Good

Morning!
There are many sources
available to us, but not all of
them are useful to our
research. We use a critique
paper to evaluate a work. How
do we write one? What are its
features?
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 Understand the use and purpose of a
critique.
 Identify the features and structure of a
critique paper.
 Use specific sources to support claims in
a critique.
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 1.What should we look
for when critiquing a
Essential
Questions work?
2.What are the important
features of a critique?

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 EXPLORE

• Go back to a short story or poem you had previously

taken up in this class or in another class. Read the text
once more and identify its strengths and weaknesses.

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 Guide Questions

• 1. What are the text’s strengths?

• What are the text’s weaknesses?
• Would you recommend this short story or poem to another
person? Why or why not?
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Unit 7: The Critique Paper
Lesson 1
Features and Structure
of a Critique Paper
 What Is a Critique?
 A critique is a form of academic writing
that critically evaluates a work or text.
 It uses formal academic language and
has an introduction, body, and
conclusion.
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 What Is a Critique?
 The purpose of a critique is to gauge the
contribution of the work to its field.
 It will help us develop further
understanding of the work’s subject area.
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 What Is a Critique?
 It will help us be able to gauge the
work’s strengths and weaknesses,
which parts were effective or useful,
and which parts were lacking.

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A critique can be used to analyze any
number of works and texts. These
include, but are not limited to,
novels, movies, poems, journal
articles, news reports, and feature
articles.
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 What Is a Critique?
 A critique paper does not have to be
restricted to written works.
 It can be used to analyze paintings,
exhibits, music, and many more non-
written works.
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 What Is a Critique?
Example
Sample elements you can look at when
analyzing a painting:
● composition
● brush strokes
● use of color and light
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 How to Critique
 First, study the work being discussed.
 Identify its main idea, and find the key
evidence or elements used to support it.
 Take note of how the work connects to a
broader issue or context.
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 How to Critique
● Analyze the categories of content,
organization, style, and correctness.
● In content, consider the topic.
○ Is it an appropriate, important, or
interesting study, especially considering
the field it is in?
○ How is the topic developed?
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 How to Critique
● For organization, look at how the work is begun
and concluded.
○ Are the introduction and conclusion talking
about the same idea?
○ How is the work structured or ordered in order
to develop the idea?
○ Is it successful or confusing?
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 How to Critique
● Style can refer to a number of things.
○ You can analyze the tone of the work.
○ You can also look at how the
paragraphs are written.
○ It can also refer to individual
sentences.
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 How to Critique
● Correctness refers to the following:
○ grammar
○ punctuation
○ spelling for written works
○ elements
○ form for other works
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Depending on the form of the work, some
of these questions might not be
applicable. In the course of analyzing a
work for a critique, you might have to
omit some questions or add some of your
own.
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 Features of a Critique
 As stated previously, a critique also
follows the structure of having an
introduction, body, and conclusion.
 Within the body, the summary and the
critical evaluation can be found.
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 Features of a Critique
Introduction
Typically, the introduction should do the following:
• Name the work, the date it was made, and the creator’s
name.
• Describe the main idea or purpose of the work.
• Explain the context of the work being critiqued.
• Have a concluding sentence that hints at what your
evaluation of the work will be.
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 Features of a Critique
Example 1
Juan dela Cruz, a senior high school student,
conducted an experiment comparing the effects of
rubbing alcohol, plain soap, and antibacterial soap
when used to wash hands. He wrote a paper titled
“Washing Our Hands: Which Method Is the Best?”
wherein he talked about the findings of his
experiment, and it was published on March 16,
2020.
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 Features of a Critique
He wanted to find out which of the three would
be most effective in removing germs and bacteria
from our hands, especially in light of the COVID-19
pandemic. Overall, the research paper effectively
discusses the pros and cons of these handwashing
techniques, and it was written in a time when it is
very relevant.

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 Features of a Critique
Body
 The body of the critique is where the
summary and critical evaluation are
located.
 This should also contain the bulk of
your critique.
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 Features of a Critique
● The summary briefly enumerates and
explains the main points and objectively
describes how the creator portrays
these by using varied techniques,
styles, media, characters, or symbols.

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 Features of a Critique
 The critical evaluation should give a
systematic and detailed assessment of the
different elements of the work.
 Evaluate how well the creator was able to
achieve their purpose through these
elements.
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 Features of a Critique
 Be sure to support your claims and
arguments with other sources.
 Quote or paraphrase information from
other sources that could prove why the
work you are critiquing has certain
strengths or weaknesses.
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 A critical evaluation should not only
highlight the weaknesses of a work. Pay
attention to all the details of the work and
assess its strengths as well. It should
examine a work and evaluate its success
in light of its purpose.
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 Features of a Critique
 The critical evaluation should be written in a
formal academic style.
 A good logical order to follow would be to start
with broad and general impressions first before
moving on to the details of the more technical
elements.

