Strategies for Developing Critical Thinking Skills: An Essay Guide

Reading and Generating Questions

The essay is positioned to investigate your understanding of the material you have researched and studied throughout the term. As instructed in your introduction to this class, the goal is to push you to think about ideas in the text and to read with the intention of understanding, evaluating, and using the ideas presented. Reading this passage passively, with the intention to learn what is written, would allow you to answer some types of questions about it. For example, if I asked you what the slithy toves did when it was brillig, you would be able to tell me that they gyred and gimbled. Where did they gyre and gimble? In the wabe. Note that it is possible to memorize this whole passage without understanding it; that is, without gaining the ability to answer questions such as: Why did the slithy toves gyre and gimble? What is the difference between gyring and a gimbling? What does mimsy mean? In other words, to think is to question. Thus, you should generate many questions about the text while reading it thoughtfully. Your consistent application of critical thinking and note taking will bode well for you as you prepare your essay. For example, you might ask questions like: What _____ is more convincing to me? Do I agree/disagree with ____? How is _____ related to my experiences/beliefs? How could ____ be applied or useful in the “real world”? What is the relationship between ____ and ____? Does _____ predict how I would behave/feel/think? After completing each chapter, read over your questions. When it comes time to write your essay, review your questions and select three questions that seem most interesting to you (and which you will be able to answer according to the questions below). Spend time to find the ‘best fit’ between your questions and the themes provided. You will elaborate on your questions in the form of an essay. Please familiarize yourself with the marking rubric provided below. Following APA style and formatting, please use headers to clearly distinguish between each question. Questioning the material—disagreement or generalizability. Ask a question concerning whether you agree or disagree with a point the text authors have made or a question concerning how a specific finding discussed in the text might generalize to other people/situations/cultures, etc. Ask your question Succinctly describe the idea/evidence you are questioning Indicate why you disagree with it Indicate whether or not you think the idea/evidence would generalize to different situations, people, cultures, etc. If you are challenging a point, be sure to indicate why you disagree. What kinds of evidence, experiences, or thoughts lead you to disagree? If you are questioning the generalizability of the idea/evidence, be sure to indicate why you think it would or would not generalize. Questioning the relationship between the material and your life. Ask a question concerning how an idea discussed in the text is related to your own experiences, feelings, thoughts, and/or behaviours. Ask your question Succinctly describe the idea/evidence relevant to your question Discuss how you think the idea/evidence would be related to you. Be sure to be as specific as possible when relating the text to your life, i.e., specify how the text idea is related to particular instances in your life; the more concrete the better. Questioning how the material could be applied to your everyday life. Ask a question concerning how you could use an idea discussed in the text to enhance/improve your everyday life. Ask your question Succinctly describe the idea/evidence relevant to your question Discuss how you could use the idea/evidence in your own life,?for example, you might ask, “How could I use this idea in order to study more efficiently? How could I use this idea in order to feel more optimistic about my future?” Be sure to be as specific as possible when discussing how you could apply an idea to your life.