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Mini-module: Quick Guide to Critical Writing

The top ten tips for showing critical thinking in your writing. This mini-module is for you if you are being a critical thinker, but you are not sure how to show this in your writing.

Seventh Tip:
Show awareness of different levels of certainty/uncertaintyPage 9 of 13

Decorative

 

If you write something that is easy to contradict, your argument will be weak. For example, look at these two statements:

  • "All swans are white" (not true) Your reader could disprove this statement just by giving one example of a swan that is not white. In fact, in Australia, there is a type of swan that is black.
  • "Most swans in the UK are white" (true). This statement is better for academic writing because it shows that the writer is being careful about what they claim.  In this case, the writer does this by using the word "most" and being careful to specify "in the UK".

So, it is better to be careful about the language you use in your academic writing so that you do not say more than you really mean. One way of doing this is by using cautious language. This is often referred to as "hedging".

How does this show critical thinking?

Using hedging in your writing shows that you are thinking carefully about what you say and that you know that things are not always simple.

 

Quick practice activity for showing caution in your writing

 

Quick practice activity for using hedging phrases in your writing

You can find lots of useful academic phrases that you can adapt for your writing in the Manchester Academic Phrasebank.

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