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Critique vs. Criticism: How to Write a Good Critique, with Examples

by Daniel Rodrigues-Martin

Understanding critique vs. criticism

We all assign merit to the information we experience daily. We “judge” what we hear on the news. We “evaluate” a university lecture. We “like” or “dislike” a movie, a meal, a photo, a story. We’re all critics.

Some writer-readers struggle with this point, especially if they are young to writing and editing. Sitting in a judgment of another writer’s work often feels distasteful, and doing so may conjure negative memories of when we were misunderstood or dismissed by others.

Conversely, we might be willing to share our opinions with other writers while struggling with our competence. We can’t seem to say anything constructive. If we’re critiquing on Scribophile, we may feel that we are wasting one of the author’s coveted “spotlight” critiques.

Having used Scribophile on-and-off since 2009, I’ve seen countless readers qualify their commentary on my own work (“I don’t read your genre,” “I haven’t read your previous chapters,” “I’m not good with grammar,” etc.) and I’ve seen even more cry woe on the forums about how they can’t critique because they’re not experienced enough, not educated enough, or not talented enough. Others decry the very sort of criticism writers’ groups and workshop sites like Scribophile foster, suggesting that the perfunctory nature of such criticism is ultimately more harmful than helpful.

Scribophile as a community thrives on the principle of serious commitment to serious writing, and the foundation of that commitment is reading and responding to others’ work. If you want to explore some elements helpful to improving your critiquing skills, I invite you to get yourself some hot caffeine, strap on your thinking cap, and read on.

How to write a great critique in 3 steps

Listed here are some ideas I’ve found helpful for approaching others’ work; these tips are about your mindset as a critic. These ideas are by no means exhaustive. The best teacher is experience, and I encourage all writers to reflect on the ways in which they approach others’ work as well as how they can best contribute to the growth of others on and off of Scribophile.

1. If you’re genuine, you’ll be constructive

Being constructive means coming to the critique with the ultimate goal of helping the writer improve. It means always criticizing with good intentions for the writer. It does not equate to coddling—being so nice you’ll never say a hard thing—nor does it equate to browbeating—being so hard you’ll never say a nice thing.

Being dishonest or refusing to offer valid criticism where you’re able is a disservice to the writer. Don’t shy away from honesty. Few things are more constructive than hard truths delivered by critics who genuinely want to help and who tailor their criticism with an attitude of genuine interest.

As you interact with works on Scribophile or elsewhere, remember to always approach the task of criticism with a desire to be genuinely helpful. If your criticism is built on this foundation, your commentary will be constructive regardless of your competence and experience.

2. No jerks

As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split. —Kurt Vonnegut

Few things will more quickly deflate a writer than unnecessarily harsh criticism. Being honest and being brutal are not the same thing. Critics must learn to express hard truths without coddling and without being jerks.

Even rude people can be good writers with valuable insights into the craft. The problem is that if you express valid insights obnoxiously, the author won’t care. In order for people to listen, they must feel that the person criticizing them has their best interest in mind, and being harsh doesn’t communicate your best interest.

In my earliest days writing, I received some negative criticism from a writer who decided to berate me for penning a bad phrase rather than explaining to me why the phrase didn’t work. Because he was rude, I insulated myself to his criticism. Years later, I reviewed the work and realized his criticism was valid. The problem was not the content of his criticism, but its malicious delivery. Had he come to my work with the desire to be genuinely helpful, I would have listened to what he had to say, and I might even have gained some enlightenment during a formative time in my writing career. The critic did me doubly wrong not only by being obnoxious, but by retarding my growth as a writer.

Unnecessarily harsh criticism is a sign of literary and personal immaturity. Don’t be a jerk.

3. Don’t be too timid

Flattering friends corrupt. —St. Augustine

Every writer likes to be praised, especially by those not obligated to praise them due to marital status or having given birth to them. But depthless praise can be just as damaging as heartless criticism. The reason for this is that it offers no real commentary on the work.

Refusing to offer criticism where it’s needed is one of the greatest disservices you as a critic can do for other writers. Some critics may fret that their criticism might be too discouraging if fully disclosed. Critics must contend with the reality that writing is art, people have opinions about art, and those opinions are not always going to be eruptions of praise. There is no safer environment to honestly and succinctly point out problem areas in a piece of writing than a forum designed for that very purpose.

None of this is to say that you shouldn’t commend a piece of work if it truly is fantastic or that you should not highlight the gems within a work. Again: constructive criticism is honest criticism. If a work is so well-crafted in your eyes that nothing worse than grammatical hiccups are present, tell the writer. They deserve to know they’ve done a fine job. Sometimes people genuinely deserve a “well done.” Don’t skimp on encouragement where it can be authentically offered. Even if a piece is messy, do your best to find a few strong points to highlight. It will express your best interest—especially if you had a lot of hard things to say.

