I.

Writing Critiques and Reviews

One of the most types of papers that you will be asked to write are reviews or critiques, and
reaction papers. In such a requirement, you are expected to come up with an honest and critical
evaluation of a work of art, place, or any subject item that your teacher will ask you to examine. In
doing so, you should not merely express your opinions arbitrarily. Rather, you have to train yourself
how to support your views with substantial facts ad arguments in order to convince your readers of
your work’s credibility and validity.

Critiques: are papers that assess or evaluate the merits of a piece of work. According to
Swales and Feak (2012), critique is French for “critical assessment,” which can mean a positive or a
negative judgment on the work or a combination of both. Thus, a critique judges assigned subject
objectively, using criteria. Common examples of critiques are film and book reviews. Introduction

Summary of the work being evaluated

Background information

The critic’s overall judgment of the subject of the work. This serves as thesis of the
critique/reaction paper.Body

Supporting opinions to the overall judgment

Support to these opinions; details about the work being evaluated

Relating your evaluations to greater realities will also help as you ground your paper in the wider
scheme of things. For instance, what thing does the movie or book address? Conclusion

A restatement (using different wording) of the overall judgment

A highlight of the strengths and weaknesses should be presented.

Some final thoughts of the critic or reactor, such as: suggested actions or thoughts on the
significance or practical use of the work; is the subject being evaluated a good investment of time
and effort. Content must be:

1. Accurate. It provides an accurate description of the work being evaluated by giving its summary
ad/or background details, like answers to basic reporter questions of who, what, when, where and
why.

2. Evaluative. It gives the writer’s overall judgment of the work. It makes this judgment convincing by
giving supporting evaluations of selected analytical element of the work being evaluated.

3. Balanced. The writer shows balance by pointing weaknesses of a work, if the overall judgment is
positive, or the other way around, by recognizing strong points for which the overall judgment is
negative. Both critiques and reaction papers are important rhetorical patterns in academic writing as
they present a balanced view of things.