comfortable order, you will notice that almost half of the work is done. Actually, there are a lot more supporting question words that help to describe the main content.
- Work with your imagination
Start writing an analysis of the situation or people’s behavior from another point of view. To start practicing this, become more observant. Pay attention to the situation and the people around you. You can even imagine that you live one day as a cat or as another favorite animal. Think about what the teapot would do in case of an apocalypse and how its thoughts would be different from what the cup thinks.
Even if it sounds crazy, you can progress decently with this technique.
- Predict the result
The hardest part of critical writing is to describe possible results of something you research. Be brave and give a try to having foresight. Also notice that every good article or news sums up what was said.
You don’t need to fantasize or exaggerate the story, but you have to base it only on the facts. Foresight will play the role of perspective in your writing, so be attentive to this point while training to think critically in your writings.
- Make a list of pros and cons
View the situation from different angles and write a list of the pros and cons of the main conflict in your topic. This helps you to compare the facts not only in academic writings but in any event or performance as well.
Imagine that you are a theater journalist and you need to write about the premiere you just saw. Every journalist has to think critically; in other cases, nobody will see the point to impress the spectator in the future.
- Think oppositely
If you already have the body of your critical thinking essay, start to expostulate with yourself as if you are a person with a completely opposite view. Rewrite your own text from a contrasting point of view. This will help to see what your original text is lacking and how to complete your essay with more fresh ideas.
- Read famous articles and rewrite them
When you can’t find your own ideas, look at what other journalists have already done. There are a lot of impressive works that can inspire you to write a new critical thinking essay. Your essay mostly depends on the name of the topic you choose to research, but every topic can be interesting, and you can find proof of it from other authors.
There is no need to copy other styles, but think about how to express the ideas you like the most in your own words and manner.
In conclusion, everyone needs to understand that we have different approaches to education. Critical thinking is not such a difficult skill to obtain if you find your own way to develop this essential talent. With these simple exercises, you will build your own strategy to succeed in critical thinking.