12 Department of Education

National Capital Region

SCHOOL S DIVISION OFFICE
MARIKINA CITY

English for Academic and

Professional Purposes
Quarter 1- Module 6
CRITICAL APPROACHES

Writer: Araceli C. Maligalig, Ph.D

Illustrator: Marexcza Z. Salinas
Layout Artist: Richland C. Buere

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 What I Need to Know
Hello Grade 12 learners! In this module, you will learn how to:

Use appropriate critical approaches in writing a critique such as formalism,

feminism, etc.,

You can say that you have understood the lesson in this module if you can
already:

1. define critique;
2. identify the major types of critical approaches;
3. choose appropriate critical approaches; and
4. write an art critique.

What I Know

Write YES if the statement about critique is correct and NO if the statement is wrong.
You will have to write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1. A critique is a collection of thoughts.

2. The focus of critical analysis is to merely inform.

3. The emphasis of Reader-Response Criticism is on the form of the work and

the relationship of the parts.

4. Marxist criticism explores the relationship between people and society.

5. An Academic Critique evaluates and analyzes a wide variety of things based

on reasons or criteria.

Let us think it over! How did you find the activity? Do you think you did well?
If you find it hard, then do not worry, this module will help you understand the
lesson on your own pace and level. Always remember, just keep going, you will be
surprised to finally finish all the tasks!

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 Lesson Critical Approaches
1

What’s In

In this lesson, you will learn the critical approaches in writing a critique. And
of course, you will have a better understanding of what critique is all about and its
purpose.

So now, before you move forward, complete the mind map below. Write something
that you can analyze or evaluate.

Critique

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 What’s New
A. Before Reading Activity
Do you know someone who is fond of commenting on the things that he/she
sees? Were those comments positive or negative?

B. During Reading Activity

Do you paint? If not, do you at least appreciate paintings? Did you experience
looking at those paintings in a gallery, in a mall? How did you feel about it? Do you
like what you saw? Let us read an art critique example from Nicholas Orem Art
https://sites.google.com/a/pgcps.org/nicholas-orem-art/Home/homework-2-
3/art-critique-example. Let’s find out if you would have the same critique.

George Seurat
An Afternoon at La Grande Jette

https://sites.google.com/a/pgcps.org/nicholas-orem-
art/_/rsrc/1262611968148/Home/homework-2-3/art-critique-
example/seurat.jpg?height=267&width=400

Description:
The painting shows a group of people standing around a beach or lake. The
clothes that the people are wearing are an older style. The skirts the women are
wearing are large, and some of the men are wearing top hats. A man is sitting on
the front left side wearing a baseball hat and a sleeveless shirt. There is a woman
and a man on the right side, who are standing in the shade, with some animals
around them, including a dog. There are a number of people sitting around and
looking at the water. Some of the women have umbrellas, although it is not raining.
Some of the people are in the shade.

Analyze:

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 The painting shows a contrast of light and dark colors. The artist creates
space by having the beach and people go back in the painting. There are no real
lines in the painting because it is painted in a pointillist style. The artist shows
texture in the dresses and on the grass.
The artist uses different color values for the clothes and on the grass to show
the difference between the shaded area and sunny area. The painting shows a
realistic scene.
Interpret:
I think that the painting is about people gathering around outside on a nice
day and looking at the water. Maybe they are all there on a weekend day. There are
lots of people in the picture, some are sitting down and maybe having a picnic. There
are some boats in the distance on the water and maybe they are watching a boat
race.
Judgment:
I think that this is a good painting because the artist uses a different style to
create the image and uses a lot of different colors. The contrast between the shaded
area and the light area shows that it is a sunny day. The artist uses different colors
and values, and creates a unique texture through his style of painting.

C. After Reading Activity

Let us analyze the sample argumentative essay by answering the following
questions:

1. What is the critique all about?

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2. Who is the painter, and what is the title of the painting?

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3. Do you agree with the interpretation of the art critique? Why?

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4. Having read the judgment of the art critique, write your own judgment
on George Seurat’s piece of art.
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 What is It

Let us now study the succeeding lessons.

What is Critique?

