WRITING A

REACTION PAPER,
REVIEW AND
CRITIQUE
WHAT IS THIS FOR?
A reaction paper requires you to
formulate analysis and reaction to a given
body of material such as readings,
lectures, or student presentations. The
purpose of a reaction paper assignment is
to focus your thinking on a topic after a
close examination of the source material.
◦A reaction paper, a
review, 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)
◦ exempli gratia, meaning
“for example.
 Reaction papers, reviews and critiques
usually range in length from 250 to 750 words.
They are not simply summaries but are critical
assessments, analyses, or evaluation of different
works. As advanced forms of writing, they
involved your skills in critical
thinking and recognizing arguments.
◦

However, you
should not
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
Formalism
◦ claims that literary works contain intrinsic
properties and treats each work as a distinct work
of art.
◦ 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.
Common aspects looked into in 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 to its aesthetic quality
• Contribution of rhymes and rhythms to the meaning or effect of the work
• Relationship of the form and the content
• Use of imagery to develop the symbols used in the work
• Interconnectedness of various parts of the work
• Paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work
• Unity in the work
Feminist Criticism or Feminism
- focuses on how literature presents women as
subjects of socio-political, psychological, and
economic oppression
- 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 is presented in the text
◦ • How gender issues are presented in the 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.
- 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
◦• Interaction between the reader and the
text in creating meaning
◦• The impact of readers’ delivery of sounds
and visuals on enhancing and changing
meaning.
4. Marxist Criticism
- concerned with differences between economic
classes and implications of a capitalist system, such
as the continuing conflicts between working class
and the elite.
- attempts to reveal that the ultimate source of
people’s experience is the socio-economic system
Common aspects looked into when using Marxist
criticism:
◦ • Social class as represented in the work
◦ • Social class of the writer/creator
◦ • Social class of the characters
◦ • Conflicts and interactions between economic
classes
ALL ANIMALS ARE
EQUAL, SOME ARE
JUST MORE THAN
EQUAL.
◦ Other critical approaches you can
use:
◦ • Post-modern criticism
◦ • Post-colonial criticism
◦ • Structuralism
◦ • Psychological criticism
◦ • Gender criticism
◦ • Ecocriticism
◦ • Biographical criticism
◦ • Historical criticism
◦ • Mythological criticism
 Guidelines in Writing a Reaction Paper, Review, or
Critique

‣ Relate the content of

‣ Focus on discussing
For Articles and ‣ Read to the work to the work to what you
how the book treats
Journals be reviewed carefully. already know about
the topic
the topic.

‣ Report the type of ‣ Examine whether ‣ Suggest points for ‣ Point out other
analysis or mode of the findings are improvement of the interpretations that
presentation. adequately supported. reasoning. the writer missed out.
◦ For artworks and other media
◦ ‣ Use speculative verbs (evoke, create, appear,
& suggest).
◦ ‣ Make sure to describe it to the reader (do not
spoil key events).
◦ ‣ Describe the material in simple terms
(artworks).
 NOTE
◦ ‣ Did the work hold your interest?
◦ ‣ Did the work annoy or excite you?
◦ ‣ Did the work prompt you to raise questions to the
author?
◦ ‣ Did the work lead you to some realizations?
◦ ‣ Did the work remind you of other materials that you
have read, viewed or listened to?