MODULE 6

CRITICAL WRITING APPROACHES

ACTIVITY 6

CRITICAL APPROACHES
-are different perspectives we consider when looking at a piece of literature.

TYPES OF CRITICAL APPROACHES

1. READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM
-this approach asserts that a great deal of meaning in a text lies with how the reader responds to it.
-is concerned with the reviewer’s reaction as an audience of a literary work.
-claims that the reader’s role cannot be separated from the understanding of the work.
-criticism is focused on the message of the text.

 How do you feel after reading the story?

 What are the lessons you learned from the story?

-Reader’s Understanding of the text

2. FORMALIST CRITICISM
-this approach emphasizes the form of a literary work to determine its meaning, focusing on literary elements
and how they work to create meaning.
-claims that literary works have intrinsic properties and treats each work as a distinct work of art.
- Formalism is about the Elements of the Text being criticized
3. FEMINIST CRITICISM
-concerned with the role, position, and influence of women in a literary text.
-focuses on how literature presents women as subjects of socio-political, psychological and economic oppression.
-tend to reveal the patriarchal aspects of our culture

 Are the male characters powerful or superior in their position while the female characters are subordinate or
inferior?
 Are the male characters decisive and the female are not?

4. MARXIST CRITICISM
-emphasizes economic and social conditions
-based on the political theory of Karl Marx and Freidrich Engel.
-this approach is concerned with understanding the role of power, politics and money in literary texts.

5. PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM
-this approach views a text as a revelation of its author’s mind and personality.
-based on the work of Sigmund Freud
-focuses on the hidden motivations of literary characters.
6. BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM
-this approach argues that we must take an author’s life and background into account when we study a text.
-refers to how the author has direct influence over the writing.
Benefits:
1. Facts about an author’s experience can help a reader decide how to interpret a text.
2. A reader can better appreciate a text by knowing a writer’s struggles or difficulties in creating that text.
3. A reader can understand a writer’s preoccupation by studying the way they apply and modify their own life
experiences in their works.

7. HISTORICAL CRITICISM
-argues that every literary work is a product of its time and its world.
-meant to verify the historical authenticity and understand the meaning of an event that took place in the past.
EXAMPLE:

CRITIQUE PAPER
-is a genre of academic writing.
-briefly and critically summarizes and evaluates a work or concept.
-used to carefully analyze a variety of works.

Critiques can be used to evaluate:

1. Creative Works- novels, exhibits, films, shows, images, poetry;
2. Researches- monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories;
3. Media- News reports, feature articles

Identify:
1. Criticize- to judge or to evaluate someone or something
2. Critique- the paper or essay
- the product of criticizing
3. Critic- the person doing the criticism

What are the functions of being a critic?

1. to introduce the author/work
2. ignite interest on a neglected work
3. show relationship between ages and cultures
4. contribute to better understanding of a work
5. make a study on art and its "making"
6. introduce the relationship of art and life

What are the steps that we need to do to write a critique?

1 Analyze the text
This should include some or all of the following: set out the main purpose of the author’s book or article.
identify the main point that the author is making. Discuss the arguments that are used to support the main point and the
evidence that supports them. explain the conclusions reached by the author and how they have been reached.
2 Evaluate the text
You will need to comment not only on the content of the piece but also on the way in which it has been written.
3. Consider the following: is the argument logical? is the text well organized, clear and easy to read?
 have important terms been clearly defined?
 are the facts accurate?
 do the arguments support the main point?
 is there sufficient evidence for the arguments?
 does the text present and consider opposing points of view?
 does the material help you understand the subject?
 what questions/observations does this article suggest?
 what does this text make you think about?
3 Write in standard essay form
A critique should be written in an essay format. It will need an introduction, a main body of text and a conclusion. You
will need to prepare a rough draft of your essay.

What are the parts of a critique?

The following is the different section of a critique:
I. Introduction
Define the subject of your critique and your point of view
Background to Research
II. Main body
Begin with a brief summary describing the project.
Discuss the strengths of the article
Discuss the weaknesses of the article
III. Conclusion
Re-emphasize your argument/point of view
Make final suggestions and/or positive and negative criticisms on the book or
article you critiqued
What questions/observations does the article suggest? (the final paragraph)

ACTIVITY 7
React to the statements presented below by choosing from the faces presented to express your feelings regarding the given sentences.

ACTIVITY 8:
Write TRUE if the statement is correct, FALSE if otherwise.
1. A critic looks for errors and wrongdoings in a certain article.
2. When one writes, one can look at it only using one perspective.
3. Reader response criticism considers the reader to be an important element in
the understanding of the text.
4. Psychological criticism is strongly influenced by Friedrich Engels.
5. For Sociological criticism, the social environment is an important element in understanding the text.
6. For feminists, they believe that gender biased literature should be avoided.
7. Karl Marx is a strong influenced for Marxist criticism.
8. A writer’s life becomes part in the better of the text under biographical criticism.
9. Real essence of criticism focuses on the positive side of things.
10.The text is an important element for formalist criticism.

ACTIVITY 9:
Classify the type of critical writing approach which is being identified in the following statement. Refer to the choices below:
Reader-Response Criticism Formalist Criticism
Psychological/Psychoanalytic Biographical Criticism
Sociological Criticism Feminist/Gender Criticism
Marxist Criticism Historical Criticism
1. A primary goal: to determine how such elements work together with the text's content to shape its effects upon readers
2. Literature is written by actual people and that understanding an author's life can help readers more thoroughly comprehend the work
3. This seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced it-a context that necessarily
includes the artist's biography and milieu
4. Examines how sexual identity influences the creation and reception of literary works
5. It reflects the effect that modern psychology has had upon both literature and literary criticism
6. This approach examines literature in the cultural, economic and political context in which it is written or received, exploring the relationships
between the artist and society
7. Focuses on the economic and political elements of art, often emphasizing the ideological content of literature
8. This approach takes as a fundamental tenet that "literature" exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction between the physical
text and the mind of a reader.

ACTIVITY 10: Write TRUE if the statement is correct, FALSE if not.

1. A critic is the same thing as a critique.
2. Critiquing allows a person to see the weakness for improvement.
3. There are a variety of ways on how to write a critique.
4. Critique papers can be used solely for arts purposes.
5. Research is needed when writing a critic.
6. Performing criticism is finding fault and errors in forms of art and literature.
7. Arguments supporting the main point and its evidences are relevant in a critique.
8. Author’s background is insignificant to his/her work.
9. Recommendation should be written at the end of the critique.
10. A critique benefits the readers/viewers not the author/creator.