The ability to think critically will be a key factor in your success at college, and beyond. For many students, college is the place where being critical becomes a good thing for the first time. Rather than the type of criticism your mother might chide you for when you're making fun of your brother's outfit, as in "Stop being so critical of your brother!" or the type of criticism you might find yourself yelling at your parents for, as in "So what if I got in after curfew? Why do you have to be so critical of me?" critical thinking at the university something your professors will prize, and to some extent, expect of you. So, what is critical thinking, and how do you do it?

A large part of critical thinking is the analytical thinking, or analysis, you do when you're reading. When you analyze something, you look at the whole picture, the whole chapter, the whole argument, and break it down to its constituent parts. When you can break down an author's argument point by point, you have analyzed it. You are able to articulate the conclusion the author has come to, and you are able to say how and why the author came to that conclusion. In this way, you are using your analytical mind critically to figure out how the argument an author makes works, and this is an important part of how to think critically.

Analyzing the arguments made by your readings presupposes that you understand that every reading assignment you'll get will have an argument. Even novels and films, though they're less academic, make their own kinds of arguments, more familiarly and properly known as themes. When you're reading critically, you look past the "what" of things and get to the "why." Though you're responsible for knowing what an author means, and what they say, you show off your critical faculties when you are able to determine why an author is saying what s/he says.

In addition to being able to point out the reasons an author gives that support his or her main claims in an argument, critical thinkers can evaluate texts in terms of ethos, pathos, and logos, or the rhetorical appeals also known as Aristotelian appeals, or the rhetorical triangle. Evaluating texts in terms of the Aristotelian appeals, you will be able to determine if an author argues primarily from logic (logos), or evidence, from appealing to the reader's emotions (pathos). Obviously, a more sound argument roots itself in evidence, whereas a weaker argument will rely on stirring up your emotions in an attempt to persuade. You can also evaluate texts on the basis of ethos, or ethical appeals. Ethical appeals refer to the character of the person making the argument. When reading a text on global warming, for example, you might critically evaluate its validity by looking into the author's background in climatology or meteorology.