Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates

by Mike Wallace, Alison Wray

This guide to critical reading and self-critical writing is a must-have resource for postgraduate students and early-career academics. It is packed with tools for analyzing texts and structuring critical reviews, and incorporating exercises and examples drawn from the social sciences.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Education, Academia, Textbooks, Grad School, Academic

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2006

About the author

Myron Leon Wallace was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008. He is the father of Chris Wallace.
Wallace interviewed many politicians, celebrities, and academics, such as Tina Turner, Joseph Bonanno, Vladimir Horowitz, Bobby Fischer, Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Callas, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Pearl S. Buck, Deng Xiaoping, Ronald Reagan, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Jiang Zemin, Ruhollah Khomeini, Kurt Waldheim, Frank Lloyd Wright, Yasser Arafat, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, Louis Farrakhan, Manuel Noriega, John Nash, Gordon B. Hinckley, Vladimir Putin, Barbra Streisand, Salvador Dalí, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, William Carlos Williams, Mickey Cohen, Roy Cohn, Dean Reed, Jimmy Fratianno, Morgan Freeman, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, and Ayn Rand.

Reviews

[Mariam · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a first year PhD student, the idea of the literature review was pretty daunting to me personally. I had trouble creating a framework in my mind to guide me through reading/writing. This book was a life-saver. The examples are very practical, it honestly took a lot of stress off my mind. I will begin using the guides suggested in my writings. Highly recommended, and a big thank you to the authors.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this text for a post-graduate course. As someone with a degree in writing, the book was only moderately helpful, though I can imagine that it would be helpful for those with less background in writing. There is a worksheet the guide the critical analysis of a work that I have found repeatedly helpful. As I move forward with my post-graduate education, I envision using it again and again.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very strong presentation of advanced study skills. I'm always wary about such books, particularly when the phrase 'critical reading' is deployed. But there is a strong series of definitions and - most importantly - a considered series of relationships is configured between reading and writing.

Strong scaffolding in place to enable reading for research purposes.

[Mat Davies]

This book is broken into three areas that introduce the readers to critically reading and writing and then offers the chance to put it into practice. It is an academic book and therefore targeted at those delivering oral presentations or writing for journals, however there is a strong emphasis on dissertations and in general, how to conduct an effective literature review.

I thought that the frameworks presented in the book were clear and helpful and supported by a website which offered the reader the chance to print out the frameworks and critical questions. Conversely, I found it a little tricky to connect some of the numbering systems in part three to what I had read in part 1 and 2. Therefore, the book relies on the readers' memory quite a lot.

That said, it does flow very logically and builds towards oral presentations and journal writing after spending a solid amount of time supporting postgrad students with their dissertations. I thought that the strongest part of the book lay in the chance to apply the critical frameworks to papers that were at the back of the book.

The papers (one in particular) were engaging and genuinely controversial! There were also some good examples of language in the legal process and education that highlighted the role of critical writing effectively. I will use this book as a framework for some assignments, papers and presentations I have coming up and it will be interesting to see how much sticks.

[Ayat Saleh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing a positive review for this book is the minimum gratitude that we can do for its authors. An excellent and very informative book for any postgraduate student. The book starts by teaching you how to be a critical reader and a self-critical writer. It is a dual-task where you learn how to apply different critical reading skills when evaluating others’ publications, as well as how to critically evaluating your writings to make sure that you have developed a well-balanced argument. The book also teaches you about the different sources of literature that you may use in your research (theoretical, research, practice and policy) and how to use them effectively. Most importantly, the book has a lot of examples on how to apply the above points rather than just listing some theories for critical reading and writing.
It is not the kind of book that you read once. In my experience, I had to read the book several times and at several stages during my study.
I believe it is a must-have book on any reading list for all postgraduate students.

[John Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this book were a person, it would be the calm, slightly stern librarian who hands you the perfect article and then says, “Now go write something that doesn’t embarrass us all.”

Wallace (and Wray) take you through the steps of reading critically, understanding arguments, and—most importantly—writing like you actually belong in grad school. It’s structured, sensible, and full of examples that make you go, “Ohhh, that’s what they meant by ‘evaluate the literature critically.’”

It won’t dazzle you with flair, and the tone can sometimes feel like a supervisor who's had enough of your passive voice—but it delivers. If you’re overwhelmed by the unspoken rules of postgraduate writing, this is your crash course in surviving the academic Hunger Games without crying in the library basement (too often).

[CM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a helpful guide but it's a bit more on reading and planning than writing.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is fascinating, but it was not exactly what I needed right now. I think it is handy if you have not many experiences with critical reading and writing, but it is not very easy to read.

[Elsa Popov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this textbook as part of a postgraduate course. Got some handy tips from it.

[Aihong · Rating 4 out of 5]

It provides a systematic mindmap for reading books/papers and for writing critical reviews. I find it super helpful!

[KATHRYN HARDY · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this publication helpful for my legal studies. It is a field which is developing and hard to find well written books about.

[Helen Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really well organised and simple to follow guide on postgraduate writing. There is a large focus on critical reviews and dissertations, I would have liked a bit more on the skills of essay writing - but I expect there is not so much of that at this level.
It also has the added bonus of additional content online, including templates of the forms that it refers to and uses in the book.