Review any background facts or issues that must be understood.
Grade 10 - ENGLISH 3. Briefly summarize the argument of the author. Be as objective as
Learning Activity Sheet
Third Quarter
MELC – Quarter 3 - # 3: Compose an independent critique of a chosen
selection (EN10WC-IIIg-14)
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) and media (news reports, feature articles).
“A critique is not a listing of complaints or faults, but a careful analysis of
an argument to determine what is said, how well the points are made,
what assumptions underlie the argument, what issues are overlooked and
what implications can be drawn from such observation” (Behrens and
Rosen 37-38).
A critique, therefore, is a reader’s personal reaction (positive or negative)
or an evaluation of what an author has to say. The writer of a critique has
a responsibility to explain how they reached their critical conclusions
about the piece. A critique should differ substantially from a summary.
Critique writing or critiquing a story is usually in the form of an essay.
It is a detailed review or in-depth evaluation of the story in order to
provide the reading public insight into the story. Writing a critique
allows you to reassemble the elements in such a way that your target
audience has a better understanding about the strengths, flaws and
highlights of the story.
Here are some helpful tips in writing a critique:
1. Read the whole text carefully.
2. Introduce the subject of the critique and identify the author. Give some
preliminary information indicating the main point to be discussed.
possible so that the reader understands what the article said.
4. Analyze the author’s presentation based upon points presented and
whether or not the author succeeded.
5. Respond to the presentation or focus upon the assumptions the author
makes. State your reaction to, opinion of, and evaluation of these
assumptions or assertions. Clearly support any reactions so that they
do not appear to be arbitrary judgments.
6. Finally, state your conclusions about the overall piece reviewing
the strengths/weaknesses.
Guide on How to Critique a Literary Text
In writing your critique, you should use the following guides or
elements:
1. Context - What genre, type or category of literature is the given literary
text or selection? Is it a science fiction, literary fiction, adventure, realist
literature, thriller, romance, drama, horror, mystery etc.
2. Author’s Intention/Purpose - It is the written motive or purpose of
the writer in the text or selection. Such as:
a. To Persuade - is the author’s purpose wherein the writer is writing
well enough to encourage or convince every reader to change his
or her mind about a significant issue in the text.
b. To inform - is the author’s purpose wherein the writer provides
information, facts or data in order to inform the readers about the
use, relevance, value, and significance of the issues tackled in the
text.
c. To entertain and inspire - are author’s purpose in his writing in order
to give pleasure, enjoyment as well as touch the readers’ imagination
and give them the idea what to do.
3. Your Reactions - It pertains to your own possible reactions as well as
your attitude as a reader and a critic when you read the entire literary
piece or text. As a reader, you simply describe your reactions such as
agree or disagree, approve or disapprove, like or dislike, believe or
not, affirm or negate about the details, facts and other elements
presented by the writer on his/her literary text.
4. Literary Devices -are tools used by the authors to create impact on
their writing, to help readers understand their writing at a deeper
level. Example: simile, metaphor, personification, allegory, irony,
idioms, onomatopoeia, imagery, symbolisms and other figure of speech
etc.…
5. Literary Techniques - are techniques that writers use in their written
texts to help convey or heighten meaning. Rather than writing in plain
language, writers give more emphasis to their ideas by utilizing literary
devices to make them stand out. As a reader, you simply ask yourself if
these literary techniques through the use of literary devices make your
 reading experience more enjoyable or it strengthens the entire text.
6. Ending of the Story - As a reader, you decide how the ending relates
both to the story as a whole and to its beginning. Does the ending
resolve the plot and bring closure to the crisis of the characters?
Activity1: Read the story, “The Transformation” carefully. After
reading, accomplish the task that follows.
The Transformation
Last year, before the CORONA Virus pandemic spread the entire
nation, teacher Ella added a new name of a transferee on her class record.
He was Marco, the only transferee in English class of Mrs. Ella Diaz for
that year. He transferred from one of the public high schools in Valenzuela
City. His family moved to Bulacan due to a transfer of residence and a new
found job of his father.
It was in the middle of September, 2019 that Mrs. Diaz met Marco
in one of her English classes in Grade 10. He looked shy, timid, and
melancholic. But if you looked straight to his eyes, you could feel the
expression of curiosity and eagerness to learn, interact and mingle.
But she didn’t pay attention to it. Since for her as a seasoned
English teacher, Marco’s behavior was just normal since he was a new
student. She couldn’t forget the day when the entire class had welcomed
