ENGLISH FOR

ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES

Quarter 1- Module 6
Lesson 6: Critical Approaches in
Writing a Critic

Most Essential Learning Competency:

Uses appropriate critical approaches in
writing a critique such as formalism, feminism,
etc. CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Id-f-16
HOW TO USE THIS MODULE
Before you start answering the module, I want you to set aside other tasks that will distract you while
enjoying the lessons. Read the simple instructions below to successfully enjoy the objectives of this kit.
Have fun!
Follow carefully all the contents and instructions indicated in every page of this module.
Write on your notebook or any writing pad the concepts about the lessons. Writing enhances learning,
which is important to develop and keep in mind.
Perform all the provided activities in the module.
Let your facilitator/guardian assess your answers.
Analyze conceptually the posttest and apply what you have learned.
Enjoy studying!

PARTS OF THE MODULE

 Expectations - These are what you will be able to know after completing the
lessons in the module.
 Pre-Test - This will measure your prior knowledge and the concepts to be mastered
throughout the lesson.
 Brief Introduction- This section will give you an overview of the lesson.
 Activities - These are activities designed to develop critical thinking and other
competencies. This can be done with or without a partner depending on the nature
of the activity.
 Checking Your Understanding - It will verify how you learned from the lesson.
Lesson

6 CRITICAL APPROACHES IN
WRITING A CRITIQUE
EXPECTATIONS
In this module, you will have to use appropriate critical writing a
critique such as formalism, feminism, etc..
Specifically, this module will help you to:
 define critique;
 identify the various approaches writing a critique;
 criticize the texts using the different approaches of criticism; and
 apply the appropriate critical approaches in writing your critique.
Let us start discovering various summarizing techniques. Surely, you are excited to
answer the Pre-test.

PRETEST
Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer in your notebook.
1. The New Critics were:
A. Feminist critics C. Marxist critics
B.Psychological Critics D. Formalist critics
2. What approach to literary criticism requires the critic to know about the author's life
and times?
A. All of these C. Historical
B. Mimetic D. Formalist
3. Formalist critics believe that the value of a work cannot be determined by the author's
intention. What term do they use when speaking of this belief?
A. The intentional fallacy C. The pathetic fallacy
B. The affective fallacy D. The objective correlative
4. Which poet popularized the term objective correlative, which is often used in formalist
criticism?
A. Virginia Woolf C. T.S. Eliot
B. C.S. Lewis D. Matthew Arnold
5. In a Freudian approach to literature, concave images are usually seen as:
A. Male symbols C. Phallic symbols
B. Evidence of an Oedipus complex D. Female symbols
6. He was an influential force in archetypal criticism.
A. Freud C. Richards
B. Jung D. Tate
7. Seven is an archetype associated with:
A. Astrology C. Birth
B. Perfection D. Death
8. This feminist critic proposed that all female characters in literature are in at least one
of the following stages of development: the feminine, feminist, or female stage.
A. Virginia Woolf
B. Ellen Mores
C. Mary Wolstencraft
D. Elaine Showalter
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3
9. A critic argues that in John Milton's "Samson Agonistes," the shearing of Samson's
locks is symbolic of his castration at the hands of Delilah. What kind of critical approach
is this critic using?
A. Mimetic approach C. Historical approach
B. Psychological approach D. Formalist approach
10. One archetype in literature is the scapegoat. Which of these literary characters
serves that purpose?
A. Billy Budd C. Captain Ahab
B. Hamlet D. Ophelia
11. One of the disadvantages of this school of criticism is that it tends to make readings
too subjective.
A. Reader Response Criticism C. Historical Criticism
B. Formalist Criticism D. These are all equally subjective
12. This literary critic coined the term "fancy."
A. Samuel Taylor Coleridge C. Matthew Arnold
B. Virginia Woolf D. Carl Jung
13. Michael Foucault was the major practitioner of this school of criticism.
A. Structuralism C. Deconstructionism
B. Mimetic Criticism D. Formalist Criticism
14. This critical approach assumes that language does not refer to any external reality.
It can assert several, contradictory interpretations of one text.
A. Structuralism C. Formalist Criticism
B. Deconstructionism D. Mimetic Criticism
15. A critic examining John Milton's "Paradise Lost" focuses on the physical description
of the Garden of Eden, on the symbols of hands, seed, and flower, and on the
characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, and God. He pays special attention to the epic similes
and metaphors and the point of view from which the tale is being told. He looks for
meaning in the text itself, and does not refer to any biography of Milton. He is most likely
a critic.
A. Formalist C. Reader Response
B. Mimetic D. Feminist
16. This literary critic warned: "We must remember that the greater part of our current
reading matter is written for us by people who have no real belief in a supernatural
order . . . And the greater part . . . is coming to be written by people who not only have
no such belief, but are even ignorant of the fact that there are still people in the world so
'backward' or so 'eccentric' as to continue to believe."
A. Matthew Arnold C. T.S. Eliot
B. C.S. Lewis D. G.K. Chesterton
17. A critic of Thomas Otway's "Venice Preserv'd" wishes to know why the play's
conspirators, despite the horrible, bloody details of their obviously brutish plan, are
portrayed in a sympathetic light. She examines the author's life and times and discovers
that there are obvious similarities between the conspiracy in the play and the Popish
Plot. She is most likely a critic.
A. Tory B. Historical C. Feminist D. Psychological
18. This poet might be described as a moral or philosophical critic for arguing that works
must have "high seriousness."
A. T.S. Eliot C. Elizabeth Browning
B. Virginia Woolf D. Matthew Arnold
19. A critic examining Pope's "An Essay on Man" asks herself: How well does this poem
accord with the real world? Is it accurate? Is it moral? She is most likely a
critic.
A. Mimetic B. Formalist C. Feminist D. Reader Response
20. One of the potential disadvantages of this approach to literature is that it can reduce
meaning to a certain time frame, rather than making it universal throughout the ages.

