Writing Skills

Preparation and Critical thinking for an academic

essay

At the end of this session

You will improve your essay preparation

You will appreciate the importance of using
critical skills in an academic essay.

Plan your strategy

Strengths - What do you

know already about the
topic? A focussed approach.
Weaknesses What ideas do
you need to develop further
and spend more time on.
What is the question/learning
outcome(s) or objective of a
given assignment including
time framework?
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Relevance

United Kingdom material is authoritative.

USA/ Canada etc may be persuasive but usually not relevant
to be avoided in most respects
Check the accuracy of any current statutory/regulatory
provisions referred to, e.g. the NMC code of Professional
Conduct.
Official government websites e.g. DOH are a must and should
always be used.
Most importantly, answer the QUESTION

6 Hierarchical levels of learning

Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
(Bloom 1956)

Structure of assignment
Introduction define parameters, say what you are going to
discuss
Main body - what are the issues - your sources
Discussion compare and contrast your own ideas where you
bring together your understanding and critical analysis.
Brief conclusion reflecting on your discussion, you may wish to
say what lessons have been learnt from the study/ project.
A little at a time/ use the Harvard Referencing system

Assemble the ingredients

You may not need to know where everything comes from

when you are baking bread, but in an assignment,
provenance matters: so make sure that you keep a log of
all reading and references.
Most kinds of bread need a leavening agent, usually
yeast. What is the leaven in your assignment? What is
the personal angle which will make it rise above simply
being a re-hash

Stage 2 Mix

Mix them all together. You can do this by

putting them on cards and arranging them in
various configurations to see how one view or
opinion interacts with another. You are not
particularly bothered about the actual order of
presentation, yet.

 Knead it
Physically, this is the hard work of
baking. It involves pulling and folding
- two tiny particles which started off
next to each other can end up
separated in an unpredictable fashion.
Our counterpart is about ordering the
content about determining which bits to
put first

 Shape it

Your loaf may go into a tin, i.e. conform to a

certain required shape, such as word length
your essay now needs to acquire its final
shape, which means:
Does it meet the requirements? Does it
address the title or the set outcomes?
Will it hold its shape? Pay attention now to the
conclusion, and finally to the introduction,
which specifies what the shape is

 Leave it to Rise
It's the failure to engage in this
and the next two stages
which leads to so-called "halfbaked" essays. It is not a
problem with the baking, it's a
problem with the rising and
after.

 Knock it Back
The risen dough does not go
straight into the oven. Bakers
"knock it back", and pummel
the air (redundant ideas and
padding) out of it, then they
knead it

 Bake it

Write it. There is no real need to have

booted up your word-processor until
now. Indeed, even with outlining and
cut-and-paste facilities, to have fixed
anything into a linear sequence before
this stage may well be creating more
work for yourself, despite the superficial
impression of achievement.

- Get it to the consumer

(assessment)

Hand it in, confident in its nutritious and tasty quality!

But remember, baked dough which has not risen
properly and been knocked back sits heavily on the
stomach, and may cause indigestion.
Baking an essay [On-line] UK; Available:
http://www.doceo.co.uk/tools/baking.htm Accessed: 19 April 2004


Essay
Your

Ingredients
response
should focus on the question to be
answered.
The construction should be structure to include
1. the introduction,
2. main body with logical paragraphs and,
3. conclusion.

You should demonstrate a depth of knowledge

understanding and application of the topic to the level
in question
To include critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation
Attention should be paid to presentation of the script
with good use of referencing.
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Critical analysis
Introduction should state the issue define your objective what
you are going to say.

Analyze critically.
Synthesise the ideas you discussed.
Evaluate the relevance of the evidence for supporting your
discussion
Apply it to clinical practice

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4 components of critical thinking

Identifying & challenging assumptions

Becoming aware of the importance of
context in creating meaning
Imaging & and exploring alternatives
Cultivating reflective scepticism
(Brookfield, 1987)

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7 factor framework for critical analysis of an issue/

topic (Gopee 2002)
1)
2)
3)

Identify & examine all components or elements of

the topic or situation
Identify & select existing knowledge or
information
Examine & recognise the relationship between
the elements and their function

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Cont
4)
5)
6)
7)

Ascertain the context in which the topic is being

analysed
Identify & challenge assumptions for accuracy &
validity
Imagine & explore alternatives
Draw conclusions about the situation &

make a decision

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After Critical Analysis

Synthesis:
suggestion/recommendation of
new Method or approach, own
ideas
At the end Evaluation:
appraise the value of the suggestions,
what lessons have been learnt & possibly
draw conclusions and make some
recommendations.
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Paragraphing

A paragraph should be about 5 8 sentences where

ideas or aspects of an argument should be
developed;
A sentence stating the main idea
A definition or explanation of any new terms to be
included.
Critical analysis of the idea
Evidence, the basis of your argument/theme

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Developing an argument
a fact or assertion offered as evidence that
something is true; "it was a strong argument
that his hypothesis was true"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
Hart (1998) states that an argument involves
putting forward reasons to influence someone's
beliefs that what is being proposed is in fact the
case.

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And finally, practical tips

Avoid use of passive tense and

Use of the first person.
Avoid tautology which is redundancy of information.
Use of Capital letters for names of people and places.
Spellings use spell-check.
Other specifications, e.g. double spacing.
Read out aloud to someone patient enough or to the cat if no one
will listen.
Ask someone to proof read your work for you, the less
knowledgeable the better
GOFFMAN E (1975) Frame Analysis: an essay on the organization of
experience Harmondsworth; Penguin
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