What is a critique?

A critique

is a paper that evaluates and analyzes a wide variety of things (texts,

images, performances, etc.)
gives a critical assessment of a text and that examines how successfully a
writer, director, etc, has achieved his or her purpose.
A critique can be positive.

Why Critique

To read critically and actively.

Helps individuals to both understand what they have read and evaluate it

How to critique

Authors information
o Who wrote the text and what are their qualifications
What is the writers purpose?
Context
o Where was the text published?
o When was it published?

To what extent does the author succeed in his or her purpose? ( to inform, to
entertain, to persuade etc)?
o Is the information in the text accurate and specific?
Accuracy of information is the information used accurate
(verify the facts the writer uses check other sources)? Is the
information trustworthy?
Fair interpretation of information does the writer rely on facts
and figures or is the piece more opinionated? What types of
support does the writer provide to support his/her thesis? Does
the writer acknowledge other opinions or points of view?
o Has the author interpreted the material fairly?
o Has the author defined terms clearly?
o Does the writer seem to support her point with good research
and reasoning?

To what extent do you agree with the author?

To Write Your critique:

A.
1.
2.
3.

(prewriting)
Select the right text
Do a close reading ( and make annotations)
Use the necessary steps to summarize Identify the authors purpose, and
main point etc; (summarize only the authors key points, particularly those
that will be discussed in the critique; the analysis and evaluation should
comprise the bulk of the critique)
4. Decide on how you plan to respond to the article - do you agree/ disagree,
agree with some points and disagree with others? Are you going to focus on
the content of the article? Are you going to focus on the papers organization
structure and style? Logic? Etc
5. List support for your position/response.
B. Once you know what you want to say, follow this pattern: Write the first draft
of your critique.
You should include:
Introduction
An introduction which introduces the passage and its author and states your
thesis
Introduce the work by stating the author, title, and source along with the date of
publication.
Identify the rhetorical context - Who is the authors intended audience? Who is the
author and
what issue is the author addressing? When was this piece published? What was
happening at the
time? These details can strengthen your introduction. Polish the one- to twosentence summary
of the work that you developed earlier and add it to the introduction, leading up to
your thesis
statement.

Body
This will be the bulk of your essay. It will be your analysis of the authors
presentation.
Use about three to five points to support your thesis statement. The questions you
answered as
you read should serve as a guide to help you select your points. For example you
can discuss

the authors credentials or lack of credentials

the audience he or she aims at and the appropriateness of the vocabulary
the amount and kinds of support used to back up his or her major ideas

the use and correct identification of outside research

how the author handles any biases or opposing opinions
the logic of the argument

Provide support for you argument. For example, you might state:
The author uses many statistics to prove his point, but he fails to indicate his
source.
He notes that one out of two marijuana smokers go on to use more
dangerous drugs;
however, he never says how he acquired that information, nor does he
include a
reference at the end of the article. Should the reader trust that the statistics
are
accurate, or could they be the authors invention because he is opposed to all
legalization of drugs? If no sources are acknowledged for statistics, he author
casts
doubt on his entire argument.
Each of your paragraphs should include these three elements: your point, evidence
from the
work, and explanation of why the evidence supports your point.
Conclusion
Here you can summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement in fresh
words, and discuss the success or failure of the author to convince the reader. Is his
or her work
significant? How does it impact readers?
Critiques are usually written in third person.
Some fallacies (flaws in argument) :
b. Ad homineum attacking the person instead of the issue
c. Faulty cause and effect /post hoc - (after this, therefore because of this) the idea
that
because one thing follows the other one is the cause or effect of the other
d. Either/Or reasoning the belief that there are only two options in approaching a
situation/problem etc
e. Hasty generalization generalizing from a sample which is too small
f. False Analogy comparing two things which are more dissimilar than similar

g. Begging the question- circular reasoning. Support is provided for a claim by

restating that
claim.
h. Non-sequitur- the conclusion does not logically follow from the premise
i. Oversimplification oversimplifying complex issues

Short Paper # 4
This paper should be approximately3 pages and you should document your source.
For this paper
you will choose an article and write a critique of that article, following the guidelines
provided, including the rubric.

Sources:
Writing Critique. www.csub.edu/~mmartin11/WritingCritique.doc
Behrens, Laurence and Leonard J Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum.
12th edt.
Axelrod, Rise B and Charles R Cooper. Concise Guide to Writing. 4th edt.
Fowler, H. Ramsey and Jane E Aaron. The Little, Brown Handbook. 11th edt.
Helpful hints for Writing a Critique, http://info.chesapeake.edu/lrc/
Prepared by Dr Janice Cools