Critical Thinking and Development of the Writer’s Reflection Techniques Exploratory Essay

Introduction

Critical thinking develops the writer’s reflection techniques. Critical thinking is a skill we build towards perfection. The assessment of an original idea or theory is called critical thinking. Similarly, the idea cannot be paraphrased and it must be backed by evidence and research. The most significant element of critical thinking involves evaluating, interpreting, analyzing, and connecting the main idea with the writer’s opinion.

It is critical to note that the writer’s reflection must be guided by the views of different research (Gardner 2009). Critical thinking reflects on main ideas using previous literatures and data. The view of the previous research is assessed and a decision is reached by the writer. Initially, I questioned various reflection skills to evaluate seven features of critical thinking

Features of critical thinking

Critical thinking has seven features. The features include

1. Ask questions.
2. Evaluate critical points.
3. Make a claim with evidence and support.
4. Correlate the expanded theories with practical assumptions.
5. Interpret the information according to a framework.
6. Use supportive evidence.
7. Establish links between ideas.

Critical writing demonstrates original contributions in an idea. An informed writer will evaluate the resources collected and integrate a new idea to the topic. The reflection of critical writing may involve changing the framework of a previous research without altering the original idea (Gardner 2009). Critical writing is incomplete when the writer uses;

1. Many quotations.
2. Idea or research topic is supported by one source.
3. Resource link is not credible.
4. Restate a previous point.

Critical thinking requires a framework or guide. Learning how to analyze or evaluate information is a continuous process. This skill is essential for critical reflection. Critical thinking could be useful to me as a research student because I provides important guide in literature reviews.

The relevant aspects of critical thinking include paraphrasing, thesis statement, analysis and synthesis. Paraphrasing is the first stage of critical writing. The writer may paraphrase using direct quotes or citing text from previous literatures. The information is condensed, evaluated and reinterpreted in another form.

Thesis statement defines the writer’s path of argument. The writer’s direction must be condensed and persuasive. The entire work depends on the thesis statement. The statement defines the idea of the writer and the direction of the argument. The argument will be expanded throughout the research. The analysis of the topic defines the writer’s position.

Analysis is persuasive and the theory of critical writing will support the writer’s analysis. The analysis is supported with quotes and evidence used by different writers. The analysis will create a topic from the research. Critical reflection demonstrates reason and emotion. The idea is expanded to fit the writer’s reflection and evaluation. The goal of critical writing transcends cultural perspective (Luca 2012).

For example, when we reflect on a topic, we understand the areas of thoughts. Critical writing is not limited to a particular guideline. Similarly, the most important contribution can be discussed on salient issues. Writing skills will improve the level of understanding. Critical writing requires assumption analysis, imaginative speculation, reflective skepticism and contextual awareness (Luca 2012).

The writer utilizes various forms of writing to evaluate the research topic. What we can reflect we can write and what we can write we can challenge. Reflective writing develops our writing skill. The ability to articulate, describe, evaluate and examine a research topic improves our writing skill.

Synthesis provides independent ideas in the research topic. It involves critical analysis of the resource used. The point raised by the pervious writer may be rephrased to suit the modified topic. The writer provides a new path of argument while maintaining the original idea of the research.

References

Gardner, F 2009, Affirming values: using critical thinking to explore meaning and professional practice, Maxon Press, New York.

Luca, P 2012, Critical thinking: what do we really mean? Auckland University Publishers, New Zealand.