Hello & welcome back,

One of the most frequently asked questions is 'how do I read critically' or 'how can I add critical thinking into my essay'? Evidence of critical discussion, thinking and analysis are all markers for a 60%+ grade in an essay, dissertation or presentation at university.

The problem is, your lecturers don't teach you HOW exactly you do this - and so you're stuck in a cycle of needing to add critical discussion but not knowing how.

Harvard Library posted an article called 6 Reading Habits to Develop In Your First Year at Harvard. Let's summarise the key points for you:

6 steps of reading critically -

Preview the text – Look “around” the text before you start reading. Note the features of the text (headings, length, layout, and who the author is). Get familiar with the style of writing, the tone and any prefatory materials that could be useful to note later.
Annotating – Underline the important details and write notes in the margins. These notes may include connections, predictions, questions, and restating important details. Get into the habit of asking questions actively, as you read and annotate. Write these questions done and try to answer or interrogate them.
Outlining, Summarising, & analysing – Three important questions to ask include: (1) What does the author want me to understand without stating directly? (2) What is the central idea? (3) Why is this relevant? This helps you to see the skeleton of an argument and reflect upon and decide how effectively (or poorly) its argument has been made.
Look for repetition and patterns – Paying attention to the author’s language is crucial. Vocabulary and figurative language all indicate the author’s point of view.
Contextualise – Once you’ve finished reading actively and annotating, consider the text from the multiple perspectives. Try to understand the text from a number of viewpoints - this could raise an important critical discussion point for your essay.
Compare and contrast – How does this text influence your understanding and knowledge? How does it compare (and contrast) to other texts? Most importantly, how has your thinking been altered by this reading, or how has it affected your response to the issues and themes of the course?

Whilst this list is written as a list of steps, most of these reading stages happen simultaneously. You quickly scan, then you read and annotate whilst asking questions, ended with thinking about those questions and comparing with other relevant texts.

It's a very active reading process and ensures you are always thinking beyond the words on paper and more deeply about how this text aligns to other texts within its field.

Good luck reading!

New Template Releases

We've been listening to your requests and expanding our template resource bank.

In the last month, we've added the following templates:

Cornell Note Template (FREE download) - Cornell Notes is a note-taking system that is designed to promote active listening, critical thinking, and effective studying. We've included a few different style options for you to choose from. Free Download Here
PhD VIVA Summary Preparation - If you're nearing the end of your PhD and want to start preparing for your PhD viva, this template will help you prepare, ensuring you cover all the key questions that you may be asked. Get it here

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