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A. Historical B. Feminist C. Formalist D. Mimetic

5
ACTIVITY 1. SAY SOMETHING ACTIVITY
Directions: Take a look at this picture and give at least five (5) points that you see in the
picture. Write your answers in your notebook.

Process Questions: Write your answers in your notebook.

1. How did you find the picture?

2. By looking at the picture, are you thinking about the beautiful nature?

3. What about the location?

4. Did it cross to your mind who is responsible of taking care of the nature?

5. What about the feeling of the lady jumping onto the water?

6. Did you ask yourself if you would want to do the same?

7. What about the reasons why God has created this nature for us?

8. Have you not wondered how God created the beautiful world?

All these questions will be answered critically by using different approaches.

This activity leads you to learn how to write criticism.

6
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
A critique is 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 are drawn from such observations. It is a systematic, yet personal response
and evaluation of what you read.
It 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
Like an essay, a critique uses 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 work helps us to develop:
 A knowledge of the work’s subject area or related works.
 An understanding of the work’s purpose, intended audience, development of
argument, structure of evidence or creative style.
 A recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

How to write a critique?

Before you start writing, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the work
that will be critiqued.
 Study the work under discussion.
 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.
Read about the critical approaches. You can highlight some important ideas.
You can use these in expressing your views.

The following are the different approaches in writing a critique:

1. Formalist: This approach regards literature as “a unique form of human knowledge that
needs to be examined on its own terms.” All the elements necessary for understanding
the work are contained within the work itself. Of particular interest to the formalist critic
are the elements of form—style, structure, tone, imagery, etc.— that are found within the
text. A primary goal for formalist critics is to determine how such elements work together
with the text’s content to shape its effects upon readers.

Questions to be Asked for Formalistic Approach

A. How is the work’s structure unified?
B. How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning?
C. What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) can you find?
D. What is the effect of these patterns or motifs?
E. How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
F. How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
G. What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
H. What figures of speech are used? (metaphors, similes, etc.)
I. Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot, characterization, and style of
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 narration.
J. What effects are produced? Do any of these relate to one another or to the
theme?
K. Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
L. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
M. How does the author create tone and mood? What relationship is there between
tone and mood and the effect of the story?
N. How do the various elements interact to create a unified whole?

2. Gender Criticism: This approach “examines how sexual identity influences the
creation and reception of literary works.” Originally an offshoot of feminist movements,
gender criticism today includes a number of approaches, including the so-called
“masculinist” approach recently advocated by poet Robert Bly. The bulk of gender
criticism, however, is feminist and takes as a central precept that the patriarchal
attitudes that have dominated western thought have resulted, consciously or
unconsciously, in literature “full of unexamined ‘male-produced’ assumptions.”
3. Feminist criticism attempts to correct this imbalance by analyzing and combatting
such attitudes—by questioning, for example, why none of the characters in
Shakespeare’s play Othello ever challenge the right of a husband to murder a wife
accused of adultery. Other goals of feminist critics include “analyzing how sexual
identity influences the reader of a text” and “examining how the images of men and
women in imaginative literature reflect or reject the social forces that have historically
kept the sexes from achieving total equality.”
Feminist Criticism examines images of women and concepts of the feminine in
myth and literature; uses the psychological, archetypal, and sociological approaches;
often focuses on female characters who have been neglected in previous criticism.
Feminist critics attempt to correct or supplement what they regard as a predominantly
male-dominated critical perspective.

