critique example essay

Critiquing an essay requires you to pick it apart like a chicken carcass, leaving no bone untouched. In this lesson, you'll learn how to identify the major components of a well-crafted essay. Essay Critique Breakdown: The Thesis StatementLet's start with the beginning. Many people think that an essay's thesis (a statement that directly explains the writer's main idea) is always located in the opening paragraph. And, usually that's the case. However, many professional writers will state their thesis elsewhere. When you're reading a high-level text, you'll often encounter essays that place the thesis anywhere but in the introduction. Don't let this stump you. Read with an open mind, knowing that the thesis will appear. Take, for example, Jessica Cohen's The Atlantic essay 'Grade A: The Market for a Yale Woman's Eggs'. In summary, her essay explains how she started seriously thinking about selling her eggs to couples who were incapable of reproduction. Cohen goes into detail about how invasive and complicated the procedure actually is. She also details her experience with trying to win over a very picky couple. In the end, the couple rejected Cohen as a candidate, but at that point, Cohen had already decided not to further pursue the business of selling her eggs. Cohen's central thesis arrives in the middle of the essay when she writes: 'I realized that this process was something I didn't want to be a part of. I understand the desire for a child who will resemble and fit in with the family. But once a couple starts choosing a few characteristics, shooting for perfection is too easy--especially if they can afford it. The money might have changed my life for a while, but it would have led to the creation of a child encumbered with too many expectations.' Essentially, Cohen's introduction to the essay led to this moment where she states very clearly her main idea, or.
Chapter 30. CRITICAL REVIEW Introduction Basics Advanced Samples Activities --- Student Samples Page--- --- Introduction The samples below are papers by students, unless specifically noted.  They are examples of A level undergraduate writing or entry-level professional work.  To get a better idea of how this type of paper is written, you will want to look at all the samples.  Then compare the samples to each other and to what the Basics part of this chapter says.     The authors of all sample student papers in this Web site have given their permission in writing to have their work included in WritingforCollege.org.  All samples remain copyrighted by their original authors.  Other than showing it on this website, none should be used without the explicit permission of the author. Unless otherwise noted, sample papers do not necessarily meet all requirements an individual instructor or professional supervisor may have: ask your instructor or supervisor.  In addition, the samples single spaced to save room; however, a proper manuscript given to an instructor or supervisor normally should be double spaced with margins set at or close to 1 unless another format has been requested. Sample One: Critical Review of One Book Inver Hills College Rough-draft Critical Review Eng 1114-91, Spring 2006 © 2006 by Laura Beres A Critical Review of Man’s Search for Meaning by Laura Beres Introduction In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl tells the very personal story of his experience as a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.He presents this story in the form of an essay in which he shares his arguments and analysis as a doctor and psychologist as well as a former prisoner.This paper will review Frankl’s story as well as his main arguments, and will evaluate the quality of Frankl’s writing and focus on any areas of weakness within the story. Summary This section.
Study English at Goshen College. Whenever you read an essay, use the following questions to guide your response. First, keep in mind that, although you may not be a writing expert, you are THE reader of this essay and your response is a valid one. I have found that almost every reader, regardless of experience, can identify the primary strength and weakness in an essay, although their method of describing those issues may be different. The author will welcome your response and your ability to explain your reaction in a new way. Although the author is not required to, and really shouldn’t, respond to everything you say, he or she will take your comments seriously and consider how the essays has enlightened or confused you. Therefore, comment freely, although respectfully. Keep in mind that it is better to begin by noting the strengths of the essay before pointing out the areas that need improvement. I would always include a personal response to questions like the following: What about the essay most connects with your experience? Moves you? Provokes you? Entertains you? So that is how to respond. So how do you critique? For every essay, regardless of the mode, consider the broad categories of content, organization, style, and correctness. Content: Consider the topic (its appropriateness and interest for the assignment as well as a clear focus suitable to essay length) and the way the topic is developed (clarity sufficiency of its argument, its scope, subcategories, amount and type of examples, anecdotes, evidence, etc.). Organization: Consider how the essay is introduced and concluded (especially looking for a “frame” to the essay, where the intro and conclusion refer to the same idea), whether the thesis is located in the most helpful place (direct or implied), how the essay is structured, whether the order or extent of development is successful, as well as how.
Part 1 Laying the Groundwork 1Edit step Examine the prompt or assignment. Be sure you understand exactly what you are being asked to do. The assignment may use the word “critique,” or it might use a phrase such as “critical assessment,” “critical review,” or “critical evaluation.” All of these are critique assignments and will require you to not only summarize but evaluate the work you are discussing. Read the text. Keep in mind some questions and take notes as you read. These will help guide your formulation of your ideas later. For example: Does the creator clearly state her/his main point or goal? If not, why do you think that is? Who do you think is the creator’s intended audience? This can be crucial to determining the success of a work; for example, a movie intended for young children might work well for its intended audience but not for adult viewers. What reactions do you have when reading or viewing this work? Does it provoke emotional responses? Do you feel confused? What questions does the work make you think of? Does it suggest other avenues of exploration or observation to you? Do some research. You usually will not need to do a lot of research, but in order to talk about how the work relates to a larger issue or context, you will need to know what it is responding to, what context it was created in, etc.[1] For example, if you're critiquing a research article about a new treatment for the flu, a little research about other flu treatments currently available could be helpful to you when situating the work in context. As another example, if you're writing about a movie, you might want to briefly discuss the director's other films, or other important movies in this particular genre (indie, action, drama, etc.). Your school or university library is usually a good place to start when conducting research, as their databases provide verified, expert sources.