Writing a Reaction

Paper, Review or
Critique
 A very important expository discourse that you must
know how to write is the reaction paper or review, or
critique.

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 ▪ It is mainly written to communicate a fair assessment of
situations, people, events, and literary and artistic works
and performances.

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 ▪ Whether a social commentary, or a critical judgment, it
conveys incisive insights into its analysis of events, its
interpretation of the meaning or importance of a work
artifact, or its appreciation of the moral or aesthetic
values reflected in the work or performance.

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 ▪ It may include the main purpose of the event; the devices
and strategies employed; an evaluation of its success or
failure; and an assessment of its significance and
relevance, timeliness or timelessness.

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 Guidelines for Writing the
Reaction
Paper/Review/Critique

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Value Communicated a. Sound critical judgment

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b. A fair and balanced
assessment of situations or
events, people and thing

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 a. Ranges from an off-hand gut
Basic Content
reaction, favorable or unfavorable,
merely expressive of emotion to a

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more rational impersonal critical
analysis that seriously communicates
some value, ethical or moral, some
hidden or forgotten truth, and some
aesthetic delight.

b. May take the form of a reflection,

an appeal, a protest, a tribute or
denunciation, a speculation
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Basic Content Content would include the following
topics:

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1. For human situations

2. For cultural affairs, people, works,

performances

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Basic Content 1. For human situations:

a. A brief description of the event

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b. People involved, their roles and
contributions
c. Other driving forces, in the open or hidden
and unsuspected
d. Implications and consequences
e. Assessment and prognostication
f. Some offered solution

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 2. For cultural affairs, people, works,
performances:
Basic Content
a. The central purposes of the event or

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product
b. The means, devices, strategies employed
to achieve the purposes
c. An evaluation of the achievement: success
or failure
d. The significance (if any) beyond mere
entertainment of the event or product in
ethical and/aesthetic terms, its timeliness
and/or timelessness.

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 a. From the event/performance/artifact/work
presented an described/narrated in
Modes of Ordering themselves to the writer’s critical evaluation of
the entire event, show or work in a sequence

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of its elements

b. Discussion that intersperses critical

comments between mention or description of
the details of the event, show or work

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Modes of Ordering

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3 c. From a cover statement giving an over-all
judgment of the event, show or piece to a
discussion of each angle, aspect or element
of the event, show or work illustrating or
providing evidence for the evaluative cover
statement
Basic Qualities of a a. Gives a fair and balance social
commentary
Good Reaction Paper
b. Provides relevant and accurate factual

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information on the situation

c. Exhibits by means of thorough and in-depth

analysis an appreciation of context (including
time, place, people, involvement, their
motivation, and actuations)

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Basic Qualities of a
Good Reaction Paper

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d. Makes a clear distinction, through language,
between what is actual and what is probable or
possible

e. Exhibits a deep sense of humanity and an

understanding of the human situation even
while expressing disapproval or disagreement
most intensely

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Basic Qualities of an a. Provides accurate and relevant
Adequate Critical information on the event, show, or work
Judgment
b. Exhibits full appreciation of the purpose
behind the event, show, or work

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c. Shows a clear understanding of the
means (strategies, techniques, devices,
etc.) and their appropriateness and
power in achieving the purpose

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Basic Qualities of an d. Exhibits fairness and balance in the
Adequate Critical judgment made
Judgment
e. Projects incisive and profound insights
into its:

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(1) analysis of the event or artifact

(2) interpretation of the underlying meaning

or significance of the event or artifact, and

(3) appreciation of the values “(moral and/or

aesthetic) unfolded in every detail of the
event or artifact”

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 Critical Approaches in
Writing a Critique

In your Literature subject, you have learned the literary

approaches to criticism. There are various ways or
standpoints by which you can analyze or critique a certain
material. You can critique a material based on its technical
aspects, its approach to gender, your reaction as the
audience, or through its portrayal of class struggle and social
structure.
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 Critical Approaches

FORMALIS READER-
M RESPONSE
FEMINISM CRITICISM
MARXIST
CRITICISM
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 Critical Approach:
FORMALIS
M
 literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each work as
a distinct work of art

 it posits 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.

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 Critical Approach:
Common Aspects Looked into
Formalism

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 the various parts of the work
g. paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work; unity in the work.

