SUBJECT CODE: APPLIED 001

SUBJECT TITLE: English for Academic and Professional Purposes

LESSON TITLE: Critical Writing Approaches

MOST ESSENTIAL EARNING COMPETENCIES (MELCs):

 Uses appropriate critical approaches in writing a critique such as formalism,

feminism, etc.
CONTENT/CORE CONTENT: Principles and Uses of Reaction Paper/Review/Critique

Critical Approaches are different perspectives we consider when looking at a

piece of literature. They seek to give us answers to these questions, in addition to help
us in interpreting literature.

1. What do we read?
2. Why do we read?
3. How do we read?

TYPES OF CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A REVIEW OR CRITIQUE

FORMALISM
Claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each work as a distinct
work of art. In short, it assumes that the key to understanding a text is through the text
itself- the historical context, the author, or any other external contexts are not necessary
in interpreting the meaning.

Following are the common aspects looked into formalism:

o Author’s techniques in resolving contradictions within the work
o Central passage that sums up the entirety of the work
o Contribution of parts and the work as a whole to its aesthetic quality
o Relationship of the form and the content
o Use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
 o Interconnectedness of various parts of the work
o Paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work
o Unity in the work
o

SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM
This argues that social contexts (the social environment) must be considered when
analyzing a text. It focuses on the values of a society and how those views are reflected
in a text. It also emphasizes the economic, political, and cultural issues within literary
texts. The core belief in this approach is that “Literature is a reflection of its society.” It
has two sub approaches:

 FEMINIST CRITISM
Also called 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.

Following are the common aspects looked into feminism:

o How culture determines gender
o How gender equality (or lack of it) is presented in the text
o How gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects
of human production and daily life
o How women are socially, politically, psychologically, and economically
oppressed by patriarchy
o How patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence

 MARXIST
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:
o Social class as represented in the work
o Social class of the writer/creator
o Social class of the characters
o Conflicts and interactions between economic classes
READER-RESPONSE
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- 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.

There are two important ideas about the reader response criticism:
a. An individual reader’s interpretation usually changes over time;
b. Readers from different generations and different time periods interpret texts
differently.

It answers the questions:

o How do YOU feel about what you have read?
o What do YOU think it means?

Following are the common aspects looked into reader-response:

o Interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning
o The impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and visuals on enhancing and
changing meaning.

Reference:

Bernales, R.A, Biligan, R.J.G., & Aldaca, V.A.T. (2018) English for Academic and
Professional Purposes: A Work-Text for Senior High School, pp 67-70. Malabon
City: Mutya Publishing House, Inc.

PREPARED BY: MAYRIE JOY DESPE