The main goal of Critical Writing is to provide students with a set
of robust, integrated critical concepts and processes that will
allow to them think through a topic, and then write about it, and
to do so in a way that is built on, and permeated by, substantive
critical thinking. The "topic" in question can be virtually
anything that can be written about: issues, situations, problems,
questions, arguments, and decisions are just some examples. The
critical thinking tools and concepts are built on the Paul-Elder
Approach to critical thinking.[1] A major part of the goal of the
book is to provide not only the "what" of writing a paper, but the
"how" of it. The "what" is constituted by the essential components
of a well-thought-out paper: thesis statement and main points, an
articulated structure, development, research, the need for clarity,
grammatical correctness, and several others. Addressing the "how"
of these occupies a significantly greater part of Critical Writing.
The aim throughout is to show: how you can actually construct a
thesis statement and the other main points that constitute the
structure of the paper; how you can write the actual paragraphs
that make up the body of the paper; how you can engage in
productive research and do so in a planned, self-directed way; how
you can make a point clear-not just grammatically or stylistically
clear, but clear in thought and clear in communicating that thought
to an audience; how you can think your way through the numerous
unanticipated issues (including aspects of grammatical correctness,
transitions, as well as many others) that arise in the course of
writing papers. The book aims to provide close and careful
processes for carrying out each of these, always through the use of
one's best reasoned judgment-through critical thinking. A closely
related goal in the book is to bring in the standards of critical
thinking. A well-thought-out paper needs to be clear, accurate,
relevant, and fair; it needs to stress the important parts of a
topic (rather than the minor side-issues); it should be as precise,
deep, broad, and sufficient as it needs to be for the context in
which the paper is written. But recognizing that these standards
are essential is plainly not enough. With the critical thinking
standards, the "how" is again paramount. Critical Writing provides
concrete usable ways for students to make their paper more
accurate, more relevant, and so forth, and to communicate its
accuracy, relevance, and the rest to the writers' audience. Perhaps
just as important, the book gives specific prompts that help to
direct writers toward the thinking required to help them meet those
standards. The specific focus in the book is on writing a paper,
but the concepts and processes of critical writing apply in a
direct and useful way to virtually any kind of non-fictional
writing. [1]Critical Writing: A Guide to Writing a Paper Using the
Concepts and Processes of Critical Thinking lays out the main
dimensions of the Foundation for Critical Thinking's articulation
of critical thinking (www.criticalthinking.org) as they apply to
writing. The approach was developed by Richard Paul, Linda Elder
and myself. Probably the best overview of it is contained in Paul
and Elder's Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools. Though Paul and
Elder's book is highly condensed, it spells out the essential
components of a robust conception of critical thinking.
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