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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using

formalist approach:

• Who is the protagonist?

• What conflicts does the protagonist experience?
• What is the climax of the story?
• What is the protagonist’s role in the climax
• How is the setting relevant for this particular story?
• What is the theme of the story?
• How do character, plot and setting develop the story?
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 Critical Approach:
FEMINISM
 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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 Critical Approach:
Common Aspects Looked into
Feminism

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

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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using

feminism approach:

• What is the protagonist’s attitude to male and female

characters?
• How is this evident?
• How does this affect your response to the characters?
• How are women represented in the text?
• What roles do men and women play within family, work
situations, etc. (hero, breadwinner, helper, cook, sex object)?
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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using

feminism approach:

• What were the social and historical conditions for women in

this period that might help us understand their roles in the
text?
• How do women exercise their power in the text?
• If you were to rewrite the text’s ending, what would happen to
the female protagonist? The male protagonist?
• How and to what degree are the women’s lives limited or
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 Critical Approach:
READER-
RESPONSE
CRITICISM
 is concerned with the reviewers’ reaction as an audience of a work
 which 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 materials presented to them.

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 Critical Approach:
Common Aspects Looked into
Reader-response criticism

a. interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning

b. the impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and visuals on
enhancing and changing meaning

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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using reader-

response approach:

• How do you feel about this text? Why did you like/dislike it?
• Explain how the text connects to an experience you have had.
• Why do you think the characters acted as they did?
• In a similar situation, how would you have behaved?
• Who do you think is the intended reader for this selection?
• Create a poem, collage or letter to one of the characters in the text
with whom you most identify. Explain in your piece why you identify
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 Critical Approach:
MARXIST
CRITICISM
 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
 it attempts to reveal that the ultimate source of people’s experience
is the socioeconomic system

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 Critical Approach:
Common Aspects Looked into
Marxist criticism

a. social class as represented in the work

b. social class of the writer/ creator
c. social class of the characters
d. conflicts and interactions between economic classes

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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using Marxist

approach:

• What or whose ideological values structure the text? How are

these evident?
• Who has power (and of what sorts) in the texts? How does this
power operate and change as the text progresses?
• What “master” or dominant social narratives are perpetuated or
critiqued and disrupted in the text? (e.g. the American Dream,
whereby, with hard work and individual effort, a poor person can
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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using Marxist

approach:

• To what degree does the protagonist or other characters believe in

and live by the prevailing social order?
• At what point do characters recognize the oppressiveness of the
prevailing social order?
• How do they respond? What affects their options for changing
things?

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 Critical Approach:

Questions to answer when using Marxist

approach:

• How is social objectification evident and how does it operate in the

text?
• What are the social forces that affect the author’s writing or the
text’s marketing and reception?

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 The Structure and
Language of Critique

Critiques are an important rhetorical pattern in

academic writing as they present a balance view of things.
Critiques, however, are based not only on personal
perspective but should be grounded on actual
observations.

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 Tips in developing your critique:

1. Remember that the critique 2. Relating your critique to greater

should be accessible to the
audience. Therefore, providing
background information for the
readers will be helpful. Including
the central ideas of the book, the
concept, the event, or the movie to
be critiqued is necessary
realities will also help as you ground
your critique on the wider scheme
of things. For instance, what
subject/theme does the movie,
concept, book, or event address?
Are there questions that people
constantly ask that this particular
subject/theme you are reviewing
can answer?

LOW VALUE 2

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 Critique organization:

1. Introduction: The first part should provide readers a sense of the

ideas you want to tackle. (What are some problems people face in their
daily lives? What are some current debated topics discussed among
groups concerning the community?)

2. Thesis statement: The next part should provide a summary of the

concept.

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 Critique organization:

3. Supporting details: Strengths and weaknesses should be part of the

critique. Remember that this is challenging and requires tact.

4. Conclusion: The final section of the critique should include the final
recommendation of the author. For instance, is the movie, book, gadget,
event, or concept a good investment of time, effort, and money? What
background knowledge does one need to see or use them? Will other
activities help to appreciate these

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 Some expressions such as the ones below will help

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 Critique organization:

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 It’s time to do the activities!

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