 This is list podcast number nine. It is the third in the critical analysis series, adopting a more critical approach to writing by Kate Olly Pitchford. Welcome to the third in our series of podcasts about critical analysis. The series is designed to give you a greater insight into this complex issue and suggest some strategies to help you develop your skills. In this podcast we're going to discuss critical writing. So Kate, how do you adopt a more critical approach to academic writing? Well you can't suddenly become critical in your writing if you haven't already adopted a critical approach to thinking and reading whilst preparing for your assignment. So if you haven't already heard the two podcasts that cover these topics I would recommend you listen to them next. You mentioned earlier that reading various sources of information is important in order to gather different views. Yes, it's important to engage fully with a wide range of literature but being critical is not just about collecting ideas. You need to synthesise them into a coherent whole. By that I mean you need to weigh up information from various sources, discuss their strengths and weaknesses and then make up your own mind. When writing you should offer an interpretation of the literature. You present a case in your own voice and your argument is of course backed up by the evidence. It's a little bit like cooking. You put lots of different ingredients into the bowl, flour, sugar, butter etc and then end up with a very different product, in this case a cake. Are there key features to critical writing? Critical writing tends to give more depth so within the confines of a word count your essay might have to cover fewer themes but you would examine each in much more detail than simple descriptive writing. Of course that means you have to make judgments about what you do include and what you leave out. It's therefore important that you identify the significance of the themes you do address. Why is this idea interesting or important? After analysis of the evidence a critical writer should highlight what conclusions can be drawn. Sometimes of course issues are complex and things are not always black and white. If that's the case it's fine to say so. You should always remain objective and present both sides. Any more tips? Students should consider the language they use when writing. In particular the verbs they use when presenting the evidence in their essays can help them to sound more critical. So for example rather than writing Smith says that individuals are motivated by basic needs you could write Smith clearly demonstrates that individuals are motivated by basic needs. This shows your tutor how you feel about Smith's work. You're being positive about it. If you wanted to show that you were not very impressed with Smith's work you could use phrases like Smith neglects to mention or Smith makes assumptions that. There are more examples of useful verbs on the skills at Cumbria site on blackboard. One final point to make adopting a critical approach to writing takes time. You cannot write a good critical essay overnight. It's important to write your first draft and then allow time to reflect on whether you've presented a structured argument. Have you captured the essence and the significance of the topic? Thanks Kay you've given us some useful tips on how to adopt a more critical approach to academic writing. In the next podcast in this series lecturers will give their views on what it means to be critical. For further details please go to the university website click on the student life tab and choose the library and learning link.