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Exercise - elements of critical thinking
Critical writing example
In this example paragraph, note how the writer has structured their paragraph to support their contention stated in their topic sentence.
Activity
Click on the buttons to explore through each part of the paragraph.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) tools may not be reliably applicable across-cultural and multicultural contexts. Fineman (2004) suggested that it is difficult to know how different cultures, ethnicities, and genders look at the role of emotions and their expression. "What constitutes emotional intelligent action in one cultural or sub-cultural setting may not be seen so in another" (Fineman, 2006a, p. 681). There was a distinct lack of cross-cultural/multicultural sensitivity in the work published by the creators of the most widely used instruments for measuring EI (Fineman, 2004). Nonetheless, purveyors of EI have often been willing to apply EI tools cross-culturally, assuming successful transferability of models and instruments. Because EI was developed in context (Matthews et al., 2006) and was thus undoubtedly culturally bound, some wariness among HRD professionals would be appropriate when considering applying EI tools or principles cross-culturally or in multicultural contexts.
(Adapted from Fambrough & Hart 2008:752-753.)
Fambrough M and Hart R (2008) 'Emotions in leadership development: a critique of emotional intelligence', Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(5):752-753, doi:10.1177/1523422308323542.
Activity
Elements of the paragraphs will be outlined at the beginning and end of each section in [ ].
Example paragraph
[topic-start]Emotional Intelligence (EI) tools may not be reliably applicable across-cultural and multicultural contexts.[topic-end] [analysis-start]Fineman (2004) suggested that it is difficult to know how different cultures, ethnicities, and genders look at the role of emotions and their expression. "What constitutes emotional intelligent action in one cultural or sub-cultural setting may not be seen so in another" (Fineman, 2006a, p. 681).[analysis-end] [evaluation-start]There was a distinct lack of cross-cultural/multicultural sensitivity in the work published by the creators of the most widely used instruments for measuring EI (Fineman, 2004). Nonetheless, purveyors of EI have often been willing to apply EI tools cross-culturally, assuming successful transferability of models and instruments.[evaluation-end] [synthesise-start]Because EI was developed in context (Matthews et al., 2006) and was thus undoubtedly culturally bound, some wariness among HRD professionals would be appropriate when considering applying EI tools or principles cross-culturally or in multicultural contexts.[synthesise-end]
(Adapted from Fambrough & Hart 2008:752-753.) Fambrough, M & Hart, R 2008, ‘Emotions in leadership development: a critique of emotional intelligence’, Advances in Developing Human Resources, vol. 10, no. 5, October, Sage Publishing
Topic: The word or sentence, which states the main subject of the work
Analysis: Uses evidence from credible sources
Evaluation: Includes writer’s analysis and reasoning
Synthesis: Synthesises elements to support recommendation
Further resources
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