by Larry Alexander | Tutor With Larry | tutorwithlarry.com
When I first began teaching English at Prairie State College, I noticed something that surprised me. My students could read. Many of them could write a decent sentence. But when I asked them to evaluate what they had just read—to question it, to weigh it, to argue with it or defend it—many of them went quiet. They had been taught to receive information. They had rarely been asked to wrestle with it.
That is not a criticism of those students. It is a critique of how writing and reading are sometimes taught. When critical thinking is left out of the equation, students learn to summarize instead of analyze, to agree instead of evaluate, and to present information instead of argue a position.
That is why critical thinking is the third pillar of everything I do at Tutor With Larry. My tagline is “Start to Improve Your Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking”—and I mean all three equally. You cannot be a strong writer without being a strong thinker. And in college, on the job, and in life, strong thinking is the skill that sets people apart.
In this article, I am going to break down exactly what critical thinking is, why it matters in college and beyond, and how you can start developing it right now—whether you are preparing for English 101, writing a research paper, or simply trying to navigate a world that throws a lot of information at you very fast.
What Critical Thinking Actually Is
Critical thinking is one of those phrases that gets used so often it can start to feel meaningless. So let me give you a definition I actually use in my teaching:
Critical thinking is the disciplined practice of actively analyzing, evaluating, and forming judgments about information—rather than passively accepting it.
Notice the key word: actively. Critical thinking is not something that happens to you while you read. It is something you do. It requires effort, attention, and a willingness to ask uncomfortable questions—including questions about ideas you already believe.
A critical thinker asks:
• Where did this information come from, and is the source reliable?
• What is the author’s argument, and what evidence do they use to support it?
• What assumptions are being made—and are those assumptions justified?
• What is being left out or overlooked?
• Do I agree with this conclusion? Why or why not?
• What are the implications of accepting this argument as true?
These are not trick questions. They are the natural questions a thoughtful, engaged mind asks when it is doing its job. And they can be developed with practice.
What Critical Thinking Is Not
I want to address a misconception I encounter often, especially with students who are new to college-level work. Critical thinking does not mean being negative. It does not mean disagreeing with everything you read or looking for reasons to tear an argument apart.
Critical thinking means being fair, careful, and thorough. It means giving an argument a genuine hearing before you evaluate it. It means being just as willing to say “this argument is strong and well-supported” as “this argument has significant weaknesses.”
The word “critical” here comes from the Greek word “kritos,” meaning able to discern or judge. A critic in the classical sense is not someone who tears things down. It is someone with the knowledge and skill to evaluate something thoughtfully and honestly.
His teaching style is motivating, characterized by incisive questions that compel you to evaluate your stance and substantiate your arguments. — Peter Buckley, tutoring client
Why Critical Thinking Matters in College
College is not high school. The expectations shift significantly, and one of the biggest shifts is this: college professors do not primarily want you to show them what you know. They want you to show them what you think—and why.
In English Composition 101 and 102, critical thinking shows up in several specific ways:
1. Developing a thesis. A thesis is not a statement of fact. It is a claim—a position that requires evidence and analysis to support. Writing a strong thesis demands that you think critically about your topic: what do I actually believe about this, and can I defend it?
2. Analyzing sources. College-level research is not about finding sources that agree with you. It is about evaluating sources—assessing their credibility, their methodology, their potential biases—and using them thoughtfully to build your argument.
3. Responding to counterarguments. A strong college essay does not pretend opposing views do not exist. It addresses them directly, acknowledges their validity where appropriate, and explains why the writer’s position is ultimately more persuasive. That requires genuine critical engagement with ideas you may not personally hold.
4. Reading literature and nonfiction analytically. In English 102, students typically work with literature and longer nonfiction texts. Analyzing a novel or an essay is an exercise in critical thinking—identifying themes, evaluating the author’s choices, interpreting evidence, and forming your own well-reasoned interpretation.