A critique is a collection of edits, thoughts, and comments about another

writer's work that you put together with the objective of helping them improve. You
can critique a paragraph, a chapter, a short story, or a whole novel.

Different people critique in different ways, some give overviews, giving their
thoughts on the elements of a piece - character, flow, setting, pace, etc.

Purpose of Critique

1. It is to evaluate somebody’s work (a book, an essay, a movie, a

painting...) in order to increase the readers understanding of it.
2. It expresses the writer’s opinion or evaluation of a text.
3. A critical analysis is not merely to inform, but also to evaluate the worth,
utility, excellence, distinction, truth, validity, beauty, or goodness of
something. (Analysis means to break down and study the parts.)

Note: Writing a critical paper requires two steps: critical reading and
critical writing.

Things to Remember During Critique

1. Describe: give the reader a sense of the writer’s overall purpose and
meaning.

2. Analyze: show how it is put together by dividing it into its main sections or
aspects.

3. Interpret: define the significance (meaning and importance) of each part

(or missing parts).

4. Decide: make a judgment of the works worth or value.

Why do you need to read critically in order to write critical paper?

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Types of Critical Approaches

1. Feminist criticism tries to correct predominantly male-dominated critical

perspective with a feminist consciousness. This form of criticism places
literature in a social context and employs a broad range of disciplines, such
as history, psychology, sociology, and linguistics, to create a perspective
that considers feminist issues. Feminist theories also attempt to
understand representation from a woman’s point of view and analyze
women’s writing strategies in the context of their social conditions.

2. Marxist criticism is a strong politically oriented criticism, deriving from

the theories of the social philosopher Karl Marx. Marxist critics insist that
social class and economics influence all use of language. It directs
attention to the idea that all language makes ideological statements about
things like class, economics, race, and power, and the function of literary
output is to either support or criticize the political and economic structures
in place.

3. Reader-response criticism removes the focus from the text and places it
on the reader instead, by attempting to describe what goes on in the
reader’s mind during the reading of a text. Reader- response critics are not
interested in a “correct” interpretation of a text or what the author
intended.

They are interested in the reader’s individual experience with a text.

Thus, there is no single definitive reading of a text, because the reader is
creating, as opposed to discovering, absolute meanings in texts.

4. Formalistic criticism studies a text as only a text, considering its

features—for example, rhymes, cadences, literary devices—in an isolated
way, not attempting to apply their own say as to what the text means. In
general, formalists are focused on the facts of a text, because they want to
study the text, not what others say about it.

What is the importance of Feminist Criticism?

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6 Steps in Writing a Critique

Step 1: Read, Read, Re-read, Re-read, and Read again.

It is important to familiarize yourself with the document. There are multiple
things you need to look for that you can’t possibly find after the first read.

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Step 2: Take down Notes as you read.
TAKE NOTES!! Circle, highlight, underline, and comment on your article.
Look for the following: the author’s purpose of the paper (very important)
Is the purpose to inform with factual materials?
Is the purpose to persuade with appeal to reason or emotions?
Is the purpose to entertain (to affect people’s emotions)?
Also look for: Patterns
Tone: funny, serious
Step 3: Gather your resources.

Find out where the work was published – does that help you figure out the
author’s purpose and audience?
What are the author’s obvious strategies in making his or her point?
Are they successful? (ask yourself)
Step 4: Investigate Further.
Look at underlying assumptions, both yours and the writer’s.
Look for places where the author has left gaps – are these deliberate?
Do they need to be filled?
Does the author play on your emotions? How?
Is he or she using any images or ideas that play on some abstract, for example
patriotism?
Step 5: Organize
I. Background information to help your readers understand the nature of the
work
A. Information about the work
1. Title
2. Author
3. Publication information
4. Statement of topic and purpose
B. Thesis statement indicating writer’s main reaction to the work
II. Summary or description of the work
III. Interpretation and/or evaluation
A. Discussion of the works organization
B. Discussion of the works style

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 C. Effectiveness
D. Discussion of the topic treatment
E. Discussion of appeal to a particular audience
Step 6: Write
After you have created your outline, start writing your critique.
Remember that your critique does not have to be negative.
Refer to the author by his or her last name.

Look at step 1, why does the word “read” redundant? What does the author try to
imply by making it redundant?

