A simple definition of critical writing

Critical writing involves considering evidence to make reasoned conclusions. A mistake many
beginning writers make is to use only one source to support their ideas (or, worse, no sources,
making unsubstantiated statements). The main problem with using only one source is: what if your
source says one thing, but most other writers say something completely different? In critical
writing, you, therefore, need to consider more than one viewpoint. This leads to the first part of the
simple definition of critical writing, which is:
·       Critical writing uses more than one source in developing an argument

Another mistake beginning writers make is to use several sources but to string quotes together (e.g.
A says this, B says that, C says something else), without really analysing what these writers say. In
critical writing, you need to evaluate and analyse the information from sources, rather than just
accepting it as being true. This leads to the second part of the simple definition, which is:
·       Critical writing evaluates and analyses the information from different sources
Putting this together, a simple definition of critical writing is as follows:
·       Critical writing is writing which evaluates and analyses more than one source in order to develop
an argument.
 
CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A CRITIQUE
 
There are various ways or standpoints by which you can analyse 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.
 
FORMALISM
It claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each work as a distinct work of art. In short, 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.
 
FOLLOWING ARE THE COMMON ASPECTSLOOKED 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
 
 
 
 
FEMINISM
It 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.
 
The common aspects looked into when using feminism are as follows:
·         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
It is concerned with the reviewer’s reaction as an audience of a work. This approach 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 material
presented to them.
 
The common aspects looked into when using reader-response criticism are as follows:
·         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 the meaning
 
 
 
 
What is a critique?
A critique is a genre of academic writing that briefly summarises and critically evaluates a work or concept.
Critiques can be used to carefully analyse a variety of works such as:
·         Creative works – novels, exhibits, film, images, poetry
·         Research – monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories
·         Media –  news reports, feature articles
Like an essay, a critique uses a formal, academic writing style and has a clear structure, that is, an introduction, body
and conclusion.   However, the body of a critique includes a summary of the work and a detailed evaluation.  The
purpose of an  evaluation is to gauge the usefulness or impact of a work in a particular field. 
 
Why do we write critiques?
Writing a critique on a work helps us to develop:
·         A  knowledge of the work’s subject area or related works.
·         An understanding of the work’s purpose, intended audience, development of argument, structure of evidence or
creative style.
·         A recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.
How to write a critique
Before you start writing, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the work that will be critiqued.
·         Study the work under discussion.
·         Make notes on key parts of the work.
·         Develop an understanding of the main argument or purpose being expressed in the work. 
·         Consider how the work relates to a broader issue or context.
There are a variety of ways to structure a critique. You should always check your unit materials or blackboard site
for guidance from your lecturer.  The following template, which showcases the main features of a critique, is
provided as one example.
Introduction
Typically, the introduction is short (less than 10% of the word length) and you should:
·         Name the work being reviewed as well as the date it was created and the name of the author/creator.  
·         Describe the main argument or purpose of the work.
·         Explain the context in which the work was created.  This could include the social or political context, the place of
the work in a creative or academic tradition, or the relationship between the work and the creator’s life
experience. 
·         Have a concluding sentence that signposts what your evaluation of the work will be. For instance, it may indicate
whether it is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation.
Summary
Briefly summarise the main points and objectively describe how the creator portrays these  by using  techniques,
styles, media, characters or symbols.  This summary should not be the focus of the critique and is usually shorter
than the critical evaluation.
Critical evaluation
This section should give a systematic and detailed assessment of the different elements of the work, evaluating how
well the creator was able to achieve the purpose through these.  For example: you would assess the plot structure,
characterisation and setting of a novel; an assessment of a painting would look at composition, brush strokes, colour
and light; a critique of a research project would look at subject selection, design of the experiment, analysis of data
and conclusions.    
A critical evaluation does not simply highlight negative impressions. It should deconstruct the work and identify
both strengths and weaknesses. It should examine the work and evaluate its success, in light of its purpose.
Examples of key critical questions that could help your assessment include:
·         Who is the creator? Is the work presented objectively or subjectively?
·         What are the aims of the work? Were the aims achieved?
·         What techniques, styles, media were used in the work?  Are they effective in portraying the purpose? 
·         What assumptions underlie the work? Do they affect its validity?
·         What types of evidence or persuasion are used? Has evidence been interpreted fairly?
·         How is the work structured?  Does it favour a particular interpretation or point of view? Is it effective?
·         Does the work enhance understanding of key ideas or theories? Does the work engage (or fail to engage) with
key concepts or other works in its discipline?
This evaluation is written in formal academic style and logically presented. Group and order your ideas into
paragraphs. Start with the broad impressions first and then move into the details of the technical elements.   For
shorter critiques, you may discuss the strengths of the works, and then the weaknesses. In longer critiques, you may
wish to discuss the positive and negative of each key critical question in individual paragraphs.
To support the evaluation, provide evidence from the work itself, such as a quote or example, and you should also
cite evidence from related sources. Explain how this evidence supports your evaluation of the work.
Conclusion
This is usually a very brief paragraph, which includes:
·         A statement indicating the overall evaluation of the work
·         A summary of the key reasons, identified during the critical evaluation, why this evaluation was formed.
·         In some circumstances, recommendations for improvement on the work may be appropriate.    
 