One of my former students put it this way after completing my English 102 class: “I feel as if I’m understanding much more about the subject when I leave the classroom.” That shift—from receiving information to truly understanding it—is what critical thinking produces.
Why Critical Thinking Matters Beyond the Classroom
I want to be direct about something: critical thinking is not just an academic skill. It is a life skill. And in the world we are living in right now—where information is abundant, misinformation is equally abundant, and the two are often difficult to tell apart—it may be the most important skill you can develop.
Here are a few places where critical thinking shows up outside the classroom:
• In the workplace. Employers consistently rank critical thinking near the top of the skills they want in new hires. The ability to identify problems, evaluate solutions, and make sound decisions under uncertainty is valuable in virtually every field.
• In financial decisions. From evaluating a loan offer to weighing an investment, financial literacy requires the ability to ask the right questions, assess risk, and think past the surface appeal of a deal.
• In health decisions. Understanding medical information, evaluating treatment options, and assessing health claims in the news all require the same skills: source evaluation, logical reasoning, and the ability to distinguish between evidence and anecdote.
• In civic life. Voting, following the news, evaluating political arguments—these are all exercises in critical thinking. A democracy depends on citizens who can analyze information rather than simply absorb it.
• In your personal relationships. The ability to listen carefully, evaluate fairly, and respond thoughtfully rather than reactively is a form of critical thinking. It makes you a better communicator and a more empathetic human being.
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. I attended Englewood High School. I have lived in communities where the consequences of poor information—and the absence of tools to evaluate it—are real and immediate. Critical thinking is not a privilege reserved for elite universities. It is a tool that belongs in the hands of every student, in every neighborhood, at every level of education.
Critical Thinking and Hip-Hop: An Unexpected Connection
If you have read any of my other blog posts, you know that I believe hip-hop is one of the most powerful cultural forces for critical thinking that exists. The best hip-hop artists are not just entertainers. They are observers, analysts, and arguers. They take a position on the world and they defend it—verse by verse, with evidence drawn from lived experience.
When Kendrick Lamar unpacks systemic racism and individual accountability in the same album. When J. Cole examines the trap of materialism and fame from the inside. When Nas argues, on “One Love,” that the street life offers false promises to young men with real potential. These are acts of critical thinking expressed through art.
I have used hip-hop in the classroom precisely because it demonstrates to students that they are already thinking critically in contexts they care about. The move from analyzing a rap lyric to analyzing a text is smaller than most students expect. The skills transfer. What changes is the vocabulary and the format—not the fundamental act of thinking carefully about what someone is saying and why.
How to Develop Your Critical Thinking Skills: 8 Practical Strategies
Critical thinking is not a fixed trait you either have or do not have. It is a set of habits and skills that grow with deliberate practice. Here are the strategies I have used most effectively with my students and tutoring clients.
5. Question your first reaction. When you read something or hear an argument, your first response is often emotional. That’s human. But before you accept or reject an idea, pause. Ask: “Why do I feel this way about this? Is it because of evidence, or because of habit, familiarity, or personal bias?” That pause is where critical thinking begins.
6. Ask “How do you know?” This is the most powerful question in critical thinking. When someone makes a claim—in an article, a speech, a conversation, or a textbook—ask how they know that. What is the evidence? Where does it come from? How recent is it? Has it been verified? Asking “how do you know?” protects you from accepting claims simply because they sound confident.
7. Distinguish between fact, opinion, and reasoned argument. A fact is something that can be verified. An opinion is a personal belief or preference. A reasoned argument is a position supported by evidence and logic. A lot of what passes for fact in everyday conversation is actually opinion. A lot of what passes for opinion is actually a reasoned argument in disguise. Learning to tell the difference is fundamental.
8. Seek out opposing views. One of the most important habits of a critical thinker is deliberately engaging with perspectives that challenge your own. Not to be swayed by every wind of opinion, but to genuinely test your ideas against real objections. The strongest positions are the ones that have survived scrutiny, including your own.