Questions to be asked for Feministic Approach

A. How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?
B. Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s gender?
C. How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these
relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?
D. Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?
E. How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social forces that
have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with men?
F. What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do
these expectations have?
G. What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do
these expectations have?
H. If a female character were male, how would the story be different (and vice
versa)?
I. How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or happiness?

4. Historical: This approach “seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the

social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced it—a context that necessarily
includes the artist’s biography and milieu.” A key goal for historical critics is to
understand the effect of a literary work upon its original readers.
Questions to be Asked for Formalistic Approach
A. How does it reflect the time in which it was written?
B. How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set?
C. What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of the
work?
D. How does the story reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was
written or set? (Consider beliefs and attitudes related to race, religion, politics,
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 gender, society, philosophy, etc.)
E. What other literary works may have influenced the writer?
F. What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer?

G. ow would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the writer’s
contemporaries?
H. Does the story reveal or contradict the prevailing values of the time in which it was
written? Does it provide an opposing view of the period’s prevailing values?
I. How important is it the historical context (the work’s and the reader’s) to
interpreting the work?

5. Reader-Response Criticism: This approach takes as a fundamental tenet that

“literature” exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction between
the physical text and the mind of a reader. It attempts “to describe what happens in the
reader’s mind while interpreting a text” and reflects that reading, like writing, is a
creative process.

6. Structuralism focused on how human behavior is determined by social, cultural and

psychological structures. It tended to offer a single unified approach to human life that
would embrace all disciplines. The essence of structuralism is the belief that “things
cannot be understood in isolation, they have to be seen in the context of larger
structures which contain them. For example, the structuralist analysis of Donne’s poem,
Good Morrow, demands more focus on the relevant genre, the concept of courtly love,
rather than on the close reading of the formal elements of the text.

7. Sociological focuses on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion, and

business.

Questions to be asked for Sociological Approach

A. What is the relationship between the characters and their society?

B. Does the story address societal issues, such as race, gender, and class?
C. How do social forces shape the power relationships between groups or classes of
people in the story? Who has the power, and who doesn’t? Why?
D. How does the story reflect the Great American Dream?
E. How does the story reflect urban, rural, or suburban values?
F. What does the work say about economic or social power? Who has it and who
doesn’t? Any Marxist leanings evident?
G. Does the story address issues of economic exploitation? What role does money
play?
H. How do economic conditions determine the direction of the characters’ lives?
I. Does the work challenge or affirm the social order it depicts?
J. Can the protagonist’s struggle be seen as symbolic of a larger class struggle?
K. How does the microcosm (small world) of the story reflect the macrocosm (large
world) of the society in which it was composed?
L. Do any of the characters correspond to types of government, such as a
dictatorship, democracy, communism, socialism, fascism, etc.? What attitudes
toward these political structures/systems are expressed in the work?

Now, you have learned the basic principles of writing criticisms. Let’s apply our
skill by doing these activities.

9
ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 1

Directions: Summarize what you have read by completing the table with what you
understood. Write your answers in your notebook.

APPROACHES IN
LITERARY WHAT IT IS HOW IT IS DONE
CRITICISM (DEFINITION) (TECHNIQUE IN WRITING)
Example: This approach regards A primary goal for formalist critics
literature as “a unique form is to determine how elements of
Formalism of human knowledge that form (style, structure, tone,
needs to be examined on its imagery, etc.) work together with
own terms.” the text’s content to shape its
effects upon readers.

You have just been given several approaches in literary criticism that you can use when
you make your own review or critique. You can use this in the following activities. Just
remember to apply which is easy for you to do and follow the techniques in using it.

CHECKING YOUR UNDERSTANDING

ACTIVITY 2. READ CRITICALLY
Activities 1-2 gave you ideas about the manner and approaches to use in expressing
views. Let us learn more about this skill by reading a text which is an excerpt of the homily of
the Catholic Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin. But before you read it, let us define
these words first.

