Academic Writing
Fall 2010
Writing a Critique
Name _________        Class number _________        Score ________
Read the article on the following pages to learn how to write a critique. Then read David Rothenberg’s article, “How the Web Destroys the Quality of Students’ Research Papers” (attached) and write a critique of this article. In your writing, you should pay attention to the following:
1 On a separate page: title, thesis statement and outline
2 The title: Is your title informative enough? (Announce the topic clearly, accurately and briefly. Try not to use figurative language.)
3 Introduction: Have you define the subject of your critique and your point of view in the intr
oduction and underlined your thesis statement?
4 Content:
a) Have you identified and explained the author's ideas, including specific passages that support your description of the author's point of view?
b) Have you offered your own opinion, explaining what you think about the author’s argument and describing several points with which you agree or disagree?
5 Conclusion: Have you “restate the thesis and reach beyond it” in your conclusion?
6 Documentation:    Have you used appropriate forms when you quote, paraphrase or summarize the source material? Have you provided appropriate citation notes and a list of “Works Cited”? (If you cited only one work, it should be “Work Cited”.)
Grading
1 The title                  GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
2 Thesis statement          GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
3 Outline                  GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
4 Introduction              GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
5 Content           
a)                      GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
b)                      GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
6 Conclusion              GOOD          FAIR          WEAK
7 Documentation          GOOD          FAIR          WEAK

Writing Critiques
Learning to write a critique is an important step in leaning to analyze critical opinions of the literary work you study.
When college professors ask you to write a critique of a text, they usually expect you to analyze and evaluate, not just summarize. A summary merely reports what the text said; that is, it answers only the question, "What did the author say?" A critique, on the other hand, analyzes, interprets, and evaluates the text, answering the questions how? why? and how well? A critique does not necessarily have to criticize the piece in a negative sense. Your reaction to the text may be largely positive, negative, or a combination of the two. It is important to explain why you respond to the text in a certain way.
Step 1. Analyze the text
As you read the book or article you plan to critique, the following questions will help you analyze the text:
∙ What is the author's main point?
∙ What is the author's purpose?
∙ What arguments does the author use to support the main point?
∙ What evidence does the author present to support the arguments?
∙ What are the author's reaction to a book or an articleunderlying assumptions or biases?
You may find it useful to make notes about the text based on these questions as you read.
Step 2. Evaluate the text
After you have read the text, you can begin to evaluate the author's ideas. The following questions provide some ideas to help you evaluate the text (Important: The following questions may help you to evaluate the text you intend to critique, but you are not supposed to write your critique directly answering these questions. Turn to step 3 for how to organize and write the critique.):
∙ Is the argument logical?
∙ Are the author's facts accurate?
∙ Have important terms been clearly defined?
∙ Is there sufficient evidence for the arguments?
∙ Do the arguments support the main point?
∙ Does the text present and refute opposing points of view?
∙ Does the text help you understand the subject?
∙ Are there any words or sentences that evoke a strong response from you? What are those words or sentences? What is your reaction?
∙ What is the origin of your reaction to this topic? When or where did you first learn about it? Can you think of people, articles, or discussions that have influenced your views? How might these be compared or contrasted to this text?
∙ What questions or observations does this article suggest? That is, what does the article make you think about?
Step 3. Plan and write your critique
Write your critique in standard essay form. It is generally best not to follow the author's organization when organizing your analysis, since this approach lends itself to summary rather than analysis. Follow the general outline below:

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