Critical Response Essay
Assignment – 1200-1500 words
First Draft due: Wed. March 20
Final Draft due: Fri. March 22
For this paper, you will examine and evaluate one of the critical essays that we have read during
Unit 3 of class. The essay you choose to write about is up to you,* though, it will be best if you
choose one that contains arguments you find compelling, persuasive, and/or problematic, since
you will be expected to engage closely with the content and structure of this essay.
A Critical Response Essay contains two main elements: 1) an accurate but concise summary of
the essay’s main arguments, 2) a critical evaluation of the essay.
*If you would rather write about an academic essay that we have not read for class, but
that deals with similar issues (i.e. girlhood and consumerism, sexualization, beauty
pageants, etc.) feel free to do this. Make sure the essay comes from an academic book or
a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal, and check with me first, before you start writing.
How to Begin/Pre-Writing
Summary: Accurately but concisely summarizing a critical essay is a difficult task because the
essay’s arguments are usually nuanced and complex. Formulating a good summary, then, is a
multi-step process:
1) Read the critical essay multiple times, underlining passages that contain key points.
2) Re-read closely all of the underlined passages and note any shifts or complications that
have taken place in the key points. Write out the essay’s main arguments in your own
words.
3) Once you have grasped the essay’s main arguments and can explain them in your own
words, return to the essay and track the movement of these arguments, i.e. note how
the essay is structured. Write a few words next to each paragraph that describe how
that paragraph moves the argument forward (reverse outlining). This will help you
dissect exactly how the essay is working to make its arguments.
Evaluation/Analysis: Once you have internalized the nuances of the essay’s arguments as well
its structure, think about how you would evaluate the essay:
1) Zoom in and think about the strengths and/or weaknesses of particular arguments or
moments in the essay. Mark any passages that are especially insightful, persuasive, or
problematic and write down some notes on how you would justify your assessment.
2) Step back and think about how you would evaluate the essay as a whole. For instance,
despite its problematic moments, is it a persuasive essay overall? Or, although the essay
brings up some intriguing points, does lack of evidence or unconvincing analysis weaken
the overall impact of the arguments?
Structure
 Your introduction should include some necessary contextual information (the title of the
essay, the author’s name, and the date of publication) as well as a brief articulation of the
main topic or concern of the essay. End the introduction with your thesis statement,
which should indicate (again, in brief terms) your evaluation of the essay.
 The summary portion of the paper should present the key arguments of the essay with
appropriate textual evidence to illustrate these points. Be careful not to over-quote the
source essay, however, as the point of a summary is to present the essay’s arguments in
your own terms. The summary should be about one third of your paper.
 The evaluation or analysis portion of the paper should engage closely with a few
specific points or passages in the essay, and should make persuasive, evaluative claims
about these passages (i.e. explaining why a particular argument is persuasive, why a
phrase or word works or does not work to clarify an argument, etc.).
 Your conclusion should step back and state your overall assessment of the source essay,
as well as think about the ‘if so, then what’ question. For example, if you found the
essay’s arguments problematic, then what do you think could resolve these problems? If
you thought the essay was persuasive and insightful, then how do you think it should be
distributed and read? Who do you think would benefit from reading the essay?