Writing Resources

Elements of Thought presented as a "wheel" model. [Scroll to the Wheel at the bottom of the page.] This is a superb resource for developing ideas and organizing an argument, paper, or presentation. See More below.

Excellent five-minute video that describes some of the main principles of critical thinking.

The Foundation for Critical Thinking provides structure and definitions for learning to think about your own thinking, a process known as metacognition. This site is recommended in our FNU Introduction to Scholarly Writing Course. It describes concepts involved in critical thinking.

Elements of Thought presented as a "wheel" model. Superb resource for developing ideas and organizing an argument, paper, or presentation. See More below.

EXCELLENT VIDEO from Walden University (one hour): Demonstrating critical thinking through writing is one of the tasks of a scholar. This webinar explores some strategies on how to incorporate critical thinking in your writing, highlighting how to use sources to support your own ideas and focusing on creating a thesis statement. NOTE: To view this webinar you must download the free Adobe Connect app. Additional resources, slides, and handouts are available. This instructional content was created by the Walden University Writing Center and is reused under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Critical reading is a vital part of the writing process. In fact, reading and writing processes are alike. In both, you make meaning by actively engaging a text. As a reader, you are not a passive participant, but an active constructor of meaning. Exhibiting an inquisitive, "critical" attitude towards what you read will make anything you read richer and more useful to you in your classes and your life. This guide is designed to help you to understand and engage this active reading process more effectively so that you can become a better critical reader. There is a link on this site in the right navigation bar to download a printable version, with this URL: https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/pdfs/guide31.pdf

As a reader, a developing writer, and an informed student and citizen, it is extremely important for you to be able to locate, understand, and critically analyze others’ purposes in communicating information. Being able to identify and articulate the meaning of other writers’ arguments and theses enables you to engage in intelligent, meaningful, and critical knowledge exchanges. Ultimately, regardless of the discipline you choose to participate in, textual analysis—the summary, contextualization, and interpretation of a writer’s effective or ineffective delivery of his or her perspective on a topic, statement of thesis, and development of an argument—will be an invaluable skill. Your ability to critically engage in knowledge exchanges—through the analysis of others’ communication—is integral to your success as a student and as a citizen. Janachek, J. (2020). A guide to textual analysis. Writing Commons. https://writingcommons.org/article/a-guide-to-textual-analysis/

A comprehensive list of handouts and videos on an assortment of topics related to writing and critical thinking.