Marco and asked him to introduce himself. The entire class was waiting
and Mrs. Diaz had repeatedly asked him to stand for self-introduction. But
Marco just gave them a smile and bowed his head down while remain
seated. Nobody in the class could notice that he initiated an action to
stand or heard a single word from his mouth. He looked down and
remained quiet.
His English teacher talked to him privately and Marco’s
explanations were, “I am very sorry Ma’am. I am not good in English
speaking. I know what to say about myself but I’m afraid to speak
in front of or amidst many people. And besides, my voice may stutter
while I am speaking.” Although feeling exasperated for his failure to
respond, Ma’am Diaz had admired Marco for his sincere and honest
reasons.
Several days and weeks of classes had passed by, students were
heavily pre-occupied with school and classroom activities such as oral
reports, in-class reading, joint projects, assemblies, sports, school plays,
and school clubs. However, Marco was never spotted to participate in
speaking activities. Even in usual oral recitation and participation in class
discussion, he never did. “At least he joined the group or peer activity.
Knowing him as a naive type, it’s already a sort of improvement”,
Mrs. Diaz said to herself. As a language teacher, she was worried about
Marco’s performance in English. “It is always my main goal to develop
the skills and competency of the learners in speaking, as well as in
reading, writing and listening”, Ma’am Diaz reminded herself. “For
me, this is a challenge. If I could help Marco and change him into a
person with enough self-confidence to speak and become better
speaker…. then, it could be one of my great accomplishments”, she
added.
Ma’am Diaz had made a strategic intervention plan. Without
Marco’s awareness, she talked with his parents for moral support. She
discussed about the plan with Marco’s classmates for cooperation. She
even showed the class record to Marco and told him, “You got a very low
performance in speaking activities and that could affect your grade
for the second grading in English.” Without any reply, he only gave a
sad look and apologetic expression of the eyes. With determination on the
teacher’s mind, Ma’am Diaz asked his class adviser for follow-up and
monitoring.
During English classes, Mrs. Diaz talked with Marco and gave him
pieces of advice and encouragement. She always assigned Marco as spoke
person or reporter in group activity. For daily recitation, she called Marco
first to answer her question. She borrowed reading materials in the
library and assigned Marco for home reading. She saw to it that Marco
could speak and share his ideas about the lesson. At first, there was a
refusal and resistance, but gradually he was forced to say a little.
After several weeks and months of doing the routine, alas! there was
a wonderful transformation. “Good day Mam!” Marco greeted her
English teacher confidently. Mrs. Diaz was surprised when Marco
greeted her and managed to talk to her. He started to consult her about
his assignment. She noticed that Marco had managed to exchange ideas
with his groupmates. He volunteered to present the group outputs in front
of his classmates. He raised his hands to recite and answer questions even
his name was not called. Mrs. Diaz and his classmates noticed the
changes to Marco’s performance in English class. She immediately
reported the good news to the parents and they were very thankful about
it. Mrs. Diaz and Marco’s classmates were very proud and happy about his
achievement.
There were unforgettable moments when Marco had delivered a
poem in English class. He was even invited as host during the teachers’
day celebration. He also delivered a Christmas message during the
classroom Christmas party. When asked him about what he did to
overcome fear in speaking in front of people, he said, “Keep on reading,
familiarize the lines, say it aloud, keep on practicing, and push
yourself.” With feeling of amazement, Mrs. Diaz gave him with a smile of
admiration. She congratulated him. “Indeed, Marco was right,” she
said.
Activity 2: The Summary
Directions: Write a summary of the story, “The Transformation. In
writing a summary, you have to take note of the key ideas
and important details presented by the writer from the
beginning to end of the story. The length of a summary must
be brief or short but it must be concise or complete with
important details. Write your summary on the space below.
Activity 3: Critique Writing
Directions: In an essay style or form, write a critique of the story, “The
Transformation”. Follow the guide in writing a critique of a
literary text. Write your output at the back of this page.
Example:
After reading the entire story, I found out that the story is
categorized as science-fiction because
.
The story is about a .
The author’s intention or purpose in writing the story is to
inform and at same time to inspire because

.
As a reader, my reaction towards the story is…. or …… As a
reader, I strongly agree to the central idea or theme of the story. Because

.
The author uses literary devices such as simile and metaphor.
These are shown in the lines from the story like

.
It means that

.
The literary techniques used by the writer are the literary
devices such as . It
made my reading experience so wonderful because

.
The ending of the story is about
.
It expresses about .
It states the resolution to the problem of the character which is
.