The difference between a critique vs. criticism is whether it’s constructive

Be constructive , meaning, have the best intentions for helping the writer. This may mean telling hard truths. If hard truths must be told, do so respectfully. If praise is deserved, offer it. Highlight the strong points of a piece—even if they are far outweighed by the negative points. Be genuine in your motivations, and genuine action will follow.

Considering authorial intent while critique writing

This section concerns authorial intent and has as its purpose the critic’s growth as an interpreter of that intent. This section is not so much about judging an author’s intent as it’s about being aware of that intent and factoring that awareness into your commentary.

1. Context is king

It is important to appreciate the amount of subjectivity and pre-understanding all readers and listeners bring to the process of interpreting acts of human communication. But unless a speaker or author can retain the right to correct someone’s interpretation by saying ‘but that’s not what I meant’ or ‘that’s not even consistent with what I meant,’ all human communication will quickly break down. —Craig L. Blomberg

While interpreters are always within their rights to read whatever they want however they want to, what they are not at liberty to decide is authorial intent —what the author desired the audience to receive from their work.

As a reader and a critic, you must be careful to understand an author’s work on their own terms while also interpreting those words. There is a substantial difference between, “This is how I’m hearing what you’re saying,” and, “This is what I say your words mean.” Don’t presume to tell an author what their work is supposed to mean, but do tell them how you’re interpreting what they’ve written.

A work-in-progress can suffer from a variety of ailments. Contextual questions are not cut-and-dry like questions of syntax, grammar, or, to a degree, plotting. Questions of context have to do with the interaction of author intent and reader interpretation. They’re murky waters to navigate because you as the reader have to exercise a bit of telepathy; you have to try and get inside the author’s head, ultimately “What is the author trying to convey with this sentence, this piece? Who is this piece for, and will it successfully communicate with that target audience? Is it clear that there is a target audience?”

Some authors are great at genre pieces; they know all the chords to strike, they know what the tone of the piece should be, the kinds of characters who should appear. Other authors can completely muck it up. They’ll write a romance piece that reads like a technical manual or a flowery memoir with a tangle of dead-ending tangents. It’s not always easy and natural for new critics to explain why something does or doesn’t work, but innately, we know. When those moments come up, let the author know.

2. The unintended/unspoken

Asking the question, “Is that really what you meant?” isn’t always bad. All of us have been misunderstood. Sometimes the results are humorous, but other times, we’re grateful for the opportunity to correct misunderstandings.

If in your criticism you find yourself questioning the use of a word or phrase, or even of a character, idea, or plot point, it’s advisable to bring such questions to the writer’s attention. It may just be you, but it may not just be you. Unless the writer has a philosophical axe to grind, they probably mean to communicate clearly, and it should at least be made known that they may have botched it up.

Conversely, there are instances where things left unwritten speak volumes. Perhaps a character “falls off the radar” in mid-scene, and it leaves you scratching your head? It may be appropriate to point out confusing instances of the unwritten for the author’s consideration.

Because my own novel employs many neologisms, critics jumping in mid-story often highlight those neologisms to make sure I’m using them as intended. While it can get tedious to say to myself, “Yes, that is what it means,” I am always thankful for keen eyes. This is the kind of sharp, considerate criticism each of us should aim for and be thankful for if we receive it.

3. Accounting for genre and intended audience

A genre is “A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.” When reading an author’s work, it’s crucial to take into account its genre and intended audience. If you’re even-handed in your critiquing, you’ll at some point be reading a story in a genre you might not otherwise touch, and while you might wish Twilight had been a one-off rather than a worldwide phenomenon, it’s inappropriate to harshly judge an author’s work simply because you don’t like their sort of story.

Consider the question of author intent and how that intent will resonate with an intended (or unintended!) audience. Sometimes, you must ignore whether or not a story resonates with you personally. Instead, ask yourself if it would resonate with your vampire-novel-loving daughter. Are the story, plot devices, characters, and verbiage appropriate for the intended audience? If yes, why or why not? If no, why or why not? Your personal tastes should not dictate the quality of your criticism. Train yourself to offer valuable insight even on writing you’d never pay money to read.

Remember these principles when reading work outside your sphere of interest. Being constructive doesn’t mean you have to love or even like the work. If something is written well, it’s written well—prejudices aside. If you’re truly unable to be objective, you would do the writer a better service by moving on.

4. Don’t pretend to be a non-writer

A film director watches other films differently than a moviegoer. A chef tastes a meal differently than the average person. As a writer, you necessarily see stories differently than non-writers. That’s not a bad thing.

We can be helpful to other writers by sharing our gut reactions no differently than an unversed beta reader. On the other hand, writers should be able to explain with more clarity than the average person why something does or doesn’t work in a story. A writer’s insight is of a different quality than a non-initiate’s insight. Both are needed for success, because if a writer one day moves on to pitch their work to those in the literary establishment, that work will not be judged by average readers until after it has survived the professional gauntlet.

