The 5 Moves

Effective Critical Thinking is based on the following 5 Moves:

1.                  Suspend Judgment

      This is a hard thing to do, but by putting off our immediate evaluation and judgment about a subject, we will understand the subject better, be more objective, and be more specific.

      (Our life experiences, attitudes and knowledge will be useful and will shape our thinking            and writing.  But, in thinking analytically, they should be secondary to whatever text you are       reading.)

      Try to figure out what the subject means before deciding how you feel about it.

2.                  Define Significant Parts and How Related to Each Other and the Whole

You don’t need to know anything about a subject to be able to understand it.  How do you do this?  Divide the subject into its important parts.  Then consider how these parts are related to each other and to the subject as a whole.

This is about looking at details.  However, it’s not just about ripping a subject apart but figuring out how these details help you understand the meaning of the subject as a whole.

3.                  Look for Patterns

What details are more important than others?  You can figure this out by looking for patterns.  Look for (1) repeating or similar language or images, (2) contrasts between words or images, (3) anomalies—things that seem unusual or don’t seem to fit.

4.                  Make the Implicit Explicit

Analytical writing tries to make the implicit (suggested but not obviously stated) explicit (clearly stated).  Sometimes it may feel as if you are trying to make or find something out of nothing.  However, your details should lead you to infer what your subject implies.

5.                  Continue Asking Questions/Experimenting

The purpose of analytical writing is to figure something out; therefore, you shouldn’t expect to immediately know where you are going and how all your details fit together.  So, keep asking and answering questions about your subject.

What is important about…?  What else might it mean?  How do these details fit together?  What details don’t seem to fit?  How does this make me change my reading of the meaning of the subject? Etc.