How to Write a Critique in Five Paragraphs

Thứ bảy - 27/04/2024 01:09
A critique is usually written in response to a creative work, such as a novel, a film, poetry, or a painting. However, critiques are also sometimes assigned for research articles and media items, such as news articles or features. A...
Table of contents

A critique is usually written in response to a creative work, such as a novel, a film, poetry, or a painting. However, critiques are also sometimes assigned for research articles and media items, such as news articles or features. A critique is slightly different than a traditional 5-paragraph theme, as it is usually focused on the overall effectiveness and usefulness of the work it is critiquing, rather than making a strictly analytical argument about it. Organizing your critique into 5 paragraphs can help you structure your thoughts.

Part 1
Part 1 of 4:

Laying the Groundwork

  1. Step 1 Examine the prompt or assignment.
    Be sure you understand exactly what you are being asked to do. The assignment may use the word “critique,” or it might use a phrase such as “critical assessment,” “critical review,” or “critical evaluation.” All of these are critique assignments and will require you to not only summarize but evaluate the work you are discussing.[1]
  2. Advertisement
Part 2
Part 2 of 4:

Writing the Introductory Paragraph

  1. Step 2 Provide a context for the work.
    The type of context you provide will vary based on what type of work you’re evaluating. You should aim to give the reader some understanding of what issues the creator or author may have been responding to, but you don’t need to provide an exhaustive history. Just give your reader enough information to be able to understand the rest of your critique.[5]
    • For example, if you’re assessing a research article in the sciences, a quick overview of its place in the academic discussion could be useful (e.g., “Professor X’s work on fruit flies is part of a long research tradition on Blah Blah Blah.”)
    • If you are evaluating a painting, giving some brief information on where it was first displayed, for whom it was painted, etc., would be useful.
    • If you are assessing a novel, it could be good to talk about what genre or literary tradition the novel is written within (e.g., fantasy, High Modernism, romance). You may also want to include details about the author’s biography that seem particularly relevant to your critique.
    • For a media item, such as a news article, consider the social and/or political context of the media outlet the item came from (e.g., Fox News, BBC, etc.) and of the issue it is dealing with (e.g., immigration, education, entertainment).
  2. Step 3 Summarize the creator’s goal or purpose in creating the work.
    This element should consider what the thesis or purpose of the work is. Sometimes, this may be clearly stated, such as in a research article. For other texts or creative works, you may have to formulate what you believe to be the creator’s goal or purpose yourself.[6]
    • The authors of research articles will often state very clearly in the abstract and in the introduction to their work what they are investigating, often with sentences that say something like this: "In this article we provide a new framework for analyzing X and argue that it is superior to previous methods because of reason A and reason B."
    • For creative works, you may not have an explicit statement from the author or creator about their purpose, but you can often infer one from the context the work occupies. For example, if you were examining the movie The Shining, you might argue that the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's goal is to call attention to the poor treatment of Native Americans because of the strong Native American themes present in the movie. You could then present the reasons why you think that in the rest of the essay.
  3. Advertisement
Part 3
Part 3 of 4:

Writing the 3 Body Paragraphs

  1. Step 1 Organize your critical evaluations.
    These should form the bulk of your critique and should be a minimum of three paragraphs. You can choose to organize your critique differently depending on how you want to approach your critique. However, you should devote a paragraph to each main topic, using the rest of the steps in this section to develop each paragraph's discussion.[9]
    • If you have three clear points about your work, you can organize each paragraph by point. For example, if you are analyzing a painting, you might critique the painter’s use of color, light, and composition, devoting a paragraph to each topic.
    • If you have more than three points about your work, you can organize each paragraph thematically. For example, if you are critiquing a movie and want to talk about its treatment of women, its screenwriting, its pacing, its use of color and framing, and its acting, you might think about the broader categories that these points fall into, such as “production” (pacing, color and framing, screenwriting), “social commentary” (treatment of women), and “performance” (acting).
    • Alternatively, you could organize your critique by “strengths” and “weaknesses.” The aim of a critique is not merely to criticize, but to point out what the creator or author has done well and what s/he has not.
  2. Advertisement
Part 4
Part 4 of 4:

Writing the Conclusion Paragraph and References

  1. Advertisement

Sample Critiques

Sample Research Paper Critique

Warnings

  • Avoid using first and second person pronouns such as, “you”, “your”, “I”, “my”, or “mine.” State your opinion objectively for a more credible approach.
    Thanks
    Helpful 39 Not Helpful 14
Advertisement

Total notes of this article: 0 in 0 rating

Click on stars to rate this article