All readers have the ability to share their gut reactions, but not all readers can slip on their “writer glasses” and offer critique on that level. Good critiques provide both types of insight, so as a fellow writer, bring your full experience to bear in helping others embarking on the same journey.

Understanding intent is part of a good critique

As best as you’re able, judge an author’s work on the basis of their intent—this includes noting instances of the unintended! In consideration of genre, judge the work not on the basis of your interest in the genre, but on the author’s skill at writing a piece that strikes the proper chords within the genre they’ve chosen. It’s not possible for you to read as a reader only, so don’t pretend to be something you’re not.

What makes a good critique?

A good writer may come out of any intellectual discipline at all. Every art and science gives the writer its own special ways of seeing, gives him experience with interesting people, and can provide him with means of making a living… It is not necessary—or perhaps even advisable—that the young writer major in literature. —John Gardner

Contrary to the belief of a lot of new writers, learning to write and critique doesn’t require sixty-four credits of college English or an MFA. Plenty of writers and editors don’t hold English or Creative Writing degrees, and while I in no way wish to discourage those who choose to improve their writing and reviewing by taking the high road of formal education, neither do I wish to discourage the 98% of you reading this who haven’t and won’t be able to front the money and time for such an education.

The ability to forge valid criticism is an applied skill learned through a combination of technical knowledge and experience. We’re fortunate to live in an age where vast quantities of technical information are available at our fingertips. Contemporary writers are able to write informed literature like never before. So, too, are critics able to fact-check writers like never before.

Just as you’re willing to fact-check history or science before you include something in your story, it doesn’t hurt to do that for those you critique. Granted, they should do that themselves, but maybe they’re writing a genre you write, or maybe they’re writing about your field of work or interest? Being educated or experienced in any field will enrich not only your writing, but your critiquing. If you’re a fry cook, your ability to write or critique a scene in a modern commercial kitchen is better than that of someone who hasn’t had that experience. Because you know what it’s like to really work in a kitchen, you can speak to the authenticity of any such scene, and you can speak to the authenticity of the kinds of people who work in commercial kitchens. Your grammar may not be the best, but you still have something valuable to contribute.

Great writers are keen observers of life, and their writing both informs and is by informed by life. Bring the authenticity of your life to your writing and your criticism. You have perspectives, knowledge, and experiences others don’t. As you read and respond to authors, employ the skills and knowledge you already possess. Put your formal and informal education and your life experience to work. This is what it means to “write what you know” and, in our case, “critique what you know.”

Immerse yourself in all sorts of stories to get better at critiquing

One of the cardinal “writing for dummies” rules is that if you want to write well, you need to read a lot. I don’t doubt the validity of this statement, but books are only one medium of storytelling among many. My contention is that by immersing yourself in movies, television, and other storytelling mediums, you can learn about dialogue, plot, characterization, and all the other aspects of “storytelling” that appear no matter what medium you choose.

If you want to understand what makes a story great, seek out great stories. Immerse yourself in them. Though you may not be able to verbalize it, your innate understanding of what makes a narrative work will grow. This will improve both your writing and your critiquing.

Steal critiquing techniques from smart people–yourself included

Consider the critiques that have been most helpful to you. Why did they work? Reread them if you must. Then find a way to adapt the good things from those critiques into your own criticism.

Consider the critiques you’ve shared that have been helpful to others. What stood out to the author? You may even consider asking an author for feedback on your critique. Ask how you could have been more helpful.

Critiquing is a skill you can improve over time just like writing itself. But like writing, it takes practice and discipline. Make it easier on yourself by nurturing what works.

A reading list to improving your critique writing skills

There are many solid books on writing that will not only improve your writing, but your critical reading skills. Rather than provide you a hundred sources, here are a few I’ve been able to get my claws on, have dug into, and can personally vouch for:

Good Prose , by Tracy Kidder & Richard Todd. The writer-editor combo of The Atlantic share their wisdom through a tightly-edited, insightful, and entertaining survey of nonfiction writing that has plenty of benefit for writers of all stripes. The book’s section on “proportion and order” in narrative has revolutionized my own thinking about how stories should be structured.

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy , by Orson Scott Card. A good resource if you write these genres, Card provides practical advice on publishing, agents, etc., in addition to familiarizing the reader with dos and don’ts for writing Sci-Fi/Fantasy, including some technical questions. The book’s a bit dated by now—especially the parts about the publishing world—but there are some nuggets of timeless truth within.

On Becoming a Novelist , by John Gardner. Despite the Modernistic tendency of abusing the pronoun “he,” this may be the most formative thing I’ve read about novel writing. It’s slim, readable, practical, and comprehensive.

