The DETAILS:
Length: Your critique essay must be 3.5 to 4.5 pages long.
Format: Please use the MLA template; papers should be submitted as .docx (Word)
files. If there are format problems in your papers, I will ask you to
correct them before I accept your work.
Due date: All papers should be emailed as attachments to pclark@uakron.edu on the
due date. Neither Sharepoint files nor .pdf files will be accepted.
Late papers: The paper will lose one-half a letter grade (5%) for each working day that
the paper is late.
SELECTING AN ESSAY AND STARTING THE CRITIQUE
1. Choose one of the essays in the list above. Keep in mind the essay’s content, form, and
style. Think about the author’s their purpose in writing, the publication in which the
article appeared, and their intended audience.
2. Using this assignment’s prewriting worksheet, begin drafting your own critique of the article,
using the outline given on p. 4 of this assignment.
ELEMENTS OF A CRITIQUE
The following elements of the textual critique are required in order to pass the essay.
1. INTRODUCTION: The main purpose of the critique’s introduction is to identify the article
under review and introduce your own original thesis based upon that
review.
Include a lead-in that will build rapport with your audience. Next,
identify the article, including relevant information such as
theauthor’s name, the title of the article, date of publication, and in which
publication the essay appeared.
Also please include the author’s subject, thesis and their intended
audience. Finally, include your thesis, which entails making a
judgment, based on chosen criteria, concerning the
essay’s overall effectiveness or ineffectiveness (not likes/dislikes,
good/bad, moral/immoral, etc).
Your thesis will sound something like this: “Overall the essay is
effective due to its humorous tone that will appeal to most
readers, and its clear thesis makes it easy to follow.”
Keep in mind that essays without a specific thesis or specific criteria
will not pass the assignment.
2. SUMMARY: This section answers the questions, “what idea or subject did the
author write about, what was the essay’s thesis, and what were the
main points of the article?” Summaries must be concise and should
not be more than one-quarter the total page length. Provide
readers with the essentials: subject matter, author’s thesis, main points,
conclusions.
Pro tip: Good summaries make frequent references to the author, use
transitional words often, and don’t rely too heavily on
quotations.
3. ANALYSIS: An analysis allows you to examine the elements that make up the
whole of the essay. In our case, you will think about what
inspired the author to write, what the author hoped to achieve
(what they wanted you to do after reading it), and what writing
criteria the author used to make their points effectively.
Remember, often the author will have more than one motivation,
more than one purpose, and more than one strategy, and your
analysis paragraph should reflect that. Come up with plausible ideas
using the words maybe, possibly, perhaps, or likely.
4. CRITIQUE: The body of the essay. Here, respond in several paragraphs to the
author’s writing by critiquing the global and local elements that
stand out the most. Write about one criterion per paragraph.
It will be helpful to discuss not only your judgment, but also to
include—near the beginning of the paragraph—a discussion or a
specific example (e.g., a quote, paraphrase, description) of that
strategy from the text.
From there, discuss the author’s purpose in using that strategy (what
they hoped to accomplish with it); then how the audience would
perceive it. Finish by stating whether the intent of the author
matches with the audience’s response, and why you think so, i.e. how
successful the strategy actually was.
Aspects to consider critiquing include: title, tone, information,
argumentation, subject relevance, thesis clarity, use of emotional
appeals, development of ideas, use of transitions or
metadiscourse, and word choice including slang, idioms, clichés,
regionalisms, jargon, and/or dialect. (Other examples are listed on p. 5
of this assignment.)
5. CONCLUSION: Section five, the conclusion, must restate your thesis, criteria, and all
main points, much like the intro: “Overall, the clear thesis and
careful attention to tone combine to create a successful essay overall.”
In this section, remind readers of both effective and ineffective points,
and discuss your views of the article on different audiences before
taking your reader back to the “real” world.
A SAMPLE OUTLINE:
I. Introduction (1 paragraph)
A. Lead-in
[transition into…]
B. Essay publication info
1. Author
2. “Title”
3. Year published
4. Name of publication it appeared in
5. Author’s subject
6. Author’s audience
7. Author’s thesis
C. Your Thesis (a judgment + 2 reasons)
II. Summary (2 paragraphs) — Author’s subject, thesis, main points + conclusions
A. Sections 1 & 2 of the essay
B. Sections 3 & 4 of the essay
III. Analysis (1 paragraph)
A. What inspired the author to write?
B. What are the author’s goals for the audience?
C. What are the author’s writing criteria? (same as your thesis, above, but with an
analysis of the author’s intentions in using them)
IV. Critique (2 paragraphs)
A. First criticism
1. Topic sentence (A criterion and whether it was used effectively or not)
2. Example of that criterion in the text (quote or paraphrase)
3. Author’s intention in using that criterion (how it will influence an
audience)
4. Audience’s reaction to the author’s writing (how it affects them)
5. Discussion of why the author’s intent and audience’s perceptions
do/do not match up (did the author succeed & why/not)
B. Second criticism (same as above)
V. Conclusion (1 paragraph)
A. Restate your thesis
B. Restate your main points and counterpoints
C. State your conclusions
1. Overall judgment of the essay’s effectiveness on the primary audience
2. Other judgments of the essay’s effectiveness on secondary audiences
3. Suggested improvements
[transition into…]
D. Lead-out: end the essay.
REMINDERS & TIPS
Remember, be assertive and state your opinion aggressively, because your opinion counts, but
only if you can effectively convince your audience that it does. Write in an objective 3rd person
point of view, not the subjective 1st person point of view.
Write with your audience in mind. Remember that your audience is unfamiliar with the essay
that you are critiquing, so take the time to provide them with the details and background information
necessary to understand it.
Relax and be in a good mood when you write, and write for time, not page length…i.e., write
for a little while, walk away, take a break, and unclutter your mind before beginning again.
Email me if you need any help, suggestions, or support.
Global levels of writing
Audience
Tone, the author’s perceived attitude
Credibility: information
Credibility: argumentation
Title (level of intrigue)
Organization
Thesis: clarity/thesis focus
Logical organization pattern
Transitions, b/n and w/in paragraphs
Metadiscourse
Development
Introduction
Main ideas
Supporting evidence & research
Conclusion
Synthesis of sources
Interpretation of visual texts
Local levels of writing
Syntax (sentence structure)
Intentional fragments & run-on sentences
Variety in sentence length/variety in sentence style
Inflated/wordy sentences
Word choice
Vague/unclear words & references
Inappropriate use of content words
Slang/regionalisms/dialect/jargon/clichés/idioms
Mechanics (grammar & punctuation)
Spelling/Grammar
Punctuation
Formatting
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|