Critical Thinking on Books

Critical Thinking Essay Introduction

Since ancient times, some books were created to describe certain historical moments portraying morality standards and provide a reader with a necessary experience. Every author carries a certain sense while writing a book, a sense of a particular problem and a solution to it. However, life involves many unexpected and unpredictable situations that are not described in a book, so it is important to learn from personal experiences. Consequently, the question whether it is true that problems encountered in practice are not in the book arises.

Critical Thinking Definition

In order to answer this question, it is essential to consider it in terms of critical thinking. At the 8^th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform in 1987, Michael Scriven and Richard Paul defined critical thinking as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” (“Defining critical thinking,” n.d.). This definition indicates that the ability to think critically means being able to describe a situation with its positive and negative aspects and a problem and its consequences.

Critical Thinking on Book "Singing in the Bramble" by Colin McCullough

While writing a book, an author conveys a mental image of a problem and its solution. A reader, in turn, reads the book, reproduces that mental picture, and then makes some conclusions and gets some experience. In reality, a situation similar to the one described in a book may occur with everybody, but circumstances may be different. To substantiate this view, Colin McCullough’s book Singing in the Bramble (2002) may be taken as an example. This book describes the love of serving God. It conveys the idea of serving God, feeling it in one’s heart, and giving warmth around to others. An individual, while reading this book, gets to feel positive emotions, love, and goodness. However, the modern world is very cruel and sometimes even dangerous. This reality can make a person angry and brutal in order to survive in this world, even with God in heart.

Critical Thinking Essay Conclusion

To conclude, it must be said that authors of books can only show what is worth paying attention in one situation or another. However, when a person gets into a similar situation described in a book, he or she is forced to think critically and act independently.

More Critical Thinking Essay Samples