On Writing , by Stephen King. Something of an autobiography penned by one of the most successful authors of all time, this book is snappy, humorous, entertaining, and more than a little instructive for anyone looking to write and read better. King reminds his fellow writers that “Life isn’t a support system for art; it’s the other way around.”

Story , by Robert McKee. Considered by many to be the “screenwriter’s bible,” Story belongs in the library of every serious writer whether or not they ever aspire to the silver screen. McKee is a master of properly balancing a plot to satisfy an audience, and all writers should glean from his wisdom.

The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop , by Stephen Koch. Koch flexes his student’s muscles by providing copious citations from the masters who have graced the past few centuries of literature. The author fades into the background at points while readers are treated to the musings and experiences of Dostoevsky, Flannery O’Connor, Hemingway, and others.

The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers , by Christopher Vogler. Vogler is one of the most proficient living writers of the entertainment industry. Working primarily from the theses of the late cultural anthropologist, Joseph Campbell, Vogler illustrates the plot devices and character tropes that underlie the world’s oldest stories. Recommended for new writers of the speculative fiction genres and those who wish to write epics.

The value of criticism and critiquing

The arts too can be taught, up to a point; but except for certain matters of technique, one does not learn the arts, one simply catches on. —John Gardner

The value of criticism is twofold: First and most obviously, it helps others. Second, and maybe not as apparent if you’re new to critiquing: It improves your own writing.

As you examine the work of others, you’ll be able to see what works and what doesn’t work. You will begin to notice patterns as you edit your own writing, and you’ll begin to sift out the problem areas. It’s difficult to judge your own work objectively. Doing it for others helps you get a clear head and recognize the ways in which you do the very things you criticize others for doing.

This article hasn’t had as a goal the outlining of a criticism “process.” The reason for this is that I could no more outline a criticism process than I could outline a fiction writing process. There is no single monolithic “right way to do it” that will unequivocally work for everyone. Herein are general guidelines and considerations that I’ve found helpful over the years and that others have appreciated. If you write critiques constructively, taking consideration of what the author is trying to do, and if you do so authentically, drawing on your experiences and knowledge, you’re on the right track for writing great critiques. The details of how exactly you accomplish that will become clearer to you as you engage in criticism. As in any discipline: Seek feedback and keep going.

Appendix I: “Line edits” and “critiques”

“Line edits” and “critiques” are not the same thing. These two types of reader responses address different issues, and in order to ensure that you receive the kind of criticism you’re seeking, you need to know what you’re displaying.

A “line edit” is a thorough, line-by-line examination of a manuscript. A good line edit requires an editor with a keen eye for detail and a working knowledge of contemporary grammar, syntax, and idiomatic English. The purpose of a line edit is to make a manuscript as readable as possible by removing technical errors. Typically, works that receive line edits receive them because they’re in need of them.

A “critique” is an in-depth review, touching on characterization, plot, theme, scene structure, poetry of language, and other related factors. Notice how I didn’t list anything about spelling or proper comma usage? It’s because that’s not critiquing; that’s editing. Typically, works that receive criticism as described here are free or mostly free of errors that distract readers from the story.

No one is perfect, and one of the best tools at our disposal on Scribophile is the inline critique option. Having never read nor submitted a flawless piece of writing for review, I can tell you that no one should be ashamed to receive a line edit. There are many sharp eyes and sharp minds browsing Scribophile, and even the best writer’s eyes glaze over after so many hours of staring at a white screen.

That said, part of what is absolutely necessary to receive genuine criticism as described above is a readable text. An unreadable text has never, in my experience, provided foundation for a fantastic piece of writing. Messy prose screams “messy story.” If you want criticism of story, your text must be as clean as possible.

If you’re willing to admit that your mastery of the technicalities of writing is not the sharpest, by all means, employ the knowledge and expertise of those on this site who do; it’s a wonderful resource. Readers can’t truly resonate with your story until you weave a piece of art that makes them forget they’re experiencing a piece of art. When you’re able to achieve this, you’ve removed the hurdles preventing your reader from authentically engaging with the story you’ve created. It’s at this stage in your writing that you can consistently receive deep criticism.

This is, of course, not to say that imperfect prose can’t be critiqued. Part of writing great critiques is learning to spot the gems in the story and encouraging the writer to press onward in spite of any shortcomings. If you’re honest and genuine, this won’t be a problem.

If all else fails, list at the top of your submitted piece the sort of critique you’re seeking by highlighting specific questions. “I’d love to know how you reacted when X happened,” for example. This will encourage readers to engage with the sorts of questions you’re asking.

Appendix II: The Benefits and Limits of Critique Groups

If you understand how to best leverage critique groups, they will be helpful and formative to your growth. As written above, critiquing others helps you grow; but there is more. The benefits of critique groups are threefold.

