A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
Critical Thinking : The art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.
As an educated citizen it is your task to search for hidden assumptions, noticing various facets,
unraveling different strands, evaluating what is most significant.
To be critical implies conscious, deliberate inquiry, and implies adopting a skeptical state of mind.
Critical thinkers seek to draw intelligent conclusions and are sufficiently open-minded that they can
adopt a skeptical attitude toward their own ideas and assumptions and toward the evidence they
themselves tentatively offer and toward the assumptions and evidence offered by others.
You think critically when you question the assumptions, or unexamined beliefs, of yourself and others,
When you think critically you analyze and evaluate constantly.
When you offer analysis you are engaged in finding the parts of a problem and separating them,
discovering how things fit together.
When you offer Evaluation you are engaged in judging the merit of your claims and assumptions and the
weight of evidence in their favor.
A Checklist for Critical Thinking
Attitudes
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Does my thinking show imaginative open-mindedness and intellectual curiosity?
Am I willing to examine my assumptions?
Am I willing to entertain new ideas – both those that I encounter while reading and those that
come to mind while writing?
Am I willing to exert myself-for instance, to do research – to acquire information and to
evaluate evidence?
Skills
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Can I summarize an argument accurately?
Can I evaluate assumptions, evidence and inferences?
Can I present my ideas effectively – for instance, by Organizing and by writing in a manner
appropriate to my imagined audience?
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
A Check list for Examining Assumptions
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What assumptions does the writer’s argument presuppose?
Are these assumptions explicit or implicit?
Are these assumptions important to the author’s argument or only incidental?
Does the author give any evidence of being aware of the hidden assumptions of his
argument?
Would a critic be likely to share these assumptions, or are they exactly what a critic would
challenge?
What sort of evidence would be relevant to supporting or rejecting these assumptions?
Am I willing to grant the author’s assumptions?
o If not, why not?
A well cultivated critical thinker:
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Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely
Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively
Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and
standards
Thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need
be, their assumptions, implications and practical consequences, and
Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.
Is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective
Is committed to overcoming our native ethnocentrism and sociocentrism and egocentrism
Egocentrism: When you do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others, or appreciate the point
of view of others or limitations of your own point of view or self-serving perspective. Someone who is
ego-centric lives with an unrealistic but confident sense that we have fundamentally figured out the way
things actually are, and that we have done this objectively. We naturally believe in our intuitive
perceptions, however inaccurate. Instead of using intellectual standards in thinking we often use self centered psychological standards to determine what to believe and what to reject. For example:
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“It’s true because I believe it” (innate egocentrism) I assume what I believe is true, even though I
have never questions the basis for many of my own beliefs
“It’s true because We believe it” (innate socio-centrism) I assume that the dominant beliefs of
the groups to which I belong are true even though I have never questioned the basis for those
beliefs.
“It’s true because we believe it” (innate wish fulfillment) I believe in whatever put me (or the
group in which I belong) in a positive light. I believe what “feels good,” what does not require
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
me to change my thinking in any significant way, what does not require me to admit I have been
wrong.
“it’s true because I have always believed it” (Innate self-validation) I have a strong desire to
maintain beliefs that I have long held even though I have not seriously considered the extent to
which those beliefs are justified by evidence.
“It’s true because it is my selfish interest to believe it” (innate selfishness) I believe whatever
justifies my getting more power, money, or personal advantage even though these beliefs are
not grounded in sound reasoning or evidence.
Socio-centrism refers to the fact that many people are “culture bound” or the degree to which people
are unaware of how they have uncritically internalized the dominant prejudices of their society or
culture. Socio-centric thinking includes:
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The uncritical tendency to place one’s culture, nation and religion above all others
The uncritical tendency to select self-serving positive descriptions of ourselves and negative
descriptions of those who think differently from us
The uncritical tendency to internalize group norms and beliefs, take on group identities, and act
as we are expected to act – without the least sense that we are doing might reasonably be
questioned.
The tendency to blindly conform to group restrictions (many of which are arbitrary and coercive)
The failure to think beyond the traditional prejudices of one’s own culture
The failure to study and internalize the insights of other cultures (improving thereby the breadth
and depth of ones thinking)
The failure to distinguish universal ethics from relativistic cultural requirements and taboos.
The failure to realize that mass media in every culture shapes the news from the point of view of
that culture.
The failure to think historically and anthropologically (and hence to be trapped in current ways
of thinking)
The failure to see socio-centric thinking as a significant impediment to intellectual development
Socio-centric thinking is the hallmark of an uncritical society. It can be diminished only when replace by
cross-cultural, fair minded thinking-critical thinking in the strong sense.
People are only rational and reasonable if they work consciously to overcome egocentrism and sociocentrism and are active in cultivating intellectual traits, ethical sensitivities and intellectual skills
Essential Intellectual Traits:
1. Intellectual humility Vs Intellectual Arrogance
Having consciousness of the limits of one’s knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstance in which
one’s native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively; sensitivity to bias, prejudice and
limitations of one’s viewpoint. Intellectual humility depends on recogni9zing that one should not claim
more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies lack of
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical
foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one’s beliefs.
