How to write: Critical thinking: Key

Task 1: Getting the right mindset

Standard comprehension question answers:

1. a historical novel
2. following the death of five people on a rope bridge in Peru, a monk sets out to research the lives of the victims to discover if there was a reason for their deaths
3. the vividly-drawn characters, the elegant prose

CT question answers:

4. to persuade you to read the book
5. he praises the book throughout (beautiful reflection, wonderfully elegant prose, compelling characters) and draws you into the novel by setting the scene and leaving you in suspense
6. he succeeds in arousing your interest but he spoils some of the suspense by saying “Our interest is kept alive not by the mystery of their deaths,…” implying that it remains a mystery

Task 2: Types of CT activity

1. E*

2. C

3. F

4. no match

5. H

6. A

7. G

8. B

9. no match

10. D

* this is the only productive CT exercise listed here, although other CT aims could be applied to students’ production, written or spoken, e.g. Analyzing how organization affects the impact of an opinion essay or understanding the assumptions behind an argument in a student’s presentation.

Deciding on what can be used at lower levels is often a question of how much support you give the student. If you are asking them to identify the author’s opinion, for example, you could give them a choice of three opinions, one of which is correct. For reading between the lines you could ask them, “Which of these statements would the author agree with and why?” and list several ideas. Here is a rough guide to level for each CT aim:

1. A2 +          2. A2 +            3. B1 +            4. B2 +             5. B1 +            

6. B1 +          7  B2 +            8 B2 +             9. A2 +             10. B1 +