First, broad exposure. Want to know what people outside of your social circle will think of your work? A critique group will expose your work to people of different backgrounds. You can learn how a teen writer with big dreams or a Native American ex-botanist writing a memoir in retirement reacts to your story. This is the type of demographic insight you’d pay good money for when it comes time to sell your book. Even in small chunks, it’s valuable to know how different people experience your work.

Second, many eyes forge sharper prose. If three different people all trip over the same thing in your text, the problem is most likely not those three people, but your text. Especially if your text is hot off the press, you can catch errors early, and writers tend to be sharper with these sorts of things than the general population. Go look up the cost of a professional manuscript editor in your area, and you’ll be glad for many eyes combing over your writing.

Third, and most importantly: networking. The goal of sites like Scribophile and in-person critique groups should be to develop a network of people who will read the entirety of your work. Don’t get angry at forks for not being spoons—a reader jumping in mid-story will never give you the same level of commentary as someone who’s been reading since chapter one. If you’re ready for that level of reading, you need others to agree to read the book from start to finish. Use critique groups and sites like Scribophile to build relationships. Be attentive to others and share good critiques with them. As your relationships deepen, you’ll eventually find yourself with a list of contacts to trade with. But this requires you to be the kind of person people want reading their work. Behave professionally, and over time, you’ll find yourself surrounded by likeminded individuals who will give you the kind of meaty, informed commentary you need. The rule of thumb with critique groups and workshop websites is: You get out what you put in to them.

Appendix III: Still confused?

If you have questions I have failed to address in this article, I encourage you to contact me privately here on Scribophile or to reach out on social media. I’m happy to help.

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To critique a piece of writing is to do the following:

• describe: give the reader a sense of the writer’s overall purpose and intent
• analyze: examine how the structure and language of the text convey its meaning
• interpret: state the significance or importance of each part of the text
• assess: make a judgment of the work’s worth or value

FORMATTING A CRITIQUE

Here are two structures for critiques, one for nonfiction and one for fiction/literature.

The Critique Format for Nonfiction

Introduction

• name of author and work
• general overview of subject and summary of author's argument
• focusing (or thesis) sentence indicating how you will divide the whole work for discussion or the particular elements you will discuss
• objective description of a major point in the work
• detailed analysis of how the work conveys an idea or concept
• interpretation of the concept
• repetition of description, analysis, interpretation if more than one major concept is covered
• overall interpretation
• relationship of particular interpretations to subject as a whole
• critical assessment of the value, worth, or meaning of the work, both negative and positive

The Critique Format for Fiction/Literature

• brief summary/description of work as a whole
• focusing sentence indicating what element you plan to examine
• general indication of overall significance of work
• literal description of the first major element or portion of the work
• detailed analysis
• interpretation
• literal description of second major element
• interpretation (including, if necessary, the relationship to the first major point)
• overall interpretation of the elements studied
• consideration of those elements within the context of the work as a whole
• critical assessment of the value, worth, meaning, or significance of the work, both positive and negative

You may not be asked in every critique to assess a work, only to analyze and interpret it. If you are asked for a personal response, remember that your assessment should not be the expression of an unsupported personal opinion. Your interpretations and your conclusions must be based on evidence from the text and follow from the ideas you have dealt with in the paper.

Remember also that a critique may express a positive as well as a negative assessment. Don't confuse critique with criticize in the popular sense of the word, meaning “to point out faults.”

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A Guide to Critiquing a Story: Seven Vital Elements Every Story Must Have

Frequently authors ask if I have a “form” that I used to help me critique a story. Given the large number of things that I look at in a story, any form that I had would simply be too long to be workable. Yet it makes sense to try to codify the critiquing process.

There are of course people who don’t believe that art can or should be measured. They might say, “Sure, this author uses the passive voice so much that his tale flows slower than cold tar, but his stunning insights are unsurpassed in literature.” They’d be right. Yet if you’ve ever had to judge stories professionally, you soon find that you have to devise some logic for deciding how to gauge the relative merits of tales, and I’ve been judging stories for contests and classes for some twenty years.

So I’m going to create a form that I might use to judge a story:

Story Critique Form

1. Originality. On a scale of 1 to 10, how original was this story? A 1 means that the story is cliché while a 10 means that it has at least a couple of ideas that I haven’t encountered before. ______

2. Setting. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well was the setting developed? A 1 indicates that the setting was poorly developed. This means that is almost completely disappeared from the story, or that I felt confused as to where and when the tale took place in one or more scenes. Of course, the author should involve all of the senses in describing his or her setting. A 10 means that not only is the setting well-developed, but it informs every aspect of the story—from character development to tone and narrative style. In a story that rates a 10, the setting itself is a powerful draw for the story, and the author succeeded in transporting me into the tale. ______

