CRITICAL APPROACHES

IN WRITING A CRITIQUE
Table of Contents

How to write a
What is a critique?
critique?

Why do we write
Different approaches
critiques?
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A critique is a careful analysis esear works
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what is said, how well the
points are made, what
assumptions underlie the
argument, what issues are
overlooked, and what
implications are drawn from
such observations.
 “A critique is not a matter of saying that things are
not right as they are. It is a matter of pointing out on
what kinds of assumptions, what kinds of familiar,
unchallenged, unconsidered modes of thought the
practices that we accept rest.”

— MICHEL FOUCAULT
Why do we write critiques?
Writing a critique on a work helps us
to develop:
 A knowledge of the work’s subject
area or related works.
 An understanding of the work’s
purpose, intended audience,
development of argument,
structure of evidence or creative
style.
 A recognition of the strengths and
weaknesses of the work.
How to write a critique?
 Study the work under discussion.
 Make notes on key parts of the
work.
 Develop an understanding on the
main argument or purpose being
expressed in the work.
 Consider how the work relates to
a boarder issue or context.
Different Approaches
in Writing a Critique
 Formalism
It emphasizes the form of a literary work to determine its meaning, focusing on literary
elements and how they work to create meaning.

It focuses on the elements, structure and principles that govern a certain text, artworks,
movie, book, poems, etc.

Biographical Criticism
It emphasizes the importance of the author’s life and background into account
when analyzing a text.

It focuses on the life and background of the writer/artist and connect it to the
subject of your review or critic.
 Marxist Criticism
It emphasizes on how power, politics, and money play a role in literary texts and
amongst literary societies and characters.

It focuses on how class, power, race and economic status affect the content and theme of
a certain work.

Gender
This approach “examines how sexual identity influencesCriticism
the creation and reception of
literary works.”

The bulk of gender criticism, however, is feminist and takes as a central percept that the
patriarchal attitudes that have dominated western thought have resulted, consciously or
unconsciously, in literature “full of unexamined ‘male-produced’ assumptions.”
 Feminism
It emphasizes on the roles, positions, and influences of women within literary texts. It
focuses on how women are portrayed in a certain literary work, in arts, in commercials,
in movie, etc.

It attempts to correct imbalance by analyzing and combatting such attitudes–by

questioning, for example, why none of the characters in Shakespeare’s play Othello ever
challenge the right of a husband to murder a wife accused of adultery.

Historical
Criticism
It posits that every literary work is the product of its time and its world.

It focuses on the era and significant events that happened during the time the
text/movie/book/art/poem was produced.
 Reader-Response Criticism
It emphasizes that the meaning of a text is dependent upon the reader’s response to it.

It focuses on your personal connection with and understanding of the subject of your
review.

Structuralism
It focuses on how human behavior is determined by social, cultural, and psychological
structures.

It tended to offer a single unified approach to human life that would embrace all
disciplines.

Sociological
It focuses on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion, and business.
 Thanks!
Do you have any questions?

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