Steps to Critically Analyse Academic Literature at Masters Level

The ability to analyse academic literature analytically and creatively is crucial at the master level. Critical thinking or critical analysis is quite a tough job for graduate students because the description of results isn’t enough; you need analytical information to build your argument.

In this article, we’ll discuss the critical analysis and the 5 steps of writing a comprehensive critique to analyse academic literature and share your evidence-based thoughts to get good grades.

What is critical analysis?

It is the descriptive analysis and evaluation of another person’s work to increase its understanding for the readers. It is subjective writing in which you analyse academic literature of somebody and express your opinion by breaking down and studying each part.

Critical writing is spread into numerous fields. You can write opinions about film, literature, TV program, business process, or academic report based on your critical thinking skills. It is presented as a written essay or paper, but you can also analyse academic literature orally.

5 easy steps to write a critical analysis

Before jumping to the 5 important steps, a deep understanding of the work you are analysing is the most important step. Break it down into parts and then keenly study each; make notes for reference during the writing process. Self-exploration about the work will help you clear your thoughts.

After understanding the author’s concept and purpose, you are ready to follow these steps and analyse academic literature.

1. Create an outline

Write the main key points in the form of bullet points. When writing these points, prepare your mind to think critically about the work. You’ll use these points as a reference throughout your analysis, and they help you stay focused.

The structure and length of the essay depend upon you and your analysis. A general format to analyse academic literature consists of a short and comprehensive introduction, two or four paragraphs in the body, and an inclusive conclusion.

2. Target your audience in the introduction

Your opinion and hours of critical thinking will only be fruitful if your audience is interested in reading or listening. So, you can analyse academic literature after finding for whom you are writing. In the introduction, familiarise your audience with the purpose and idea of the creator or writer with your understanding.

Write three to four lines for a simple concept, but a complex project can extend upto several paragraphs. Write a compelling and engaging introduction for readers’ attention and boost their energy to keep reading till the conclusion. However, if you are confused about your target audience, you can take expert guidance from Masters Dissertation Help.

3. Address your main points

Check out your outline and address the key points in three to four paragraphs. The number of paragraphs can vary according to the complexity of the work.

Discuss each point in a single paragraph and share all your critical thoughts about that point in the same paragraph. Break down your analysis into two parts for writing an encouraging analysis. In the first part, write the author’s idea in the first line, and in the second part, quote an example from your previous work supporting your idea.

To support your assessment, you can integrate quotes from other resources but do not forget the formatted citation of the quote.

4. Write an inclusive conclusion

Summarise your critical analysis, which you built on the basis of the key points in the body paragraphs. It should resonate with your viewpoint in the introduction but do not repeat it in conclusion. Except for the complex critical analysis, only four to five lines will be enough for the conclusion of your analysis.

5. Proofread and refine your analysis

Analyse academic literature professionally; there is no space for spelling and grammar mistakes. Make an initial draft and read it carefully, again and again, to make sure it sounds professional or not. Refine your work by making as many drafts as possible until you feel satisfied.

Ask your colleagues, professional editors, or friends for proofreading. It’ll be very effective in increasing your critical analysis’s readability and cleaning up grammatical errors. You can also take the help of AI technology by using Grammarly.

Bonus tips for writing a professional critical analysis

After an experience of many years, we extracted a few tips which will make your critical analysis writing task easy. Follow these proven tips into your practice and make your writing better:

Cross-reference with your key points helps you stay focused and cover all points.

Short and comprehensive writing makes your analysis easy to understand and clear.

A logical-based critical analysis engages your audience and develops a natural flow.

Conclusion

In this post, we have discussed that critical thinking is a skill that we can use to critically analyse academic literature of anyone. It’s a logic base analysis that helps the audience understand the creator’s idea and concept. Break down each part and carefully read to write an outline. Describe each point with an example from previous work.