3. Characterization. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well-drawn are the characters in the story? Good characters should convince us that they grew up in the world or setting that we’ve placed them in. They should have complex motives and be imbued with conflicting attitudes about life, ethics, politics, and so on. The characters should have friends, enemies, acquaintances, secrets, desires and fears. The character should have a physical body, with a physical history. The character should have a family, of course, and some type of history, along with a place in society. In short, with a poorly drawn character, we know virtually nothing about him by the end of the story. With a well-drawn character, we feel as if we know him intimately by the end of the story. ______

4. Conflict and Plot. On a scale of1 to 10, how interesting are the conflicts? Since the characters, along with their motives and abilities really lead to a plot, then one must also consider the twists and turns of the plot. How inventive are they? How exciting? How engrossing? ______

5. Emotional/intellectual payoff. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well did this story arouse powerful emotions? If it did arouse powerful emotions, were they the proper emotions for the intended audience (as gauged by the age and sex of the protagonists)? Remember that the author shouldn’t be hitting the same emotional beats over and over again. Instead, the author should be creating an emotional symphony, where counter-beats help raise the emotional payoff. ______

6. Theme. On a scale of 1 to 10, how well did this story speak to the reader? Does it raise interesting questions about life and provide profound insights? A rating of “1” means that I don’t really see either one. A rating of “10” means that the author astounded me. ______

7. Treatment. On a scale of 1 to 10, how masterfully was the tale written on a line-by-line basis? A poor story, a tale that earns a 1, might be difficult to read simply because of something like “pronoun reference problems,” or it may be marred by typos and grammatical problems. A tale worthy of a 10 will be written not only in language that is beautiful and evocative, but it will also move with effortless pacing. Too often, authors who write beautifully work too hard to impress the reader and end up cluttering the tale will too many metaphors or overwrought pacing. In doing so, they struggle to draw attention to themselves rather than tell a story. ______

These are the big-ticket items that I look for in a story. You’d think that there would be more, but as you can see I lump things into large categories. For example, an author’s “treatment” can include hundreds of items. An author might have a surprisingly large and facile vocabulary, and that would be a plus. Yet the same author might labor to create clumsy or artless similes and thus mar his work. General pacing and story flow might be part of the author’s style, or I might rank it under plotting, but it is taken into consideration.

There is one other consideration. How do you weight different categories? Is one element more important than the others?

Personally, I want a story that scores perfect tens in all categories, but I know authors who feel that in fantasy and science fiction, for example, a story with an original concept is solid gold. So a story that is fresh and original will beat out one that is beautifully written.

Similarly, in a genre such as romance, where you might well be writing with very strict guidelines, you might not be free to create radically unusual characters or unusual settings.

In short, the audience is looking for a product that delivers a powerful emotional charge. So in that genre, the story might be weighted toward emotional power.

In an upcoming post, I’m going to take the story form and break it down further, discussing some of the things that I look for when I’m considering each category.

Guest Blogger, David Farland , Coordinating Judge of the Writers of the Future Contest.

David Farland is an award-winning, international bestselling author with over 50 novels in print. He has won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award for “Best Novel in the English Language” for his science fiction novel On My Way to Paradise , the Whitney Award for “Best Novel of the Year” for his historical novel In the Company of Angels , and many more awards for his work. He is best known for his New York Times bestselling fantasy series The Runelords .

The judging criteria you detail in your 9/2017 article are useful to me. Now, how about your take on how writers can do this on their own, i.e., when and how and what. How do you know when you nailed it. Some of the points I can see come before ever taking up the pen, like originality. That is the main area in which I fall down, I believe.

Lawrence, There are several articles on the blog site about writing from several of our Contest judges. Have a look to see if any of them answer your need. If not, let me know and I will request from one of our judges an article on how they deal with this issue.

I found this article very useful to me as well, but I have one problem. As I am not a professional judge I cannot properly evaluate which stories get a “10” in something. The place to look, obviously, is the yearly anthology, where the best stories are found. However, as David Farland pointed out, not all the stories selected score a ten in all categories, if any did. So I read a story in the anthology (Useless Magic vol. 33, for example) and to me the dialogue seems stilted, the conclusion is drawn out and unsatisfying. The problem is thus: I can’t be sure if my assumptions are correct and I should avoid these pitfalls, or am I simply not mature enough to understand it. I would suggest the following (although I don’t know if it is reasonable) is that a few stories could be analyzed by the judges so that aspiring writers could know that: story A has a fascinating mileu and a strong theme, but it’s prose is weak, or, story B has a beautiful prose but it’s scientific veracity is questionable, etc.

Hello Reuben and thank you for your comment. I would recommend you join the WOTF Forum where you will find past winners and judges willing to help you out by reviewing your story and making suggestions. Here is the link: http://forum.writersofthefuture.com/

Is john goodwin the author of this article?? Can you help me in evaluating text content, elements, features and properties using a set of criteria? What criteria would fall under content, elements, features and properties?