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What’s More

Answer the activities that will follow to practice your knowledge and skill about
critique.

Activity 1
Answer briefly and concisely the following questions. Write in complete sentences.

1. In your own words, define critique.

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2. Describe the role of critique in writing.

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3. In your own understanding, why do you need to critique?
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Grading Criteria
Relevance of Content 3 pts
Organization / Coherence 1 pt.
Grammar and punctuation 1 pt.
Total 5 pts. HPS per item

Activity 2
Identify the type of critical approach in the following. Write your answer before the
number.

_____________1. This critical approach uses literature to describe the competing

socio-economic interests that advance capitalistic interests such as
money and power over socialist interests such as morality and justice.
Because of this focus, it focuses on content and theme rather than
form.

_____________2. This approach is not a rationale for bizarre meanings or mistaken

ones, but an exploration of the plurality of texts. This kind of strategy
calls attention to how we read and what influences our readings, and
what that reveals about ourselves.

_____________3. A critical approach in which the text under discussion is considered

primarily as a structure of words. That is, the main focus is on the
arrangement of language, rather than on the implications of the
words, or on the biographical and historical relevance of the work in
question.

_____________ 4. In painting, it is an approach that describes the critical position

that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the way it
is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative
content or its relationship to the visible world.

______________5. This critical approach recognizes that literature both reflects and
shapes stereotypes and other cultural assumptions. Thus, its criticism
examines how works of literature embody patriarchal attitudes or
undercut them, sometimes both happening within the same work.

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Activity 3
Determine the critical approach used in the following critique. Write your answer on
the line provided.

1. “It is also worth mentioning that there are women in the society that may
sometimes seem unseen and mediocre but greatly impact the lives of others.
Just like the step sisters of Cinderella, without them, the step mother could
have loved Cinderella as her own or may not even marry Cinderella’s father at
all.” (Cinderella Story) _________________________________________

2. “Therefore, the choice of the road symbolized any choice in life that affects
the future. In this poem, there is repetition and overstatement. The repetition
can be seen in the fourth stanza line 18 “Two roads diverged in a wood” and
overstatement can be seen in line 17 “Somewhere ages and ages hence.” It
means that, the speaker wants to show how the choice can affect his life in
the future.” (The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)
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1. “While I was reading the story, one question that kept running through my
mind was in regard to the depth of information about the physical weights
of the soldiers' items. Why would O'Brien go into this much depth about
how much every individual item weighs?” (The Things They Carried by Tim
O’Brien) ________________________________

2. “The top deck scene is a great example of how the class difference is shown
in Titanic, in this scene everyone is dressed in either top hat and tails or
in a gown, while Jack is wearing tatty clothing, suitable for his class and
is the only one slouching, you can see how the idea that the upper class
members are sat up straight where jack is sat casually.” (Titanic Movie)
________________________________________

3. “The scenes showing the destruction of Home tree shows how helpless the
Na’vi are from the power of the Humans. They have no way of fighting back
and they have to allow Home tree to get destroyed. But the Na’vi rises up
and fight back against the Humans and eventually force them back, and
destroy everything that they have achieved on the planet, and they get their
planet back.” (The Hunger Games Movie)
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What I Have Learned

In this module, you have studied about Critical approaches. Express
what you have learned by answering the questions below.
1. What is the importance of critique in one’s piece of art?
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 2. How do you take down notes in writing a critique?
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3. What is the interest of Marxist criticism?

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4. What is the interest of Reader Response Criticism?

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What I Can Do
Apply what you have learned in this module by doing this activity.

Now Write a critique!

Write an art critique based from the sample pictures below. Choose one (1) picture
only.

The Farmers (Philippines, 1955): Fernando Amorsolo

Starry Night: (Netherlands, 1889) Vincent Willem Van Gogh

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 Art Critique

Name: _____________________________________________

ARTIST:

TITLE:

CRITICAL APPROACH:

1. DESCRIBE
What things do you see in the artwork? Explain everything you see even if you
don’t know what it is.

2. ANALYZE
How are lines, shapes, colors, and textures used in the piece of art?

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 3. INTERPRET
What is going on in the artwork? What is the purpose of the piece?

