11

English For Academic

and Professional
Purposes
Quarter 1 – Module 4:
Critical Approaches in Writing a
Critique
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 4: Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique
First Edition, 2020

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work
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Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of
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trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders.
Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from
their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim
ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Fatima O. Bringas
Editor: Marilyn C. Braganza
Reviewers: Bonifacio B. Pajarillo, Jr.
Illustrator: Laurel K. Roa
Layout Artist: Melanio R. Florino Jr.
Management Team: Dr. Reynaldo M. Guillena, CESO V
Dr. Basilio P. Mana-ay Jr., CESE
Dr. Emma A. Camporedondo, CESE
Alma C. Cifra, EdD
May Ann M. Jumuad, PhD
Aris B. Juanillo, PhD

Printed in the Philippines by _________________________________________________

Department of Education – Davao City Divisions, Region 11

Office Address: Elpidio Quirino Ave., Poblacion District, Davao City, 8000 Davao
del Sur
Telefax: (082) 224-3274, (082) 222-1672
E-mail Address: dava0.city@deped.gov.ph
 11
English For Academic
and Professional
Purposes
Quarter 1 – Module 4:
Critical Approaches in Writing a
Critique
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

Welcome to the English for Academic and Professional Purposes Alternative Delivery
Mode (ADM) Module on Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators both
from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or facilitator in helping the
learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum while overcoming their
personal, social, and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent learning
activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also aims to help learners acquire
the needed 21st century skills while taking into consideration their needs and
circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of the
module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies
that will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module. You also
need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage their own
learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners as they do
the tasks included in the module.

For the learner:

Welcome to the English for Academic and Professional Purposes Alternative Delivery
Mode (ADM) Module on Critical Approaches in Writing A Critique!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for guided
and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to process the
contents of the learning resource while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

What I Need to Know This will give you an idea of the skills or
competencies you are expected to learn in the
module.

What I Know This part includes an activity that aims to check

what you already know about the lesson to take.
If you get all the answers correct (100%), you
may decide to skip this module.

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 What’s In This is a brief drill or review to help you link the
current lesson with the previous one.

What’s New In this portion, the new lesson will be introduced

to you in various ways such as a story, a song, a
poem, a problem opener, an activity or a
situation.

What is It This section provides a brief discussion of the

lesson. This aims to help you discover and
understand new concepts and skills.

What’s More This comprises activities for independent practice

to solidify your understanding and skills of the
topic. You may check the answers to the
exercises using the Answer Key at the end of the
module.

What I Have Learned This includes questions or blank

sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process
what you learned from the lesson.

What I Can Do This section provides an activity which will help

you transfer your new knowledge or skill into real
life situations or concerns.

Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your level of

mastery in achieving the learning competency.

Additional Activities In this portion, another activity will be given to

you to enrich your knowledge or skill of the
lesson learned. This also tends retention of
learned concepts.

Answer Key This contains answers to all activities in the

module.

At the end of this module you will also find:

References This is a list of all sources used in developing this

module.

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the
module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.

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 3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to
consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are not alone.

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain
deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written to help you understand the principles and uses of a
reaction paper/review/critique. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many
different learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of
students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the
order in which you read them can be changed to correspond with the textbook you are now
using.

The module has only one lesson, namely:

• Lesson 1 – Using appropriate critical approaches in writing a critique such as
formalism, feminism, etc. and Writing an objective/balanced review or critique of a
work of art, an event, or a program.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Identify critical approaches in writing a critique;
2. Evaluate and analyze a literary or artwork;
3. Critique a material based on its technical aspects, its approach to gender,
audience’s reaction and its portrayal

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 What I Know

Read the following items carefully. Write only the letter corresponding the best answer on
a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which of the following does a literary critic evaluate?

a. nutritional status
b. academic books and articles
c. pretest and posttest for research
d. educational status of a particular group
2. Which of the following types of criticism focuses on how literature presents
women as subjects of socio-cultural, psychological, and economic oppression?
a. feminist
b. formalist
c. Marxist
d. reader-response
3. Which of the following claim that literary works contain intrinsic properties and
treats each work as a distinct work of art?
a. feminism
b. Formalism
c. Marxism
d. reader-response
4. Which of the following approaches claims that the reader’s role cannot be
separated from the understanding of the work?
a. feminist
b. formalist
c. Marxist
d. Reader- response
5. Which of the following is concerned with differences between economic classes
and implications of a capitalist system?
a. feminism
b. formalism
c. Marxism
d. Reader-response
6. Which of the following aspects is considered in formalism?
a. relationship of the form and the content
b. how gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects of
human production and daily life
c. interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning
d. conflict and interactions between economic classes