Hi Ana, We have created the Writers of the Future Forum which you can join and find others who help each other long with such matters. The link to join (it’s free) is http://forum.writersofthefuture.com/

I wish you well.

Best, John Goodwin

Describing the cultural and social setting of your fantasy world provides you with a great opportunity to use your imagination. These cultural and social settings basically contain the specific details and elements that make your world distinct and running. When writing your fantasy story, make sure to pay attention to such details as the common cultural practices, the political system, the history, and more. Aside from this, you should also make consistent rules for your fictional world. For example, if the characters in your fictional world are all wizards with magic, then establish such fact or rule all throughout your story. Do not make sudden changes, as doing so may tend to confuse your readers. You can find my blog here: https://www.daughtersoftwilight.com/a-general-guide-on-writing-fantasy-fiction/ hope it helps to your writing journey.

Thank you for your contribution and referenced blog.

This is one of the useful articles that I am looking for so long, and thanks to that Google brought me here. You ought to compose on the grounds that you love the state of stories and sentences and the production of various words on a page. Composing comes from perusing, and perusing is the best instructor of how to compose.

Extraordinary post! I will bookmark your blog and offer this to my companions. This is one of the extraordinary records with respect to sentimental anticipation books. Keep it up!

Thank you, Monique. I am glad you enjoy it. If you look at the website itself, https://www.writersofthefuture.com , you will also see that we have a Forum, podcast, free online writing workshop taught by Orson Scott Card, Tim Powers, and David Farland.

All the words written above are very helpful. I could compose recorded fiction, or sci-fi, or a secret however since I think that it’s intriguing to investigate the pieces of information of some little know period and build up a story dependent on that, I will likely keep on doing it. Please come and visit my blog on Tips and Tricks for Writing Historical Fiction Hope this will help you as well.

Cheers Keith

Loved your content John, very well-written! I have been reading posts regarding this topic and this post is one of the most interesting and informative ones I have read. Thank you for this!

You are very welcome!

Great stories shock us. They cause us to think and to feel. They stick in our psyches and assist us with recalling thoughts and ideas such that a PowerPoint packed with visual diagrams won’t ever can. You can check out and visit my blog on https://byronconnerbooks.com/the-secrets-to-telling-a-powerful-story/

Great information. Fantasy is an important fixing in living, it’s a perspective on through some unacceptable finish of a telescope. Thanks for posting.

Fiction refers to literary works that are created from the imagination, rather than being based strictly on real events or facts. In fiction, authors invent characters, settings, and plotlines to tell a story.

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Writing a Critique Paper: Seven Easy Steps

Were you assigned or asked by your professor to write a critique paper? It’s easy to write one. Just follow the following four steps in writing a critique paper and three steps in presenting it, then you’re ready to go.

One of the students’ requirements I specified in the course module is a critique paper. Just so everyone benefits from the guide I prepared for that class, I share it here.

To standardize the format they use in writing a critique paper, I came up with the following steps to make their submissions worthwhile.

Since they are graduate students, more is expected of them. Hence, most of the verbs I use in writing the lesson’s objectives reside in the domain of higher thinking skills or HOTS. Developing the students’ critical thinking skills will help them analyze future problems and propose solutions that embody environmental principles thus resonate desirable outcomes aligned with the goal of sustainable development.

Table of Contents

Step-by-step procedure in writing a critique paper.

I quickly wrote this simple guide on writing a critique paper to help you evaluate any composition you want to write about. It could be a book, a scientific article, a gray paper, or whatever your professor assigns. I integrated the essence of the approach in this article.

The critique paper essentially comprises two major parts, namely the:

1) Procedure in Writing a Critique Paper, and the

2) Format of the Critique Paper.

First, you will need to know the procedure that will guide you in evaluating a paper. Second, the format of the critique paper refers to how you present it so that it becomes logical and scholarly in tone.

The Four Steps in Writing a Critique Paper

Here are the four steps in writing a critique paper:

To write a good critique paper, it pays to adhere to a smooth flow of thought in your evaluation of the piece. You will need to introduce the topic, analyze, interpret, then conclude it.

Introduce the Discussion Topic

Introduce the topic of the critique paper. To capture the author’s idea, you may apply the  5Ws and 1H approach  in writing your technical report.

That means, when you write your critique paper, you should be able to answer the Why , When , Where , What , Who , and How questions. Using this approach prevents missing out on the essential details. If you can write a critique paper that adheres to this approach, that would be excellent.

Here’s a simplified example to illustrate the technique:

The news article by John Doe was a narrative about a bank robbery. Accordingly, a masked man  (Who)  robbed a bank  (What)  the other day  (When)  next to a police station  (Where) . He did so in broad daylight  (How) . He used a bicycle to escape from the scene of the crime  (How) . In his haste, he bumped into a post. His mask fell off; thus, everyone saw his face, allowing witnesses to describe him. As a result, he had difficulty escaping the police, who eventually retrieved his loot and put him in jail because of his wrongdoing  (Why) .

