Writing Homework Help

That’s the book name Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life

This unit covers Chapter Four in the textbook.

Chapter Four: The Parts of Thinking

There is a confusing use of terminology in Chapter Four that I want to clarify. The title is The Parts of Thinking. The chart on page 58 shows a group of terms called The Elements. Page 60 shows a chart including the Universal Structures of Thought. The text at various times refers to the elements of reasoning and the elements of thought.

All of these (Parts of Thinking, Elements, Universal Structures of Thought) refer to the same list of eight terms: purpose, questions, points of view, information, inferences, concepts, implications, and assumptions. To cut down on the confusion, I will refer to these eight terms as the Parts of Thinking.

The central point of the chapter is that every time we think, these eight basic Parts of Thinking are involved in some way.

Here is the first and only writing assignment for this unit.

Step 1: Read Chapter Four (pages 57 – 90)

As you read the chapter, make sure you understand each term. Some of the terms you may basically know already, but the text will clarify how they are used here. Since this text is focused on one aspect of our lives (thinking), sometimes terms are used in a specific way, whereas in common usage the words may have other meanings. It is important that you understand how the terms are used in this text. The book will give multiple explanations of each.

This is one of the harder chapters in the text. You may need to take it slower. If there is a term you have difficulty with, email me (not last minute!).

Step 2: I would like you to write a 500 word (minimum) response to this chapter. But this time I have a particular topic I want you to write about. Each of you, at some point, made a decision to attend college. The text has argued that all eight of the Parts of Thinking are present whenever you are making decisions. Therefore, you should be able to find all of them in your decision to attend college. For example, you must have had a purpose to thinking about college. You must have used information. You must have made some assumptions, etc.

1. In this paper, discuss how each of these eight elements was involved in your decision to attend college. What I am looking for in this paper is simple: I’m trying to tell if you understand all eight terms well enough to apply them to an actual thinking process.

2. Make a separate paragraph for each of the eight Parts of Thinking.

3. Make sure it is clear which term is being covered in each paragraph. If you do not mention the term, I will not know for sure what the paragraph is about.

4. As always, put the word count on the paper.