4. DECIDE
Do you like this piece of art? Why or Why not?
What is the best thing about this piece?
What is the worst thing about this piece?

Assessment
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following statements best define Feminism?

A. Attempts to understand representation from a woman’s point of view and
analyze women’s writing strategies in the context of their social conditions.
B. Focuses on the facts of a text, because they want to study the text, not what
others say about it.
C. Focuses on the text, critics are not interested in a “correct” interpretation of
a text or what the author intended.
D. Insists that social class and economics influence all use of language.
Adheres to the idea that all language makes ideological statements about
things like class, economics, race, and power.

2. Which critical perspective is most likely to examine the structure of a text?

A. Feminism
B. Formalism
C. Marxism
D. Reader-Response

3. What is the main goal of Marxist critic?

A. To examine the effect of gender in the life of the character.
B. To examine the effect of economics in the life of the character.
C. To examine the effect of war in the life of the character.
D. To examine the effect of history in the life of the character.

4. Which critical perspective focuses only on what the reader perceives during the
analysis of the text.
A. Feminism
B. Formalism
C. Marxism
D. Reader-Response

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 5. What do you call the process when we study a text and make certain
statements about its features (often informed by a specific theory or
method)?

A. Critique
B. Formalist Criticism
C. Literary Analysis
D. Literary Criticism

Additional Activities
Rewrite the art critique that you did in the previous activity. This time, you
are going to write your critique in a paragraph form with an introduction, body, and
conclusion.

Art Critique
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 References

What is Critique. Accessed June 22, 2020

https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-critique-and-how-do-I-write-one

Writing a Critique. Accessed June 22, 2020

https://www.slideshare.net/jcloak/writing-a-critique-12764512?qid=5e613eb0-
455e-438f-8ade-fdb79ec59afb&v=&b=&from_search=9

Critical Approaches to Literature. Accessed June 23, 2020

https://www.unm.edu/~hookster/Critical%20Approaches%20to%20Literature.pdf
Literary Criticisms Question and Answer. Accessed June 23, 2020
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-formalist-criticism-196827

Literary Criticism: Definition, Examples & Forms, Accessed, June 24, 2020
https://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-literary-criticism.html

Feminist Criticism. Accessed June 24, 2020

https://www.academia.edu/33807874/Feminist_Criticism_on_Cinderella

Reader-Response in the Teaching of Poetry. Accessed June 24, 2020

http://pirate.shu.edu/~jonesedm/ReadingResponseExample.htm

Critical Approaches to Film and TV. Accessed June 24, 2020

https://criticalfilmtv.tumblr.com/post/38306884511/marxism

The Formalist Approach. Accessed June 25, 2020

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-20768-8_2

Formalism. Accessed. Accessed June 25, 2020

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/formalism

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Van Gogh. Accessed June 25, 2020
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rIdG2wnHE34/maxresdefault.jpg

Fernando Amorsolo. Accessed June 25, 2020

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/57/eb/6f/57eb6fc5e35439aba5c35d8fbd4b3897.jp
g

Art Critique Work sheet. Accessed June 25, 2020

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/28587907575869508

https://sites.google.com/a/pgcps.org/nicholas-orem-art/Home/homework-2-
3/art-critique-example

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Development Team of the Module
Writer: Araceli C. Maligalig, Ph. D. (MHS)
Editors: Nieves T. Salazar, Ph. D. (PHS)
Albert B. Mutia (PSDS)

Internal Reviewer: Janet S. Cajuguiran (EPS- English)

Illustrator: Marexcza Z. Salinas (PHS)
Layout Artist: Richland C. Buere (SEHS)
Management Team:
Sheryll T. Gayola
Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
OIC, Office of the Schools Division Superintendent

Elisa O. Cerveza
Chief, CID
OIC, Office of the Assistant Schools Division Superintendent

Janet S. Cajuguiran
EPS-English

Ivy Coney A. Gamatero

EPS – LRMS

For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Schools Division Office- Marikina City

191 Shoe Ave., Sta. Elena, Marikina City, 1800, Philippines

Telefax: (02) 682-2472 / 682-3989

Email Address: sdo.marikina@deped.gov.ph

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