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 7. Which of the following aspects is viewed into by feminism?
a. Social class of the writer
b. How gender equality is presented in the text
c. contribution of parts and the work as a whole to its aesthetic quality
d. impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and visuals on enhancing and
changing meaning
8. Which aspects is observed in a reader-response approach?
a. How culture determines gender
b. Social class as presented in the work
c. The use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
d. communication between the reader and the text in making meaning
9. Which of the following is considered under Marxist Criticism?
a. social class of the characters
b. interconnectedness of various parts of the work
c. patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence
d. collaboration both of the reader and the text in producing meaning
10. Which of the following refers to the manifestation of dissatisfaction of someone or
something based on perceived faults or mistakes?
a. criticism
b. critique
c. feminism
d. formalism
11. Which of the following refers to a detailed examination and assessment of a
literary work?
a. criticism
b. critique
c. feminism
d. formalism
12. Which term refers to an excessive observance to agreed forms?
a. criticism
b. critique
c. feminism
d. formalism
13. Which of the following refers tothe state in which access to privileges or chances is
accepted by gender?
a. b. feminism
b. formalism
c. gender equity
d. gender equality
14. Which of the following refers to the collective manifestations of human
intellectual achievement?
a. culture
b. feminism
c. formalism
d. gender equality

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 15. Which of the following refers to the visually expressive or metaphorical
language used in a literarywork?
a. imagery
b. formalism
c. feminism
d. reader-response

Lesson
Critical Approaches in
1 Writing a Critique

The main focus of this lesson is the exploration of the different methods by which you can
analyze and critique a certain material based on its technical aspects, its approach to
gender, your reaction as the audience, its portrayal of class struggle, social structure and
its facts.

What’s In

Activity 1: Fact or Opinion. Read the following statements carefully. Write F if the
statement is a fact, and O if it is an opinion. Do this using a separate sheet of paper.

1. Reaction papers have introduction, body, and conclusion.

2. Reaction papers are long and boring to write.

3. A critique paper is a formal type of writing.

4. Critique paper uses academic writing style.

5. Only intelligent students can write a critique paper.

Activity 2: Activating Prior Knowledge

When you were in the lower years, your teachers have exposed you to a lot of writing
experiences. Using these experiences as your guide, fill in the grid below with some words
or phrases you can think of, to describe the ways by which the following types of writing
are written.
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 Reaction Paper Review/Critique

What’s New

Activity 3: Picture Analysis Analyze the picture above. Then answer the following
questions.

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 1. What do you see in the picture?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. What could be the effect of this scenario to women/mothers?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

What is It

Understanding Critical Approaches and their Aspects

There are various ways or standpoints by which you can analyse and critique a
certain material. You can view it in the context of its technical aspects, its approach
to gender, and your reaction as an audience. The following theories and
approaches to literary criticism would help you understand these ways better.

1. Formalism
It claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each
work as a definite work of art. In short, it emphasizes that the key to
understanding a text is through the text itself: the historical context, the
author, or the other external context aren't necessary in in the
interpretation of meaning.

The common aspects looked into when using Formalism are the following:
a. author’s techniques in resolving contradiction within the work
b. central passage that sums up the entirety of the work
c. contribution of parts and the work as a whole to its aesthetic quality
d. relationship of the form and the content
e. use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
f. interconnectedness of various parts of the work
g. paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work
h. unity in the work

2. Feminism
It focuses on how literature presents women as subjects of socio-political,
psychological, and economic oppression. It also reveals how aspects of
our culture are patriarchal, i.e., how our culture views men as superior and
women as inferior.

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 The common aspects looked into when using feminism are as follows:
a. how culture determines gender.
b. how gender equality (or lack of it) is presented in the text
c. how gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects of
human production and daily life
d. how women are socially, politically, psychologically, and economically
oppressed by patriarchy
e. how patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence

3. Reader-Response Criticism
It is concerned with the reviewer’s reaction as an audience of a work.
This approach claims that the reader’s role cannot be separated from the
understanding of the work. It also claims that a text does not have
meaning until the reader reads it and interprets it. Readers are therefore
not passive and distant, but are active consumers of the material
presented to them.

The common aspects looked into when using reader response criticism
are as follows:
a. interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning
b. the impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and the visuals in
enhancing and changing meaning

4. Marxist Criticism
It is concerned with differences between economic classes and
implications of a capitalist system, such as the continuing conflicts
between the working class and the elite. Hence, it attempts to reveal that
the ultimate source of people’s experience is the socioeconomic system.

The common aspects looked into when using Marxist criticism are as
follows:
a. social class as represented in the work
b. social class of the writer/creator
c. social class of the characters

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 What’s More

Activity 4. What’s a Critique?

Read and analyze the information below then then summarize it using any of the
summarizing techniques you have learned in Module 2. Use a separate one whole
sheet of paper.

