Critique Writing Practice
By David Ellis, ELI 83, Spring 2005
Notes to instructor:
To supplement the critique unit of the text, I include a critique I wrote on a business article, as
well as a student's critique. On page 1 (my critique), each sentence is numbered, and the students
are asked to identify the function/purpose of each sentence in the critique. For example, it is a
summary of one of the original author's ideas, a positive comment, a negative comment, or an
elaboration on the +/- comment. In this way, I show students how to organize information within
a critique.
On page 2, I include two copies of a student's critique (to reduce paper waste). The purpose of
this exercise is to show students how to "tie" together their thoughts when writing a critique.
Hence the bolded sentence with a blank line. Their task is to complete the paragraph with a
concluding thought. Note also the sentence that is lined out. That was one of the student's
original comments, but I explained how they might want to reduce the strength of that claim!
Critique Writing Practice
1. Although author Steven Berglas describes how a manager deals with four types of time abusers
in “Chronic Time Abuse” (Harvard Business Review, June 2004, pp. 90-97), he leaves a big question
mark in the reader’s mind because of his lack of objectivity.
2. The four types of time abuser – the preemptive, people pleaser, perfectionist, and
procrastinator – are well defined with good examples and solutions to each case are introduced.
3. However, there is no specific data to support Berglas’ categorization of the types of time abuser.
4. His conclusions are based only on his experience of observing “hundreds of time abusers…over the
years.” 5. In addition, categorizing all time abusers by only four types is not appropriate. 6. Multiple
factors of time abusers might be seen in one person, or there might be another type of time abuser other
than the four types. 7. In other words, his analysis of time abusers is not complete.
8. Since the author is a clinical psychologist, he introduces several ways to manage the time
abuser based on a psychological approach. 9. Moreover, he suggests that all causes of time abusers’
problems are rooted in a relationship between their parents and them in their childhood.
10. Finding a root psychiatric problem in a patient’s past is very common, but at the same time, dealing
with such a matter is very sensitive and is supposed to be performed by well-trained professionals like
psychologists. 11. That is, suggesting that managers use techniques to deal with time abusers in the work
place is too risky and unrealistic. 12. Additionally, no alternative solutions are offered in case the
techniques that are introduced don’t work. 13. In other words, referring to psychological analysis may
help managers to understand the time abuser’s problems, but not help them solve the problem on their
own. 14. This is worse than useless.
15. While the article lacks data and reasonable solutions for managers to deal with time abusers,
the article does have a positive note at the end. 16. The author stated that the causes of time abuse are
often the same as those that drive people to perform well. 17. This conclusion gives managers some hope
to deal with time abusers.
18. In short, the article shows a unique view about the time abusers, but offers no practical and
relevant suggestions that can be used in the actual workplace.
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Author Steven Berglas, in “Chronic Time Abuse” (Harvard Business Review, June 2004, pp. 9097), describes how a manager deals with four types of time abusers – the preemptive, people pleaser,
perfectionist, and procrastinator. While his terms are well defined and he provides good examples and
solutions to each case are introduced, he leaves a big question mark in the reader’s mind because of his
lack of objectivity. For example, there is no specific data to support Berglas’ categorization of the types
of time abuser. His conclusions are based only on his experience of observing “hundreds of time
abusers…over the years.” In addition, categorizing all time abusers by only four types is not appropriate.
Multiple factors of time abusers might be seen in one person, or there might be another type of time
abuser other than the four types. In other words, his analysis of time abusers is not complete. Therefore,
it would have been better if __________________________________________________.
Since the author is a clinical psychologist, he introduces several ways to manage the time abuser
based on a psychological approach. Moreover, he suggests that all causes of time abusers’ problems are
rooted in a relationship between their parents and them in their childhood. Finding a root psychiatric
problem in a patient’s past is very common, but at the same time, dealing with such a matter is very
sensitive and is supposed to be performed by well-trained professionals like psychologists. That is,
suggesting that managers use techniques to deal with time abusers in the work place is too risky and
unrealistic. Additionally, no alternative solutions are offered in case the techniques that are introduced
don’t work. In other words, referring to psychological analysis may help managers to understand the time
abuser’s problems, but not help them solve the problem on their own. This is worse than useless. Thus, it
would have been better if he ________________________.
While the article lacks data and reasonable solutions for managers to deal with time abusers, the
article does have a positive note at the end. The author stated that the causes of time abuse are often the
same as those that drive people to perform well. This conclusion gives managers some hope to deal with
time abusers.
In short, the article shows a unique view about the time abusers, but offers no practical and
relevant suggestions that can be used in the actual workplace.
Author Steven Berglas, in “Chronic Time Abuse” (Harvard Business Review, June 2004, pp. 90-97),
describes how a manager deals with four types of time abusers – the preemptive, people pleaser,
perfectionist, and procrastinator. While his terms are well defined and he provides good examples and
solutions to each case are introduced, he leaves a big question mark in the reader’s mind because of his
lack of objectivity. For example, there is no specific data to support Berglas’ categorization of the types
of time abuser. His conclusions are based only on his experience of observing “hundreds of time
abusers…over the years.” In addition, categorizing all time abusers by only four types is not appropriate.
Multiple factors of time abusers might be seen in one person, or there might be another type of time
abuser other than the four types. In other words, his analysis of time abusers is not complete. Therefore,
it would have been better if __________________________________________________.
Since the author is a clinical psychologist, he introduces several ways to manage the time abuser
based on a psychological approach. Moreover, he suggests that all causes of time abusers’ problems are
rooted in a relationship between their parents and them in their childhood. Finding a root psychiatric
problem in a patient’s past is very common, but at the same time, dealing with such a matter is very
sensitive and is supposed to be performed by well-trained professionals like psychologists. That is,
suggesting that managers use techniques to deal with time abusers in the work place is too risky and
unrealistic. Additionally, no alternative solutions are offered in case the techniques that are introduced
don’t work. In other words, referring to psychological analysis may help managers to understand the time
abuser’s problems, but not help them solve the problem on their own. This is worse than useless. Thus, it
would have been better if he ________________________.
While the article lacks data and reasonable solutions for managers to deal with time abusers, the
article does have a positive note at the end. The author stated that the causes of time abuse are often the
same as those that drive people to perform well. This conclusion gives managers some hope to deal with
time abusers.
In short, the article shows a unique view about the time abusers, but offers no practical and
relevant suggestions that can be used in the actual workplace.