Importance of Academic Critique

1) While Caffarella and Barnett (2000) indicate that critique is the most influential element in helping learners produce a better writing product, critique can be an emotional event. Cameron, Nairn, and Higgins (2009) note that it proved helpful in their workshops to discuss the emotions that emerged as students prepared to give and receive feedback. What is the role of critique in the development of a researcher and scholar? In what ways can it positively contribute to a learner’s academic success? In what ways can it have a negative effect?

The role of academic critique, at its heart, is to offer a differing perspective that will review and assess the writing. It can be a teacher or professor that does the critique. It can also be a peer that does the critique. The danger, intended or not, when someone else does a critique is that the person receiving the critique will not receive it positively. This can be because the person giving the critique is not delicate and careful to make it clear that there are no bad feelings or bad blood intended by anything negative that is said about the work being covered. However, it can also be because the person giving the critique is indeed a little careless and thoughtless in what they say. Regardless, the person receiving the critique should be empowered to be honest but that person should also be careful to not frame things in the right way. A critic that behaves in the right manner can help the writer see things that perhaps were not noticed before. This can help break bad habits, help improve writing mechanics and otherwise put the writer on a better path. On the other hand, criticism that is poorly done or that is poorly received can send the writer on the wrong path and make them less confident. The key is for both the writer and the critic to proceed from the right perspective and present what they have to say (or listen to) in the right way.
2) How do the voice and tone of doctoral writing differ from the voice and tone of writing at other academic levels? Explain your view. What are some ways that voice and tone can enhance the scholarly image of your writing? Explain.
There are a few things that could be said about that. First, doctoral-level writing is clearly going to be at the top of the proverbial ladder when it comes to writing quality. Typically, it would be expected that a doctoral-level writer would be better than a graduate-level writer. By extension, it would be expected that a graduate-level writer would be better than an undergraduate-level writer.
However, it should also be pointed out that doctoral-level writing is something that very few people attain. It is something that must have a certain feel, tone and approach to it. Just a few things that could be expected would be a very academic tone, everything being stated from the third person point of view and a firm avoidance of using jargon, slang and other certain verbiage unless it is truly mundane to the work.
Any claims that are not clearly and commonly supported by the body of work would be cited in a doctoral-level report. There would be heavy use of literature reviews and other reference patterns that set the proverbial stage for the personal and new assertions of the writer. For example, a person writing about a sociological topic would have some sort of summary or literature review that would cite the work that is done up until that point. Those citations could be of those works that dovetail and agree with what the new author is trying to say. However, it could also be works that perhaps contradict the new author and may show what the new author is trying to correct or adjust. Regardless, doctoral-level works are typically subject to peer review and thus must be extremely well-done, valid and with strict attention to detail.