Critical analysis “Be more critical! More analysis needed! That’s what my tutors say about my essays. I’m not really sure what they mean.” “I thought I had written a really good assignment this time. I did so much reading and preparation for it, but my tutor’s feedback is ‘not enough argument.’ I’m not sure what to do now. I mean, I’m not an argumentative person - and I don’t really want to be.”

One of the most important skills you will need to learn as a student, whatever your discipline is the ability to think critically and objectively about an issue and to present a well-constructed argument. Critical and analytical-thinking skills such as these will be essential to most aspects of your study, whether you are listening to lectures, contributing to seminars, or reading about your subject. Here, we will be focusing mainly on critical analysis for written work, as nothing gains or loses marks more for most student assignments than the quality of your written argument. Argument here doesn’t mean disagreement or unpleasantness. It simply means presenting a strong case to support a point of view. You don’t have to be an argumentative person to do this: on the contrary, good critical writing means using reasons and evidence to support your stand point. The first rule is: Identify the focus of the assignment Good critical analysis isn’t simply about writing. Before you start any assignment, you need to be clear about your focus. At university, this usually means thinking critically about the requirements of the essay, report, or of the seminar or workshop topic. “I always ask myself why the lecturers have set this particular essay? Why this particular wording? What is it that they are expecting us to read? Usually,

Palgrave Macmillan (2006)

there is an underlying set of ideas or theories or problems or texts that they expect us to cover as part of our