READING AND WRITING SKILLS

Performance Task #2
First Semester
Critique

Names of Members: Panotes, Pilapil. Maramba, Acbo Group #: 7

Section: 11 STEM 7B
I. Introduction
The article, “To Live Your Truth, Start by Being Honest with Yourself” by Jacqueline Pearce not
only primarily discussed the truth but also provided the readers with enlightenment on how to
find, understand, and practice honesty. The author didn't engage in any segue and straightaway
commanded readers to be honest for their own benefit, as living by the truth means living your
life thoroughly. Furthermore, the author begins with narration, storytelling scenarios that
readers can relate to and helping them accomplish self-realization with regards to their actions
such as an individual might treat someone unfairly to gain something that was not rightfully
theirs in order to be looked well upon by others, but deep down, the person may know what they
did was wrong(To Live Your Truth, Start by Being Honest With Yourself, 2019).

With that in mind, it is important to ensure that this type of article is well-written, especially
when it aims to reach a wide audience. A public article accessible to everyone should be in a
well-crafted form. Therefore, this critique paper aims to evaluate the article “To Live Your Truth,
Start by Being Honest with Yourself” to determine if it has the qualities of a well-written text that
makes it easy for the readers to comprehend and ensure they don’t waste their time, supported
by evidence.

II. Analysis
In this article, there were two properties of a well written text being observed—the organization,
and organizational patterns. The article has organization as it consists of focus pertaining to the
main idea about the importance of self-honesty and uses specific details and concrete examples
were given to support the main idea and narrow the context of why we have to be honest to
ourselves. As implied by WAC Clearinghouse, a focus can be very narrow–as when a
photographer takes a close-up of one mountain flower–or it can be broad–as when the
photographer takes a long range shot of the mountain. (Maintaining Your Focus - the WAC
Clearinghouse, n.d.). The article also portrayed organizational patterns, specifically the order of
importance, wherein the main ideas of the text were subjected to self-honesty and with this
readers will be knowledgeable about the hierarchy of achieving self-honesty from the ones we
can achieve easily to the ones we can achieve the most—likewise with what Snap Language
demonstrated: writers organize the information from the least important point or idea to the
most important, this building up to the climax to keep the reader interested (Franco, 2023). Only
these two were the most prominent in the article yet it played a huge role for it to be a
well-written text, however, even though these properties are found in this article we also found
some flaws in it .
It is evident that the article has also violated rules about the properties of well-written texts, such
as the use of concise words, the use of informal language, and a lack of summary. First, the use of
the term “true and authentic” is redundant, and by removing redundant words, it will enhance
readability since they don't add to the main point. Second, the use of the word “schooled” in the
article is incorrect because that is slang, and slang words should not be used in creating formal
writing because, as reported by the Cambridge Dictionary, we use formal language in situations
that are serious or that involve people we don’t know well (Formal and informal language 2023
Cambridge Grammar). Last but not least, as stated by the Word on College Reading and Writing,
a summary's main goal is to quickly explain to the reader the main points of the material, but in
the given article, a lot of main ideas were presented, but the author did not summarize them.
From this, we can conclude that carefully choosing the words we use plays a major part in
writing, and it's important to avoid such mistakes in order to prevent misunderstandings and
enhance the article's readability (Burnell, C. n.d.-b. Writing summaries. Pressbooks ).

III. Conclusion
The article demonstrated an understanding of text organization and patterns, yet it contained
redundancies and informal language inappropriate for a formal context. It also lacked a clear
summary of the discussed points. Despite these shortcomings, the author effectively conveyed
her ideas. Improvement in concise language and addressing these issues could enhance the
overall quality of the article.

As a student writer, understanding the properties of a well-written text is crucial for enhancing
one's writing skills, whether in formal or informal contexts. The article under critique highlighted
some of these essential properties, even though the author exhibited certain shortcomings.
Despite these limitations, the central message remained clear and evident. Analyzing such
critiques enables us to discern which properties were violated in the text, providing valuable
insights for continuous improvement in our writing abilities. Consequently, this process
empowers us to refine our writing skills over time, ensuring effective communication in various
scenarios.

IV. References
Burnell, C. (n.d.). Writing summaries. Pressbooks.

https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/chapter/writing-summaries/?fbclid=IwAR

1bil8_fM6lRDxdyGICkK3aJSIfdahnLAXhyF_DV3ksJoFQgYSJullV7L4#:~:text=The%20

purpose%20of%20a%20summary,lectures%2C%20stories%2C%20or%20presenta

tions

Franco, M. (2023, March 12). Emphatic Order (Order of Importance) Mode of Organization

(advanced reading and writing): Snap LanguageTM. Snap Language.

https://snaplanguage.io/esl/c-level/writing-skill/c-wtg-002-modes-of-organization-page-

13.html

Formal and informal language. (2023). In Cambridge Grammar.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/formal-and-informal-lan

guage?fbclid=IwAR24RI37sW87uY5bPapZQKb-8BTQBk7jwHD_OL0SCY6c5gtTQJtCuCRkhO

Maintaining Your Focus - The WAC Clearinghouse. (n.d.).

https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/resources/writing/guides/focus/?fbclid=IwA

R1PF7S15B-3yLtDBJxaGGVL4ljXZqXscFIwo8a4ogdoRz6USmzW8uyLcTU#:~:text=Th

e%20focus%20of%20the%20text,That's%20the%20focus

To Live Your Truth, Start by Being Honest with Yourself. (2019d, August 15).

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/to-live-your-truth-start-by-being-honest-with-yours

elf-0815194

V. Appendices
Plagiarism Checker Results:

Intro:
 Analysis:

Conclusion: