Written Assignment: Major Essay

than criticising an argument. It’s thoughtfully reasoned consideration. Critical thinking can be defined as examining your own ideas, and those of others; assessing and synthesising these different ideas and arguments; and applying ideas in different contexts. You will need to think critically when reading, note taking, doing assignments, preparing for exams, organising your time, and attending lectures and tutorials.

Critical thinking involves seven steps. Let’s say, for example, you had to make a decision about which university to attend. You would ultimately do the following:

• Analyse and interpret the question E.g. Ask: ‘Which university should I attend?’
• Immerse yourself in the topic E.g. Seek information about different universities.
• Ask questions E.g. Ask questions about University services, programs of study, and potential career paths.
• Make links E.g. Make a link between Griffith University and its impact on a future career in education.
• Understand the different perspectives E.g. Synthesise information from a range of sources, such as University open days; guidance counsellors; current students; and professionals in the field.
• Understand the theoretical frameworks E.g. Familiarise yourself with terminology and concepts relevant to universities, such as undergrad, postgrad, entry requirements and pre-requisites.
• Develop a position and arguments to support it E.g. Make an informed decision about which university to attend. It was Griffith University, right?

The body of the assignment consists of one or more paragraphs structured to reflect your critical thinking about the question and the chosen order for presenting your argument. The order of your paragraphs can be a logical sequence, a chronological sequence, a clustering of closely related ideas, a combination of opposing ideas, or in terms of importance.

Every paragraph will have a similar structure, and functions like a ‘mini-essay’. It should have an introduction (topic sentence), a body, and a concluding sentence. Each of these has a distinct function: 

• A topic sentence (usually the first sentence of the paragraph) states the key point of the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph is organised around this point.
• The topic sentence is followed by the ‘body’ of the paragraph. This can contain explanations, evidence and examples to support the key point of the paragraph. Supporting evidence is used to justify, explain or develop your argument.
•  A concluding sentence links the main idea of the paragraph back to your argument, and therefore to the assignment topic/question.

Click on the following link to watch a video from EnglishHelp to learn more about paragraphing.

• The two short videos will walk you through the basic skills required  to write effective paragraphs, which is an important key to good essay writing.
• There is also a practice component, which allows you to start developing the skills you have gained through the videos.  

This module has provided you with details on how to:

• Critical thinking
• Finding the right information for your assessment
• Identifying and evaluating scholarly and peer reviewed journal articles
• Searching for relevant information using Google scholar, the library catalogue and library databases
• Structuring and writing your essay using proper paragraphing and paraphrasing techniques
• Referencing your assignment.