Directions: Get the meaning of these words from any dictionary so that you can understand what you
are reading better: Write your answer in your notebook.
WORDS MEANINGS FROM DICTIONARY
Cynic
Demoralize
Destabilize
Anarchic
Unrelentingly
Chronic disease
Callous
Predominant
Transcend
Authentic
Vigorously

10
 Ang Bayan Muna Bago ang Sarili
(Excerpts from the Homily of Jaime Cardinal Sin at the mass
celebrating the 5th death anniversary of Ninoy Aquino)

(1) Five years later, we might ask ourselves; has Ninoy’s dream been fulfilled? Have we
succeeded in building a new nation, by “transcending our petty selves,” by setting aside
our differences by working together in a spirit of true self-giving, loving our country first,
above our own interest? Bayan muna, bago and sarili. It is a question we must ask
ourselves, as we remember Ninoy’s gift.

(2) It has been said that the truest motto of our people is “K.K.K”. No, not Katipunan,
shaping unity out of our diversity. How we wish that were our authentic name! But rather:
Kanya-Kanya’ng Katwiran,
Kanya-Kanya’ng Kagustuhan,
Kanya-Kanya’ng Kabig (or worse)
Kanya-Kanya’ng Kurakot…
or whatever else each one “specializes” in!

(3) Cynics among us say that K.K.K is the definition of our national character, the
predominant strain in our national culture. It’s what we are when we are “most natural”,
most ourselves. “Bayan muna, Bago and Sarili” is an abstract, non- operative ideal, good
for speeches, good for posters, goo for classroom rhetoric but not for real, not for real
life. For real is K.K.K.

(4) Kanya-Kanyang Katwiran, Kanya-Kanyang kagustuhan. We all remember the three

monkeys; See no Evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Sometimes one wonders, if it has
become a national pastime, to see and hear and speak nothing, but evil against our
fellow-citizens. Talk can be a great service in a free nation: Talk is space for free
discussion, for intelligent debate, the exchange of information and perception, the clash
of views.

(5) Ninoy himself said: “We must criticize in order to be free, because we are free only
when we criticized.” We may not, at our own peril, forget that. But we must remind
ourselves that criticism is not an end in itself; it is not the absolute. It is meant to help us
to become free, but if it becomes the all-encompassing output of our days, a way of life...
so it takes up most of our energy, most of our time, when we begin to take delight in
tearing down, demoralizing, destabilizing; when we are at each other’s throats all day
long, then we really are engaged in self-destruction, and the destruction of hope, the
creation of despair, especially among the poor who continue to suffer in our midst.

(6) There is a Latin saying: “Unicuique suum, non praevalebunt.” “Every man for himself:
That’s the formula for disaster.” When Ninoy spoke of “the quest for that elusive national
unity which is imperative for the nation’s survival”-he said “survival”. He meant “survival”.
How can we survive, as a nation and as a people, if we have made the name of our
national game as anarchic free-for-all in a “basket of crabs?”

(7) K.K.K also means, we are told, Kanya Kanyang Kabig, Kanya- Kanyang Kurakot.
Surely I don’t need to dwell on this theme this morning. For weeks, the papers, radios,
TV, have shouted nothing else. It is the talk of the marketplace. I myself have spoken,
often enough, of the 40 big thieves left behind in our midst, and many many smaller ones
which might include . . . even ourselves? Who among us did not re- echo the sentiments

11
 and the work of the beloved Chino Roces when he asked for a renewed moral order in
government and society? It is a problem which must be addressed, and addressed
vigorously and unrelentingly.

(8) I am sure this will be increasingly done by our president, by consistent personal
example she has set a pattern for others to follow. I know she is bent on pursuing the
battle against corruption with ever more forceful and energetic action. But we know, we
know that she and those around her cannot do this all by themselves. As citizens, we
must go “into an action mode ourselves.” The task cannot be done without us.

(9) We must begin, rather, where we can begin, with ourselves we must ask: What can
we do about it? What in our own heart, in our own attitudes, in our own practices, must
be changed? What sacrifices must we ourselves do to make a positive contribution of
deeds, to put under control this chronic illness in our society, and in our culture?

(10) If all we do is talk and talk, and throw dirt at each other-forgetting to mind the ship
and its engines, and steer it in mine-filled waters-why, we will still be taking and
quarrelling when our ship goes down into the sea!