9. Evaluate your sources. Not all sources are created equal. Ask: Who wrote this? What are their credentials? What is their potential bias? When was it written? Is it peer-reviewed research, journalistic reporting, personal opinion, or sponsored content? Understanding the nature of a source helps you weigh its information appropriately.
10. Look for logical fallacies. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that makes an argument invalid even if the conclusion happens to be true. Common ones include: the ad hominem (attacking the person instead of the argument), the straw man (misrepresenting an opponent’s position to make it easier to attack), and the appeal to authority (accepting something as true simply because an authority figure said it). Learning to recognize these protects you from being misled.
11. Write to think. Writing is one of the most powerful tools for developing critical thinking, because it forces you to slow down and make your reasoning explicit. When you have to write out an argument—step by step, claim by claim—you quickly discover where your thinking is clear and where it has holes. Keep a journal. Write short responses to articles and arguments you encounter. The act of writing sharpens the thinking.
12. Practice intellectual humility. Critical thinking requires honesty—including honesty about the limits of your own knowledge. Being willing to say “I was wrong about that,” or “I need to learn more before I form an opinion,” is not weakness. It is intellectual integrity. The most sophisticated thinkers I have ever met are also among the most genuinely humble about what they do not know.
What Critical Thinking Looks Like in My Tutoring Sessions
When I work with a student one-on-one, critical thinking is present in every session—not as a separate lesson, but woven into everything we do together.
When we work on an essay, I do not just tell a student what to change. I ask questions: “What are you actually arguing here? Does this paragraph support your thesis, or does it take you somewhere else? What would someone who disagrees with you say—and how would you respond to them?” Those questions are critical thinking exercises disguised as writing instruction.
Professor Natalie Martin, who observed my English class at Prairie State College, noted that I had “a wonderful skill of making students work without them really knowing they are working.” That is exactly the goal. When students are engaged with real questions about real ideas—questions that matter to them—critical thinking does not feel like an academic exercise. It feels like thinking.
He’s entertaining, not boring… and he makes you interact and explains in depth. — English Composition 102 Student, Prairie State College
Start Today: A Daily Critical Thinking Practice
You do not need to wait until your next essay assignment to start building your critical thinking skills. Here is a simple daily practice you can begin right now:
Step 1: Each day, read one article, essay, or opinion piece—something outside your usual sources.
Step 2: Write down, in one sentence, the author’s main argument.
Step 3: Identify one piece of evidence they use to support that argument.
Step 4: Write one question you have about that evidence or the argument itself.
Step 5: Write two to three sentences about whether you find the argument convincing—and why.
That practice takes ten to fifteen minutes. Done consistently, it will strengthen your analytical reading, sharpen your essay writing, and make you a more confident, grounded thinker in every area of your life.
Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking: All Three Together
I chose the tagline “Start to Improve Your Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking” deliberately. These three skills are not separate subjects. They are one interconnected practice. You read to encounter ideas. You think critically to evaluate them. You write to articulate your own reasoned response. Pull any one leg out from under that tripod and the whole thing becomes unstable.
My goal—in every blog post, every tutoring session, and every class I have ever taught—is to help people develop all three. Not because it will help you pass a test (though it will). But because these skills will serve you every day for the rest of your life, in ways you cannot yet fully predict.
If you are ready to sharpen your critical thinking alongside your writing and reading skills, I would love to work with you. I offer one-on-one tutoring sessions tailored to your specific goals and your schedule. Visit tutorwithlarry.com/contact to sign up for a complimentary introductory class, or reach out directly at tutorwithlarry@gmail.com. Let’s think—and write—better. Together.
About the Author
Larry Alexander is a professional English tutor and former college English professor with nine years of teaching experience at Prairie State College. He taught Developmental English 099, English Composition 101, and English Composition 102, and holds a graduate degree in English. His tutoring services include critical thinking development, essay writing, grammar, business English, and proofreading. Learn more at tutorwithlarry.com.
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