LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN ENGLISH 10

Worksheet No. 2, Quarter 3

Learner’s Name : ______________________________________________

Grade level/Section : ______________________________________________

Date : ______________________________________________

LET’S WRITE TO CRITIQUE

I. LEARNING SKILLS
A. Most Essential Learning Competency
3.3 Compose an independent critique of a chosen selection.
B. Objective/s
1. Apply the techniques / guidelines in writing a literary critique
2. Compose an independent critique of a chosen selection

II. INTRODUCTORY CONCEPT

As a 21st century student, you should be equipped with knowledge and skills
in writing a critique paper because it widens your horizon about a subject matter and
develops your critical thinking. It will also help you to respond appropriately to different
situations; thus, it will give a significant impact in your personal growth and future
career path. Writing a critique paper will provide you a great opportunity to develop
your critical reading, persuasive writing, information gathering or research, analyzing
abilities and justification skills.

What is a critique? A critique is a genre of academic writing that briefly

summarizes and critically evaluates a work or concept. Critiques can be used to
carefully analyze 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

Critique writing employs 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 particular selection will

help you to enhance your knowledge of the work’s subject area or related works. It will
also provide you an understanding of the work’s purpose, intended audience,
development of argument, structure of evidence or creative style.

How is a critique written? Before you start writing, it is important to have a

thorough understanding of the literary work that will be critiqued.
● Make sure to have a close reading of the literary piece to be critiqued.

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 ● 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.

What are the parts of a critique?

1. Introduction. In this part, 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. This will be your thesis statement. For instance, it may
indicate whether it is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation.

2. Summary. Briefly summarize 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.

3. Critical evaluation. As you read and study the selection to be critiqued,

you should form your own opinion about it. You can easily do this by considering
your criteria or reason for evaluation. Criteria are systems or standards for
evaluation, rules or tests you can utilize to make your judgment.

A critical evaluation does not simply highlight negative impressions. It should

identify both strengths and weaknesses of the literary piece. It should examine the
work and evaluate its success, considering its purpose.

Examples of key critical questions that could help your assessment include:
● Is the work presented objectively or subjectively?
● What are the aims of the work? Were the aims achieved?
● What techniques or styles 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 favor 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

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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.

4. 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.

Make sure to include all the resources cited in your critique in your reference list.

Be guided with the Checklist for a critique:

Have I:
● mentioned the name of the work, the date of its creation and the name
of the creator?
● accurately summarized the work being critiqued?
● mainly focused on the critical evaluation of the work?
● systematically outlined an evaluation of each element of the work to
achieve the overall purpose?
● used evidence, from the work itself as well as other sources, to back
and illustrate my assessment of elements of the work?
● formed an overall evaluation of the work, based on critical reading?
● used a well-structured introduction, body and conclusion?
● used correct grammar, spelling and punctuation; clear presentation;
and appropriate referencing style?

III. ACTIVITIES

Practice Task 1. Read “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. Then write your
comments on the given information based on the selection.

The Gift of the Magi (A Summary)

O. Henry

The story tells of a young married
couple, James, known as Jim, and Della
Dillingham. The couple has very little
money and lives in a modest apartment.
Between them, they have only two
possessions that they consider their
treasures: Jim's gold pocket watch that
belonged to his father and his
grandfather, and Della's lustrous, long
hair that falls almost to her knees.
It's Christmas Eve, and Della finds
herself running out of time to buy Jim a
Christmas present. After paying all of the
bills, all Della has left is $1.87 to put
toward Jim's Christmas present.
Desperate to find him the perfect gift, out

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she goes into the cold December day,
looking in shop windows for something
she can afford.
She wants to buy Jim a chain for
his pocket watch, but they're all out of her
price range. Rushing home, Della pulls
down her beautiful hair and stands in
front of the mirror, admiring it and
thinking. After a sudden inspiration, she
rushes out again and has her hair cut to
sell. Della receives $20.00 for selling her
hair, just enough to buy the platinum
chain she saw in a shop window for
$21.00.
When Jim comes home from work,
he stares at Della, trying to figure out
what's different about her. She admits
that she sold her hair to buy his present.
Before she can give it to him,
however, Jim casually pulls a package
out of his overcoat pocket and hands it to
her. Inside, Della finds a pair of costly
decorative hair combs that she'd long
admired, but are now completely useless
since she's cut off her hair. Hiding her
tears, she jumps up and holds out her gift
for Jim: the watch chain. Jim shrugs, flops
down onto the old sofa, puts his hands
behind his head and tells Della flatly that
he sold his watch to buy her combs.
The story ends with a comparison
of Jim and Della's gifts to the gifts that
the Magi, or three wise men, gave
to Baby Jesus in the manger in the
biblical story of Christmas. The narrator
concludes that Jim and Della are far wiser
than the Magi because their gifts are gifts
of love, and those who give out of love
and self-sacrifice are truly wise because
they know the value of self-giving love.

1. The purpose of the author__________________________________________

2. The tone and the mood of the selection_______________________________
3. The theme________________________________________________________
4. The language used_________________________________________________
5. The lesson conveyed_______________________________________________
6. Readability or appeal of the text to the reader_____________________________
7. Relevance of the text to the society_____________________________________

Practice Task 2. Using the same selection, “The Gift of the Magi”, by O. Henry, write
a critique applying the techniques and guidelines in writing it. Use a separate sheet of
paper.

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

A. Assessment

Review the parts of the critique and the contents of each part. Then, using
your answers in Tasks 1 and 2, write a 4-paragraph critique of the selection. Use the
outline and the rubrics provided in accomplishing your task. Use a separate sheet of
paper.

Paragraph 1 – Introduction (background of the story – author, time and place the
story was written, characters and their description).

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Paragraph 2 – Summary (short narration of events in the story) You can refer to your
answers in Practice Task 1.
Paragraph 3 – Critical Evaluation. You can also use your answers in Practice Task 3.
Paragraph 4 – Summary (be guided with the content of this part)

IV. REFERENCES
● https://writingcenter.ashford.edu/writing-article-critique
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skEn61J6c8s How to Write a Critique Essay (An
Evaluation Essay
● https://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/critique.jsp - Writing a critique
● https://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/critique.htm - Sample
outline of critical analysis
● https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Plot-Organizer-2249390 - Diagram
● http://www.stevendkrause.com/tprw/Chapter%207.pdf- The Critique Exercise
● https://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-a-critique.html- How to Write a
Critique
● https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-gift-of-the-magi-by-o-henry-summary-theme-
irony.html The Gift of the Magi (A Summary)

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 Prepared by:

MARIA ALPHA B. CAUAN, Teacher I

Lower Binogsacan National High School, Albay Division

Quality Assured by:

AMY N. NAPAY, Teacher I

MARY JEAN BAS, Teacher III

Reviewed by:

Lorena A. Intia - MT-I, Pamplona National HS

Mitadel T. Aureus- MT-I, San Juan National HS
Gilda A. Castañeda- Principal I, Homobono H. Gonzalez NHS
Preciosa R. Dela Vega- EPS, English, SDO Camarines Sur