(11) If everyone in this church this morning, in Ninoy’s memory, pledge before the Lord
that for one year, “Bayan Muna, Bago ang Sarili”, would really be made an operative
guideline, could it not mark at least a beginning? If for one year, just to get going, we
would make the principle govern our deeds, our conduct in society, would that not be
smart already? How can we “dream the impossible dream” and promise to follow the
stars” if we have become too calloused to do even this?

Answer the questions given: Write your answers in your notebook.

1. What critical approach did he use? Explain why you think that is the approach.

2. Do you agree with the author or not? Why or why not?

What you have read is an example of how one expresses opinions using one
approach in criticism. This can be a good model for you to study and follow.

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 ACTIVITY 3

Directions: Read the poem “Adam”, by Hugh Cook critically. Criticize it using formalistic
and feministic approaches. Write your answers on your notebook.

ADAM
by Hugh Cook

“Eden is
boring. Nothing
explodes.
There are no trains to fall off the tracks.
And Adam finds
himself With
something missing.
Comic books? Broadband? Balsamic vinegar?
Pachinko? Razor blades? Plasma TV?
He's aware of an
itch And scratching
Has yet to be invented.
He eyes the fruit,
The One Forbidden
Thing. "Not yet," says the
serpent, Who's seen the
script.
But Adam is engineered for
impatience: Quests, missions,
objectives, Grails unholy or
otherwise.
"Out!" says the
angel. And Adam
shrugs, Loses the
core,
Strides to the open
gate. Something on
two legs Is running
after him.”

Cook, Hugh - Adam. 2003

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 ACTIVITY 4

Directions: Read or silently sing this song entitled “Bahay” by Gary Granada. Make your
criticism by completing the graphic organizer in the next page. Write your answers in
your notebook.

Bahay
by: Gary Granada

Isang araw ako'y nadalaw sa bahay tambakan

Labinglimang mag-anak ang duo'y nagsiksikan Nagtitiis
sa munting barung-barong na sira-sira Habang doon sa
isang mansyon halos walang nakatira

Sa init ng tabla't karton sila doo'y nakakulong

Sa lilim ng yerong kalawang at mga sirang gulong
Pinagtagpi-tagping basurang pinatungan ng bato
Hindi ko maintindihan bakit ang tawag sa ganito
Ay bahay

Sinulat ko ang nakita ng aking mga mata Ang

kanilang kalagayan ginawan ko ng kanta
Iginuhit at isinalarawan ang naramdaman
At sinangguni ko sa mga taong marami ang alam

Isang bantog na senador ang unang nilapitan ko

At dalubhasang propesor ng malaking kolehiyo
Ang pinagpala sa mundo, ang dyaryo at ang pulpito Lahat
sila'y nagkasundo na ang tawag sa ganito
Ay bahay

Maghapo't magdamag silang kakayod, kakahig

Pagdaka'y tutukang nakaupo lang sa sahig
Sa papag na gutay-gutay, pipiliting hihimlay
Di hamak na mainam pa ang pahingahan ng mga patay

Baka naman isang araw kayo doon ay maligaw

Mahipo n'yo at marinig at maamoy at matanaw
Hindi ako nangungutya, kayo na rin ang magpasya
Sa palagay ninyo kaya, ito sa mata ng Maylikha Ay
bahay
Source: Musixmatch

SOCIOLOGICAL

STRUCTURALISM

READER-RESPONSE

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References:

Laurel, M., Lucero, A., Bumatay-Cruz, R.. English for Academic and Professional
Purposes Teacher’s Guide. Pasig City: DepEd-BLR. 2016
Laurel, M., Lucero, A., Bumatay-Cruz, R.. English for Academic and Professional
Purposes Reader. Pasig City: DepEd-BLR. 2016

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/resources/writing-critiques/
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https://www.aresearchguide.com/appropriate-language-overview.html
https://lrmds.deped.gov.ph/create/download/1773
http://www.offtheropes.com/opinion-based-on-fact-or-fact-based-on-opinion/
https://answershark.com/writing/creating-review/art-review-examples.html
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leonardo-da-vinci.html
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Accessed May 30, 2020
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er_with_practical_sample_by_Dr_Lango
accessed May 30, 2020
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336150591_How_to_write_a_concept_pap
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https://gerardcambon.net/types-of-concept-paper-introduction/
accessed May 31, 20202
https://custom-writing.org/blog/art-critique-writing
https://answershark.com/writing/creating-review/art-review/the-last-supper-by-
leonardo-da-vinci.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336150591_How_to_write_a_concept_pap
er_with_practical_sample_by_Dr_Lango accessed May 30, 2020

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