2. Intellectual Courage Vs. Intellectual Cowardice
Having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs or viewpoints which we have
strong negative emotions and to which we have not given serious hearing. This courage is connected
with the recognition that ideas considered dangerous or absurd are sometimes rationally justified and
that conclusions and beliefs inculcated in us are sometimes false or misleading. To determine for
ourselves which is which, we must not passively and uncritically “accept” what we have “learned.”
Intellectual courage comes into play here, because inevitably we will come to see some truth in some
ideas considered to be dangerous or absurd, and distortion or falsity in some ideas strongly held in our
social group. We need courage to be true to our own thinking in such circumstances. The penalties for
nonconformity can be severe.
3. Intellectual Empathy Vs. Intellectual Narrow-mindedness
Having a consciousness of the need to imaginatively put oneself in the place of others in order to
genuinely understand them, which requires the consciousness of our egocentric tendency to identify
truth with our immediate perceptions of long-standing thought or belief. This trait correlates with the
ability to reconstruct accurately the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises,
assumptions, and ideas other than our own. This trait also correlates with the willingness to remember
occasions when we were wrong in the past despite an intense conviction that we were right, and with
the ability to imagine our being similarly deceived in a case-at-hand.
4. Intellectual Autonomy Vs. Intellectual Conformity
Having rational control on one’s beliefs, values, and inferences. The ideal of critical thinking is to learn to
think for oneself, to gain command over one’s though processes. It entails a commitment to analyzing
and evaluating beliefs on the basis of reason, evidence, to question when it is rational to question, to
believe when it is rational to believe, and to conform when it is rational to conform.
5. Intellectual Integrity Vs. Intellectual Hypocrisy
Recognition of the need to be true to one’s own thinking; to be consistent in the intellectual standards
one applies; to hold one’s self to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds
one’s antagonists; to practice what one advocates for others; and honestly admit discrepancies and
inconsistencies in one’s own thought and action.
6. Intellectual Perseverance Vs. Intellectual Laziness
Having a consciousness of the need to use intellectual insights and truths in spite of difficulties,
obstacles, and frustrations; firm adherence to rational principles despite the irrational opposition of
others; a sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period
of time to achieve deeper understanding or insight.
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
7. Confidence in Reason Vs. Distrust of Reason and Evidence
Confidence that, in the long run, one’s own higher interests and those of humankind at large will be best
served by giving the freest play to reason, by encouraging people to come to their own conclusions by
developing their own rational faculties; faith that, with proper encouragement and cultivation, people
can learn to think for themselves, to form rational viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, think
coherently and logically, persuade each other by reason and become reasonable persons, despite the
deep-seated obstacles in the native character of the human mind and in society as we know it.
8. Fair-mindedness Vs. Intellectual Unfairness
Having a consciousness of the need to treat all viewpoints alike, without reference to ones own feelings
or vested interests, or the feelings or vested interests of one’s friends, community or nation; implies
adherence to intellectual standards without reference to one’s own advantage or the advantage of
one’s group.
Critical Thinking Skills
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Knowledge: Identification and recall of information
Comprehension: Organization and selection of facts and ideas
Application: Use of facts, rules and principles
Analysis: separating a whole into component parts
Synthesis: Combining ideas to form a new whole
Evaluation: developing opinions, judgments or decisions
Critical Reading is Active Reading
Previewing: consider what you already may know about the author, topic, or place of publication. What
is their nature? Is it serious or amusing? Is the place of publication a conservative establishment or
progressive? What does the title reveal about the reading assignment?
Skimming: Read the first paragraph of an essay and look for the author’s thesis, chief point or major
claim. What is the author’s argument? The argument includes the thesis and also the entire
development of the thesis. Search for expressions that indicate the author’s conclusions and pay
attention the last paragraph for a summary or reiteration of the thesis.
Skimming Checklist
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What is the author’s thesis?
What are the author’s methods? (Evidence provided by personal experience, statistics or
ridiculing the opposition?
What is the length and level of difficulty of the piece of writing?
How long will it take to carefully read?
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
Reading with a pencil; Underlining, Highlighting and annotating.
After skimming the assignment read it carefully and underline or highlight key passages and make
annotations in the margins. Interact with the text, identify the chief points.
If you highlight too much, you may not be thinking carefully enough about the key points
The marginal annotations should be brief and provide clues or remind you of what the key points are
and if they are valid or not.
Summarize
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Understand the contents
See the strengths and weaknesses of the piece
You stand back from the work and say briefly what it all adds up too; you are seeing the forest
not the individual trees. Do not get stuck in the details, what is the message?
When you write a summary, you are putting yourself in the writer’s shoes, not sharing your
opinion.
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Paraphrase
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You are reiterating the message in your own words and must acknowledge the original source if
you incorporate a summary or paraphrase into your own essay.
