An article critique is essentially a piece of formal academic writing the ultimate goal of which is to present a critical analysis and assessment of an article, through providing a summary of the work in question, emphasising the major points that the author makes and trying to understand and interpret the author’s intentions and opinions. A good article critique will point out both good and bad sides of the article and give the final opinion on whether it is written competently enough to be considered an academic resource.
The article needs to conform to a certain set of rules and to follow a predefined format, characteristic of this type of writing. It is also necessary for it to be written in formal style as it is always the case with academic writing. It should include an introduction, after which follows a body with explanatory paragraphs on the points you considered important, followed in turn by a conclusion in which the critique is summarised.
If the critique is to be considered good, it is essential for any writer to conduct a thorough research on the topics covered in the article he plans on reviewing. To write an effective critique you need to have a complete understanding of the points made in the original article and capability to offer some constructive suggestions for the arguments you do not agree with.
The reasons for writing an article critique can be:
– to present your view of what the original author’s ideas and intentions were
– to provide an analysis of those ideas and offer an interpretation for them
– to review and summarise, as well as to give an opinion on the value of the article
– to state if you agree or not with what the original artist proposes
These are the steps necessary for one to take before and during writing an article critique:
1) You should read the original article multiple times, in order to get the clear picture of the main points and ideas, as well as to get acquainted with some details.
2) After reading the article enough times, read it again, but this time try to take notes on your thoughts and collect possible quotes that you will use in your critique for proving your point.
3) Use the notes you made to elaborate on the points of interest throughout the article, give comments and your assessment of the work.
4) In the conclusion, state whether you liked the article or not and provide final explanations for your opinion. Use the evidence from your research to back everything up.
Some additional tips for improving your article critique:
– Use third person singular to write the article
– Whenever you can, use the authors own words rather than rephrasing his/her sentences and provide reference notes in order to prevent being accused of plagiarism
– The word ‘critique’ might suggest a negative opinion, but the fact is that you are free and even encouraged to provide opinion on both good and bad sides of the article you are analyzing, while trying to maintain complete objectivity.
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