Elements of a review paper
This guide explains each section of a review paper and gives specific information about what should be included in
each.
Title Page
On the title page include the title, your name, and the date. Your instructor may have additional requirements (such
as the course number, etc.) so be sure to follow the guidelines on the assignment sheet. Professional journals may
also have more specific requirements for the title page.
 
Introduction
The introduction of your review should accomplish three things:
 Introduce your topic
  It may sound redundant to "introduce" your topic in the introduction, but often times
the writer fails to do so. Let the reader in on background information specific to the
topic, define terms that may be unfamiliar to them, explain the scope of the
discussion, and your purpose for writing the review.
 State your topic's relevance
 Think of your review paper as a statement in the larger conversation of your
academic community. Your review is your way of entering into that conversation and
it is important to briefly address why your review is relevant to the discussion. You
may feel the relevance is obvious because you are so familiar with the topic, but your
readers have not yet established that familiarity.
 Reveal your thesis to the reader
 The thesis is the main idea that you want to get across to your reader. your thesis
should be a clear statement of what you intend to prove or illustrate by your review.
By revealing your thesis in the introduction the reader knows what to expect in the
rest of the paper.
Discussion
The discussion section is the body of your paper. The discussion section contains information that develops and
supports your thesis. While there is no particular form that a discussion section must take there are several
considerations that a writer must follow when building a discussion.
 Don't summarize!
 A review paper is not simply a summary of the literature you have reviewed. Be
careful not to leave out your own analysis of the ideas presented in the literature.
Synthesize the material from all the works—what are the connections you see, or the
connections you are trying to illustrate, among your readings.
 Analyze, Synthesize, Interpret.
o    A review paper is not a pure summary of the information you read for your review. You are required
to analyze, synthesize, and interpret the information you read in some meaningful way. It is not
enough to simply present the material you have found, you must go beyond that and explain its
relevance and significance to the topic at hand. Establish a clear thesis from the onset of your writing
and examine which pieces of your reading help you in developing and supporting the ideas in your
thesis.
 Stay focused.
 Keep your discussion focused on your topic and more importantly your thesis. Don't
let tangents or extraneous material get in the way of a concise, coherent discussion. A
well focused paper is crucial in getting your message across to your reader.
 Organize your points.
 Keeping your points organized makes it easier for the reader to follow along and
make sense of your review. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that relates
back to your thesis. The headings used for this guide give you some idea of how to
organize the overall paper, but as far as the discussion section goes use meaningful
subheadings that relate to your content to organize your points.
 Relate the discussion to your thesis.
 Your thesis should illustrate your objectives in writing the review and your
discussion should serve to accomplish your objectives. Make sure your keep your
discussion related to the thesis in order to meet your objectives. If you find that your
discussion does not relate so much to your thesis, don't panic, you might want to
revise your thesis instead of reworking the discussion.
Conclusions
Because the conclusions section often gets left for last it is often the weakest part of a student review paper. It is as
crucial a part of the paper as any and should be treated as such.
A good conclusion should illustrate the key connections between your major points and your thesis as well as they
key connections between your thesis and the broader discussion—what is the significance of your paper in a larger
context? Make some conclusions—where have you arrived as a result of writing this paper?
Be careful not to present any new information in the conclusion section.
References
Here you report all the works you have cited in your paper. The format for a references page varies by discipline as
does how you should cite your references within the paper.

Concept paper

Giving you or it includes important details about your research used by students and entrepreneurs
These serves as a doundation of full proposal
- it helps determine feasible

How long
For students 2-3 pages for weiting proposals
For phd projects- 20pages in length

3 ways in explaining
1. Definition- clarify and explain concepts ideas and issues
Informal- brief explation
Encountered many words, the same spelling or pronunciation having different meaning
Formal- It can be base on dictionaries genus and deferentia of the term or word
Extended- composed of at least 1 paragraph
It uses analogy, metaphor, semantic analysis
Used this to define our topic
2. Explication- It is just asking or explain your topic
3. Clarification- More simple or very simple it is not asking about the definition it needs to provide examples about what
you have

Patterns of development where we can use in creatiing a concept paper

1. defining- giving the meaning of the concep
2. describing-characterizing the concept by giving characteristics
3. comparing- equating with other concepts with certain similarities
4. making an analogy-anaalogy- similatries of two objects
Includes what has been compared
5. contrasting- comparing and linking with another concept with the purpose of identfying the concpets
6. classyfing aranging subjects into groups in where they are alike
7. illustring-giving proofs so that it can be understand
8. narrating-going retalking the concept ellaborting it in a narrative manner or you just telling something
9. explaining-explaining the different aspects of the process
10. analyzing cause and effect- giving a critical explaining about causes and effects of the idea of the concepts that you
have
11. listing- take down or rundown what these kinds of concepts

5 What is the content or elements of the concept paper

1.untrocudtion- introduce yoyr topic
2.purpose, need or rational
3.project description
4.support or budget
5.contact information