If you disagree with an author, you disagree using the following approaches
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While these arguments are convincing, they fail to consider….
While these arguments are convincing, they must also consider
These arguments, rather than being convincing, instead prove…
While these authors agree, in my opinion…
Although it is often true that…..
A checklist for getting started: Active Reading
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Have I adequately previewed the work?
Can I state the Thesis?
If I have jotted down a summary
Is the summary accurate?
Does the summary mention all the chief points?
If there are inconsistencies, are they in the summary or the original selection?
Will the summary be clear and helpful?
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
Critical Reading: Getting Deeper into arguments
Be able to distinguish between a persuasion and argument
To persuade is to win over
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By giving reasons
By appealing to emotions
By using torture
Argument, one form of persuasion, relies on reason; it offers statements as reasons for other
statements. You appeal to reason by:
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Physical evidence
The testimony of experts
Common sense
Probability
Writing an analysis of an argument
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What is the author’s purpose? Is it to persuade or to report?
There will be key terms to indicate that the reading is argumentative:
Transitions that imply the drawing of a conclusion: Therefore, because, for the reason
that, consequently
Verbs that imply proof: confirms, verifies, accounts for, implies, proves, disproves, is (in) consistent
with, refutes, it follows that
Examining the author’s methods: if the essay advances a thesis or argument, you will want to
analyze the strategies or methods of argument that allegedly support the thesis.
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Does the Writer quote authorities? Are these authorities really competent in his field? Are
equally competent authorities who take a different view ignored?
Does the writer use statistics? If so, are they appropriate to the point being argued? Can
they be interpreted differently?
Does the writer build the argument by using examples or analogies? Are they satisfactory?
Are the writer’s assumptions acceptable?
Does the writer consider all relevant factors? Has he or she omitted some points that you
think should be discussed? For instance, should the author recognize certain opposing
positions and perhaps concede something to them?
Does the writer seek to persuade by means of ridicule? If so, is the ridicule fair: Is it
supported also by rational argument?
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A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
In the first paragraph of your analysis tell your reader something about the author’s purpose and
something about the author’s methods. Identify the thesis or central argument and then summarize the
work briefly. Then write your thesis (evaluation or judgment). You might say that the essay is impressive
but not conclusive, or is undermined by convincing contrary evidence, or relies too much on
unsupported generalizations. They you set forth your analysis in support for your thesis. There is no one
way of going about this work. If, say, your author gives four arguments (for example, an appeal to
common sense, the testimony of authorities, the evidence of comparisons, and an appeal to selfinterest) you might want to do one of the following:
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Take up these four arguments in sequence
Discuss the simplest of the four and then go on to the more difficult ones
Discuss the two arguments you think are sound and then turn to the two you think are not, or
the reverse
Take one of these approaches and then clinch your case by constructing a fifth argument that is
absent from the work under scrutiny but in your view highly important.
Examining the author’s Persona: are they conscientious, friendly, self-effacing, authoritative, and
tentative?
In summary, when writing an analysis of your reading, you must
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Read and reread thoughtfully
Write notes to help you to think about what you are reading
Recognize if the nonliterary material you are reading is designed to argue, or report, or to do
both.
Consider how the material presents the writer’s personality, or voice. An essay on nuclear
war, in a journal devoted to political science, may include a voice that moves from an
objective tone to a mildly ironic tone to a hortatory tone, and this voice is worth commenting
on.
Checklist for analyzing a text
Have I considered all of the following matters?
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Who is the author? What perspective is he representing? What interests does he represent?
Is the piece aimed at a particular audience? A Neutral audience? Persons who are already
sympathetic to the author’s point of view? A hostile audience?
What is the author’s thesis? (Argument, main point, claims?)
What assumptions does the author make? Do I share them? If not, why not?
Does the author ever confuse facts with beliefs or opinions?
What appeals does the author make? To reason, for instance, with statistics, the testimony of
authorities, and personal experience? To the emotions, for instance, by an appeal to “our
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better nature,” or to widely shared values? To our sense that the speaker is trustworthy?
How convincing is the evidence?
Are significant objections and counterevidence adequately discussed?
A Quick Reference for Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing
Developing an argument of your own
Planning, drafting and revising an argument
Invention: writing is a way of getting and developing ideas.
Free writing: Write fluidly, non-stop without censoring yourself, just get thoughts down on paper,
improve on them through the process of rewriting and revising. Ask questions and seek answers through
the process. What is the topic, what is its value? What are the causes and consequences of the topic
you are examining? What should you do about it? What is the evidence for my claims about it?
Checklist for thesis statement
Consider the following questions:
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Does the statement make an arguable assertion rather than (a) merely assert an unarguable
fact (b) merely announce a topic, or (c) declare an unarguable opinion or belief?
Is the statement broad enough to cover the entire argument that I will be presenting, and is it
narrow enough for me to be able to cover the topic in the space allotted?
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