Critiques evaluate and analyse a good type of things (texts, images,

performances, etc.) supported by reasons or criteria. Sometimes, people equate
the notion of “critique” to “criticism”, which sometimes suggests negative
interpretation. These terms are easy to confuse, but let us be clear that critique
and criticize don’t mean the identical thing. A negative critique may be said to be
criticism within the way we frequently understand the term “to criticize”, but
critiques are often positive too. We are all conversant in one among the foremost
basic styles of critique: reviews (film reviews, music reviews, art reviews, book
reviews, etc). Critiques within the style of reviews tend to possess a reasonably
simple and particular point: whether or not something is “good” or “bad”.

My Summary

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 What I Have Learned

Activity 5. Find Me!

Give the correct word in the puzzle as described.

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 What I Can Do

Activity 6. A. Poem Reading : Read the poem “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya

Angelou. Using the grid below, analyze the poem using the
common aspects of Feminism, Formalism, Marxism, and Reader-
response.

Phenomenal Woman
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where And the flash of my teeth,

my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a
fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Men themselves have
wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not
bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you
proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my
heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

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 Feminism Formalism Marxist Criticism Reader-response

Activity 6. B. Compare and contrast a phenomenal woman and a typical

woman using a Venn diagram.

Similarities Difference
s

Common

Assessment

Read the following items carefully. Write only the letter corresponding the best answer on a
separate sheet of paper.
1. Which of the following refers to the visually expressive or metaphorical language used
in a literary work?
a. imagery
b. formalism
c. feminism
d. reader-response

1
2. Which of the following refers to the collective manifestations of human
intellectual achievement?
a. culture
b. feminism
c. formalism
d. gender equality
3. Which of the following refers to the state in which access to privileges or
chances are accepted by gender?
b. feminism
c. formalism
d. gender equity
d. gender equality
4. Which of the following aspects is considered in formalism?
a. relationship of the form and the content
b. how gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects of
human production and daily life
c. interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning
d. conflict and interactions between economic classes
5. What is observed in a reader-response approach.
a. How culture determines gender
b. Social class as presented in the work
c. The use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
d. communication between the reader and the text in making meaning
6. Which of the following does a literary critic evaluate?
a. nutritional status
b. academic books and articles
c. pre-test and post-test for research
d. educational status of a particular group
7. Which of the following types of criticism focuses on how literature presents
women as subjects of socio-cultural, psychological, and economic
oppression?
a. feminist
b. formalist
c. Marxist
d. reader-response
8. Which of the following claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties
and treats each work as a distinct work of art?
a. feminism
b. Formalism
c. Marxism
d. reader-response
9. Which of the following approaches claims that the reader’s role cannot be
separated from the understanding of the work?
a. feminist
b. formalist
c. Marxist
d. Reader- response

2
 10. Which of the following is concerned with differences between economic classes
and implications of a capitalist system?
a. feminism
b. formalism
c. Marxism
d. Reader-response
11. Which of the following aspects is viewed into by feminism?
a. Social class of the writer
b. How gender equality is presented in the text
c. contribution of parts and the work as a whole to its aesthetic quality
d. impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and visuals on enhancing
and changing meaning
12. Which of the following is considered under Marxist Criticism?
a. social class of the characters
b. interconnectedness of various parts of the work
c. patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence
d. collaboration both of the reader and the text in producing meaning
13. Which of the following refers to the manifestation of dissatisfaction of someone or
something based on perceived faults or mistakes?
a. criticism
b. critique
c. feminism
d. formalism
14. Which of the following refers to a detailed examination and assessment of a
literary work?
a. criticism
b. critique
c. feminism
d. formalism
15. Which term refers to an excessive observance to agreed forms?
a. criticism
b. critique
c. feminism
d. formalism

Additional Activities

Activity 7. Let’s write: Write a Feminist critique of Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman”,
using a separate one whole sheet of paper.

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 Answer Key

Assessment Activity 4 Activity 6. A.

1. a 9. d Answers may vary. Answers may vary.

2. a 10. c

3. d 11. b

4. a 12. a

5. d 13. a

6. b 14. b

7. a 15. d

8. b

What I Know Activity 6. B.

1. b 9. a Answers may vary.

2. a 10. a

3. b 11. b

4. d 12. d

5. c 13. d

6. a 14. a

7. b 15. a

8. d

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References

Art Criticism. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/art-criticism-definition-steps-

example.html

Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique: Retrieved from

https://www.scribd.com/presentation/386933958/Critical-Approaches-in-Writing-a-Critique

Critical Approaches and Types of Literary Criticism. Retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/JhengReyes/critical-approaches-types-of-literary-criticism

English for Academic and Professional Purposes-DepEd-

Ebookhttps://lrmds.deped.gov.ph/detail/12267

Quizlet. Retrieved from https://quizlet.com/306316570/eapp-q1-critical-approaches-in-

writing-a-critique-flash-cards/

Swales, Feak (2014). Acaddemic Writing for Colllege Students, University of the Philippines,
Dilliman Campus and IELTS Press (2015

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