LESSON 7:

WHAT IS A REACTION
PAPER/REVIEW/CRITIQUE?
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:

 Write an objective/balanced review or critique of a work

of art, an event, or a program
 Apply the principles of writing effective reviews and
critiques
 Use appropriate critical approaches in writing a critique
WHAT IS A REACTION PAPER/REVIEW/CRITIQUE?

• Are specialized forms of writing in which an author reviews

or evaluate a subject.
• Can be written in 250-750 words
• It presents summaries and opinions but with proof or
evidences.
 REACTION PAPER
• Presents your reasonable response to anything
seen, heard, read and experience.
• It can be done by anyone
• Focused on personal appreciation of the
subject.
• For expression of personal judgements
 REVIEW
Always associated with the term paper or a book report
• Is an objective judgement of something
• It focuses on highlighting the good and bad points of the subject
• Gives audience an informed judgement about the subject
• Made by knowledgeable people of a field (Reviewer)
 CRITIQUE
Most academic and elevated evaluation among three.
• Made by experts of the field (Critiques)
• Focused on analyzing and evaluating the components
of a work.
• Usually made to provide direction for future
improvements of the subject.
 Guidelines for Writing a Reaction Paper/ Review/Critique of an Event .
• Be thoroughly familiar with the event, program, or occasion that you are writing about.
• Be observant and record significant details in relation to the event. For instance, if the crowd
is composed mostly of young students, instead of young professionals as you were expecting,
be able to cite this and offer a legitimate explanation.
• Consider the potential of the event for an interesting story. Use your storytelling potential and
write about the event the way you would write a short story with all the details including the
who, what, when, where, and the interesting turn of events. However, while these details
would undoubtedly spice up your writing, be sure to include only those which would not
detract from the event.
• Remember that a reaction paper/review/ critique is about providing enough evidence, so be
sure to give enough proof to validate what you are writing about. Include interesting photos,
testimonies from noteworthy persons and be sure your opinion is neither offensive nor
fallacious.
 Critical Approaches

Various critical approaches govern the writing of a reaction paper/

review/critique. Theoretical framework is to research as critical
approach is to a reaction paper/review/critique. A critical approach
provides the basis that grounds the critique, giving it a solid foundation.
It answers the question: What principle did the writer use?
 Formalist Approach

• Claims that literary works have intrinsic properties and

treats each work as a distinct work of art.
• Formalist is about the elements of the text being
criticized.
• The most basic of all approaches and relies on what can
be said of the event or phenomenon on the basis of form,
content and style.
 Historical Approach

It involves the understanding of the historical and cultural

conditions that influence the production of literary work.
 SAMPLE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

"Dead Stars" is the brief 1925 tale that took rise to contemporary Philippine
English poetry. English was still youthful language in the Philippines, and it was
still fought by many of the language writers.

Paz Márquez-Benitez has not only written about a story of affection in her novel
Dead Stars. Most substantially, her instruction reflects the time when literary work
was comprised in conjunction with the language, norms, and beliefs of people. It
functions for authors as a literary time machine, allowing them to understand how
courtship, marriage, and fidelity were considered in the early 1900s. It
distinguishes strongly between the past and the present, the present modern
culture, and the almost obsolete, vanishing tradition.
 Reader-Response Approach

• 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.
• Text does not have meaning until the reader reads and
interpret it.
 Gender or Feminist Approach
• Focuses on how literature presents women as subjects of
socio-political, psychological, and economic oppression.
• Tend to reveal the patriarchal aspects of our culture.
• You can criticize based on how men and women were
presented
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 females are

not?
 Biographical Approach
This approach is premised on the fact that the author's life
has a significant bearing on how the work is written and
how it will take shape. Circumstances including the
author's education, background, and way of life are
reflected in the writing. This approach is based on the
premise that in the act of writing, the author is not just
writing about the work but bringing into the work an
entire belief system and a whole set of circumstances,
both past and present.
THANK YOU AND
GOD BLESS!