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 Features of a Critique
 To support your evaluation, be sure to provide
evidence from the work itself, using quotes and
examples from it as necessary.
 You should also cite ideas and supporting
evidence from related works, and then explain
how the evidence supports your evaluation of the
work.
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 Features of a Critique
Here are some examples of key critical questions that you
can ask when writing your critical evaluation:
● Who is the creator? Is the work presented objectively or
subjectively?
● What are the aims of the work? Were the aims achieved?
● What techniques, styles, or media were used in the
work? Are they effective in portraying the purpose?

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 Features of a Critique
 What assumptions underlie the work? Do they
affect its validity?
 What types of evidence or persuasion are used?
Has evidence been interpreted fairly?
 How is the work structured? Does it favor a
particular interpretation or point of view? Is it
effective?
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 Features of a Critique
 Does the work enhance understanding
of key ideas or theories?
 Does the work engage with key
concepts or other works in its
discipline?
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Features of a Critique

Example 2
Dela Cruz presents the results of his experiment
succinctly and clearly, ensuring that many readers
can easily access and understand his research.
This is important, as his work aims to inform as
many people as possible on what type of soap
should be used when washing hands, especially in
the time of a pandemic.
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Features of a Critique

Dela Cruz also presents his methodology and

findings fairly, avoiding any sort of bias toward a
particular method of handwashing. However, he is
not able to explain how he chose these three
particular methods of handwashing for testing. It is
not clear if it is because they are the three most
effective methods, the only methods available to the
public, or the only ones that can be properly tested.
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Features of a Critique

The results of his experiment prove that ordinary or plain

soap is best used for washing hands. Despite antibacterial
soap appearing to be more powerful and effective on the
surface, it has many disadvantages that ultimately place it as
less useful than plain soap. The results of dela Cruz’s
experiment can be backed up by research. A study by Jane
Doe states that antibacterial soap has no proven additional
benefits to plain soap (2019).

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Features of a Critique

Dela Cruz’s results show that using

antibacterial soap does not eliminate more germs
or bacteria than regular soap. In addition, Doe
also states that antibacterial soap contains
chemicals such as triclosan that can be harmful
to both the human skin and the environment
(2019).

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Features of a Critique

The experiment also reveals that

antibacterial soap becomes weaker as it is
constantly used. In a similar experiment,
Dr. Mark Santos has proven that germs
can develop immunities to repeated use of
antibacterial soap (2017).

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Features of a Critique

Meanwhile, plain soap or even antibacterial soap is more

effective than rubbing alcohol, since it is not capable of
killing all kinds of germs, as proven by dela Cruz’s
experiment. Furthermore, in an infographic released by the
World Health Organization (WHO), rubbing alcohol and hand
sanitizers are only quick alternatives to handwashing. If
people can wash their hands instead of using rubbing
alcohol, it would be much more ideal (2018).

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Features of a Critique

Conclusion
This is usually a very brief paragraph and should
include the following:
● a statement indicating the evaluation of the work
● a summary of the key reasons why this evaluation
was formed
● recommendations for improvement on the work if
appropriate
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Features of a Critique

Example 3
Overall, dela Cruz’s paper was well-crafted, as he was
able to intensively explain why using plain soap is the most
effective handwashing method. His experiment was detailed
and focused, his analysis of the results was backed up by
reliable data, and his paper was very relevant to its context.
If it could still be improved, one recommendation would be to
explore more methods of handwashing, or at least explain
why the three methods discussed were specifically chosen.

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 Structure of the Critique Paper

• Accurate
• Evaluative
• Balanced
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 ACCURATE
• It provides an accurate description of the work being
evaluated by giving its summary and/ or background
details like answers to basic reporter questions of
who, what, when, where and why.
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 EVALUATIVE
• It gives the writer’s overall judgement of the work. It makes
judgement convincing by giving three or more (depending on
the length of the paper) supporting evaluations of selected
analytical elements of the work being evaluated.

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 BALANCED
• The writer shows balance by pointing out weaknesses
of a work, if the overall judgement is positive, or the
other way around, by recognizing strong points of a
work for which the overall judgement is negative.
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1. Go back to the short story or poem that
you chose for the Explore section in the
study guide.
2. Write a short (at least 100 words)
introduction paragraph of a critique for
it.

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 Questions
1. What does the critique paper have in
common with other forms of academic
writing?
2. How long should the introduction of a
critique paper be?
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Why is it important to also
analyze the elements of a
work for a critique paper?
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A critique paper is a form of academic
writing that critically evaluates a work or
text.

When writing a critique, analyze the

categories of content, organization,
style, and correctness.
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The features of a critique paper are the
introduction, the body, which includes
the summary and the critical
evaluation, and the conclusion.

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Support your claims and
arguments by quoting or
paraphrasing information from
other articles, journals, or works.
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