Critical-Approaches-in-Writing-a-Critique

Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique
Critique - is a genre of academic writing and critically summarizes and evaluates a work or concept.
Critiques can be used to evaluate:

Creative works – novels, exhibits, films, shows, images & poetry.
Researches – monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, & theories.
Media – news reports, feature articles.
Criticize – To judge or to evaluate someone or something
Critique – The paper or essay, the product of criticizing.
Critic- The person doing the criticism.
Critical Approaches
• Critical approaches are sometimes called lenses. These are the different perspectives one can
consider when looking at a piece or several pieces of work, literature or a concept.
Formalist Criticism
• This approach regards literature as “a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be
examined on its own terms.” All the elements necessary for understanding the work are
contained within the work itself. Particular interest to the formalist critic are the elements of
form – style, structure, tone, imagery. Etc. – that are found within the text. A primary goal for
formalist critics is to determine how such elements work together with the text’s content to
shape its effects upon readers.
Historical Criticism
• This approach “seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the social, cultural, and
intellectual context that produced it- a context that necessarily includes the artist’s biography
and milieu.”
Reader-Response Criticism
• It attempts “to describe what happens in the reader’s mind while interpreting a text” and
reflects that reading, like writing, is a creative process.
Media Criticism
• It is the act of closely examining and judging the media. When we examine the media and
various media stories, we often find instances of media bias.
Marxist Criticism
• It focuses on the economic and political elements of art, often emphasizing the ideological
content of literature; because Marxist Criticism often argues that all art is political, either
challenging of endorsing (by silence) that status quo.
• It is frequently evaluative and judgmental, a tendency that “can lead to reductive judgement”
• Structuralism
• It focuses on how human behavior is determined by social, cultural and psychological structures.
It tended to offer a single unified approach to human life that would embrace all disciplines.
Writing the Reaction Paper/Review/Critique
Reaction Paper
• is a form of paper writing in which the writer expresses his ideas and opinions about what has
been read or seen. As all essays, a reaction paper comprises introduction, body, and conclusion
• Reaction Paper
• Presents your reasonable response to anything seen, heard, read, or experienced.
• Can be made by anyone.
• Focused on personal appreciation of the subject
• Is for expression of personal judgement.
Review
• Is an objective judgement of something.
• Focused on highlighting the good and bad points.
• Gives audience an informed judgement about the subject.
• Made by knowledgeable people of field.
Critique
• Is the most academic and most elevated evaluation among the three.
• Is made by the experts of the field.
• Focused on analyzing and evaluating the components of a work.
• Is usually made to provide directions for future improvements of the subject.
Doing so, you won't forget any important ideas that come to your head.
• Come up with a thesis statement
Use your note to formulate a central idea you will develop in further work. Then put in one sentence and
make it your thesis statement.
• Compose an outline
Every time you write an academic paper, you need to make an outline. Try at least once and you will see
how helpful an outline could be!
• Construct your paper only when all the preparations are done, start writing a paper itself.
Parts of the Paper

• The first part of your paper should contain information on the author and the topic. You will
need to write down the main ideas and highlight the main points of the paper. You can use direct
quotations if needed. Avoid your personal opinion in this section.
• The second part should contain your personal thoughts on the subject. Focus on a main problem
or address all if them and describe your opinion.
• Explain how the material can relate to the modern world, to the society or separate individuals.
Back your statements with sources if needed and make conclusions whether you support the
author or not.
Recommendations
• Read the original article carefully and highlight the main ideas and points you want to discuss.
• Describe your point of view and back its additional information if needed, Use vivid examples.
• Use various sources to make your statement more argumentative.
Exploring the Concept Paper
Concept Paper
• Is an academic paper which tells about a brief summary of a certain research project, its
importance and how it will be carried out.
• The main purpose of writing a concept paper is to convince your reader that your proposed
research project is worth doing.
•
Seven important aspects to consider when writing a concept paper in academic research:
1. Title – this can be presented in a question form.
2. Introduction – this is the brief overview of the topic or issue you wish to study.
3. Background - This section describes the current condition of the fields you’re researching,
including the knowledge and issues that the study will address. You can also include the reason
why you want to investigate or study the topic.
4. Preliminary Literature Review – in this section, you will write related studies and papers that will
support your research topic.
5. Methodology – This section contains data analysis system, date gathering procedure,
instruments to be utilized or used, and participants of the study.
6. Timelines – Provide a reasonable and achievable timeline for your project.
7. References – Provides all the list of all sources of your research such as books, journals, and
other resources cited in your paper.
A concept paper may be explained through different modes or patterns. This may be in the form of
definition, explication, and explanation.
1. Definition - It is a technique for recognizing a phrase and clarifying its meaning; its primary goal is to
clarify and explain concepts, ideas, and issues.
Formal Definition
Explains a term by clarifying where it originates from and the characteristics that distinguishes it from
others. This can be done also through term, class, and distinguishing features.
Informal Definition - use common words and may include synonyms or antonyms.
Extended Definition - It consists of at least one paragraph with a detailed description and facts.
2. Explication
It is an explanation method in which words, verses, quotes, or paragraphs are taken for a literary or
academic work and then interpreted and described in detail.
3. Clarification - it is a method in which the points are organized from a broad abstract concept to more
specific and particular details.

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Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique

Critiques can be used to evaluate:

Writing the Reaction Paper/Review/Critique

Parts of the Paper

Exploring the Concept Paper

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