lesson 8

• WHAT ARE REACTION PAPERS, REVIEWS, AND CRITIQUES?

  A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized forms of writing in which a reviewer or reader

  evaluates any of the following:

  ✓ A scholarly work (e.g., academic books and articles)

  ✓ A work of art (e.g., performance art, play, dance, sports, film, exhibits)

  ✓ Designs (e.g., industrial designs, furniture, fashion design)

  ✓ Graphic designs (e.g., posters, billboards, commercials, and digital media)
• Reaction papers, reviews, critiques usually range in length from 250-750 words. They are not simply summaries

  but are critical assessments, analyses, or evaluation of different works. As advanced forms of writing, they involve

  your skills in critical thinking and recognizing arguments. However, you should connect the word critique to cynicism

  and pessimism.
• Reviewers do not simply rely on mere opinions; rather, they use both proofs and logical reasoning to

  substantiate their comments. They process ideas and theories, revisit and extend ideas in a specific field of study,

  and present an analytical response to a book or article.
• CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A CRITIQUE

  There are various ways or standpoints by which you can analyze and 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.
• CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A CRITIQUE

  • Formalism
  • Feminist Criticism
  • Reader-Response Criticism
  • Marxist Criticism
  • postmodern criticismpost-colonial criticism, structuralism, psychological criticism, gender criticism, ecocriticism,
  • biographical criticism, historical criticism, mythological criticism, and deconstructionist criticism.
• Formalism


  Claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each work as a distinct work of art. 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.
• Common aspects looked into formalism


  • Author's techniques in resolving contradictions within the work
  • Central passage that sums up the entirety of the work
  • Contribution of parts and the work as a whole to its aesthetic quality
  • Relationship of the form and the content
  • Use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
  • Interconnectedness of various parts of the work
  • Paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work
  • Unity in the work
• Feminist Criticism


  Also called feminism, it focuses on how literature presents women as subjects of socio-political, psychological, and economic oppression
• Feminist Criticism


  It reveals how aspects of our culture are patriarchal, i.e., how our culture views men as superior and women as inferior
• Common aspects looked into when using feminism

  • How culture determines gender
  • How gender equality (or lack of it) is presented in the text
  • How gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects of human production and daily life
  • How women are socially, politically, psychologically, and economically oppressed by patriarchy
  • How patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence
• Reader-Response Criticism


  Concerned with the reviewer's reaction as an audience of a work
• Reader-Response Criticism


  • 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 active consumers of the material presented to them
• Common aspects looked into when using reader response criticism

  • Interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning
  • The impact of the reader's delivery of sounds and visuals on enhancing and changing meaning
• 4. 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. Hence, it attempts to reveal that

  the ultimate source of people’s experience is the socioeconomic system. The common aspects looked into when

  using Marxist criticism are as follows:

  ✓ Social class as represented in the work

  ✓ Social class of the writer/creator

  ✓ Social class of the characters

  ✓ Conflicts and interactions between economic classes
• STRUCTURE OF A REACTION PAPER, REVIEW, OR CRITIQUE

  You have to follow a logical organization and structure for your reaction paper or review to be able to present your

  critical evaluation effectively.
• Title of the book/article/work

  Included in the introduction
• Writer's name


  Included in the introduction
• Thesis Statement


  Included in the introduction
• Objective or purpose


  Included in the summary
• Methods used


  Included in the summary (if applicable)
• Major findings, claims, ideas, or messages


  Included in the summary
• Appropriateness of methodology to support the arguments (for books and articles) or appropriateness of mode of presentation (other works)


  Included in the review/critique
• Theoretical soundness, coherence of ideas


  Included in the review/critique
• Sufficiency and soundness of explanation in relation to other available information and experts


  Included in the review/critique
• Other perspectives in explaining the concepts and ideas


  Included in the review/critique
• Does the writer explicitly state his/her thesis statement?


  Included in the review/critique
• What are the assumptions (i.e., scientific/logical/literary explanation without evidence) mentioned in the work? Are they explicitly discussed?


  Included in the review/critique
• What are the contributions of the work to the field where it belongs?


  Included in the review/critique
• What problems and issues are discussed or presented in the work?


  Included in the review/critique
• What kinds of information (e.g., observation, survey, statistics, historical accounts) are presented in the work? How are they used to support the arguments or thesis?


  Included in the review/critique
• Are there other ways of supporting the arguments or thesis aside from the information used in the work? Is the author or creator silent about these alternative ways of explanation?


  Included in the review/critique
• Overall impression of the work


  Included in the conclusion
• Scholarly or literary value of the reviewed article, book, or work

  Included in the conclusion
• Benefits for the intended audience or field

  Included in the conclusion
• Suggestion for future direction of research

  Included in the conclusion
• Sections almost always present in other types of reviews

  • Introduction
  • Plot Summary/Description
  • Analysis/Interpretation
  • Conclusion/Evaluation
• Introduction


  • Basic details about the material, such as its title, director or artist, name of exhibition/event, and the like
  • Main assessment of the material (for films and performances)
• Plot Summary/Description


  • Gist of the plot
  • Simple description of the artwork
• Analysis/Interpretation


  • Discussion and analysis of the work (you may employ the critical approach here)
  • What aspects of the work make you think it is a success or failure?
  • Were there unanswered questions or plot lines? If yes, how did they affect the story?
  • Does the work remind you of other things you have experienced through analogies, metaphors, or other figurative devices? How does this contribute to the meaning?
  • How does the work relate to other ideas or events in the world and/or in your other studies?
  • What stood out while you were watching the film or the performance?
• Conclusion/Evaluation


  • Reinforcement of main assessment
  • Comparison to a similar work
  • Recommendation of the material (if you liked it)