Critique
What is
critique?
Critique is derived from ancient Greek
(“kritike”). It is defined as a careful
judgment in which you shape your
opinion about the strengths and
weaknesses of a piece of writing or
work of art.
It is not a summary of the piece, rather,
it is a critical evaluation to further
understand validity, worth, effect, use of
the material that interests readers,
and/or the recommendation or appeal
for further appreciation.
Subjecting the piece of writing on the critical
approaches in analyzing the piece using
appropriate evidence and arguments.
Proper and acceptable reasons or proofs are
necessary to ensure the quality and substance of
the opinions you have cited which reinforces
relevant persuasion.
Writing a critique paves to a better
understanding and for you to respond in a more
analytic, balanced, and convincing manner.
critical
approaches in
writing critique
FORMALISM
OR
NEW CRITICSM
This approach claims that all that are
important
in
analyzing
and
understanding the text can be found in
the piece of writing or text itself. Outside
information regarding the author,
society of the time, politics or any other
external context are no longer needed.
The text is independent. It has a fixed
meaning. It is timeless and universal.
As you write your working outline framing your critique’s main points,
you may include as much as you could or whatever necessary using
the following guide questions:
1. What is the title, setting, other elements etc. and to what extent it is
symbolic?
2. What kind of language does the author use?
3. How is the work’s structure unified?
4. How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning?
5. What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.)
can you find? What is the effect of these patterns or motifs?
6. How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
7. How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
8. What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce
that effect?
9. What figures of speech are used? (metaphors, similes, etc.)
10. Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot,
characterization, and style of narration.
11. What effects are produced? Do any of these relate to one another
or to the theme?
12. Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the
story?
13. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
14. How does the author create tone and mood? What relationship is
there between tone and mood and the effect of the story?
15. How do the various elements interact to create a unified whole?
16. What is the argument or thesis?
17. Who is telling the story in the piece
FEMINISM
This
approach
emphasizes
the
importance or relevance of women as
subjects and how gender been
perceived in the piece. The images of
women and the underlying concepts of
femininity including economic, societal,
psychological and archetypal nature of
women are examined. This approach
likewise stresses equality for a male
dominated society.
The following guide questions are helpful in framing you’re working
outline using the feministic point of view:
1. How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?
2. Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s
gender?
3. How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are
these relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?
4. Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?
5. How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social
forces that have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with
men?
6. What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What
effect do these expectations have?
7. What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What
effect do these expectations have?
8. If a female character were male, how would the story be different
(and vice versa)?
9. How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or
happiness?
10. How does culture view women vs. men?
11. How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
12. What are the power relationships between men and women (or
characters assuming male/female roles)?
13. Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How
does this change
others’ reactions to them?
14. What does the work reveal about the operations (economically,
politically, socially, or
psychologically) of patriarchy?
15. What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as
a mode of resisting
patriarchy?
16. What role does the work play in terms of women's literary history
and literary tradition?
READER
RESPONSE
This approach stresses the attachment or strong
connectionism of an individual reader’s mind to the
piece at hand. The reader herself can put meaning
and interpret every part of the text. The text is
nothing unless it has been read and interpreted by
the reader. The reader’s reaction and interaction
made out of the piece recreates and develops a
further depth of meaning. The manner a poem or a
short story is read or delivered strengthens and
invokes visuals and imagination to a much sought
individual appreciation. In such a case, a reader who
happened to read the same text may find the
experience different from the first against the
second time.
MARXIST
This approach tries to unfold how
socioeconomic status affects hierarchy
or conflicts involving social classes in the
masterpiece.
This approach likewise attempts to answer the following questions:
1. What are the differences between economic classes?
2. What conflict has arisen between the woking class and the elite? 3.
What implication may the socioeconomic system bring?
4. What social class has een emphasized and how was this portrayed
in the piece?
This approach likewise attempts to answer the following questions:
1. What are the differences between economic classes?
2. What conflict has arisen between the working class and the elite?
3. What implication may the socioeconomic system bring?
4. What social class has been emphasized and how was this
portrayed in the piece?
Quiz
Answer the following questions.
1. What is critique? (5 points)
2. Differentiate the different critical
approaches in writing critique. (15
points)
Thank you!