Hence, you give details about the topic, in this case, a bank robbery. Briefly describe what you want to tell your audience. State the overall purpose of writing the piece and its intention.

Is the essay written to inform, entertain, educate, raise an issue for debate, and so on? Don’t parrot or repeat what the writer wrote in his paper. And write a paragraph or a few sentences as succinctly as you can.

Analyze means to break down the abstract ideas presented into manageable bits.

What are the main points of the composition? How was it structured? Did the view expressed by the author allow you, as the reader, to understand?

In the example given above, it’s easy to analyze the event as revealed by the chain of events. How do you examine the situation?

The following steps are helpful in the analysis of information:

• Ask yourself what your objective is in writing the critique paper. Come up with a guidepost in examining it. Are you looking at it with some goal or purpose in mind? Say you want to find out how thieves carry out bank robberies. Perhaps you can categorize those robberies as either planned or unplanned.
• Find out the source, or  basis, of the information that you need. Will you use the paper as your source of data, or do you have corroborating evidence?
• Remove  unnecessary information  from your data source. Your decision to do so depends on your objective. If there is irrelevant data, remove it from your critique.

We can use an analogy here to clearly explain the analysis portion.

If you want to split a log, what would you do? Do you use an ax, a chainsaw, or perhaps a knife? The last one is out of the question. It’s inappropriate.

Thus, it would be best if you defined the tools of your analysis. Tools facilitate understanding and allow you to make an incisive analysis.

Read More : 5 Tools in Writing the Analysis Section of the Critique Paper

Now, you are ready to interpret the article, book, or any composition once the requisites of analysis are in place.

Visualize the event in your mind and interpret the behavior of actors in the bank robbery incident. You have several actors in that bank heist: the robber, the police, and the witnesses of the crime.

While reading the story, it might have occurred to you that the robber is inexperienced. We can see some discrepancies in his actions.

Imagine, his mode of escape is a bicycle. What got into him? Maybe he did not plan the robbery at all. Besides, there was no mention that the robber used a gun in the heist.

That fact confirms the first observation that he was not ready at all. Escaping the scene of the crime using a bicycle with nothing to defend himself once pursued? He’s insane. Unimaginable. He’s better off sleeping at home and waiting for food to land on his lap if food will come at all.

If we examine the police’s response, they were relatively quick. Right after the robber escaped the crime scene, they appeared to remedy the situation. The robber did not put up a fight.

What? With bare knuckles? It makes little sense.

If we look at the witnesses’ behavior, we can discern that perhaps they willingly informed the police of the bank robber’s details. They were not afraid. And that’s because the robber appears to be unarmed. But there was no specific mention of it.

Narrate the importance of each of the different sections or paragraphs. How does the write-up contribute to the overall picture of the issue or problem being studied?

Assess or Evaluate

Finally, judge whether the article was a worthwhile account after all. Did it meet expectations? Was it able to convey the information most efficiently? Or are there loopholes or flaws that should have been mentioned?

Format of Presenting the Critique Paper

The logical format in writing a critique paper comprises at least three sections: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. This approach is systematic and achieves a good flow that readers can follow.

Introduction

Include the title and name of the author in your introduction. Make a general description of the topic being discussed, including the author’s assumptions, inferences, or contentions. Find out the thesis or central argument , which will be the basis of your discussion.

The robbery example appears to be inappropriate to demonstrate this section, as it is so simple. So we level up to a scientific article.

In any scientific article, there is always a thesis that guides the write-up. A thesis is a statement that expresses what the author believes in and tries to test in his study. The investigation or research converges (ideally) to this central theme as the author’s argument.

You can find the thesis in the paper’s hypothesis section. That’s because a hypothesis is a tentative thesis. Hypo means “below or under,” meaning it is the author’s tentative explanation of whatever phenomenon he tackles.

If you need more information about this, please refer to my previous post titled “ How to Write a Thesis .”

How is the introduction of a critique paper structured? It follows the general guidelines of writing from a broad perspective to more specific concerns or details. See how it’s written here:  Writing a Thesis Introduction: from General to Specific .

You may include the process you adopted in writing the critique paper in this section.

The body of the paper includes details about the article being examined. It is here where you place all those musings of yours after applying the  analytical tools .

This section is similar to the results and discussion portion of a scientific paper. It describes the outcome of your analysis and interpretation.

In explaining or expressing your argument, substantiate it by citing references to make it believable. Make sure that those references are relevant as well as timely. Don’t cite references that are so far out in the past. These, perhaps, would not amount to a better understanding of the topic at hand. Find one that will help you understand the situation.

Besides, who wants to adopt the perspective of an author who has not even got hold of a mobile phone if your paper is about  using mobile phones to facilitate learning during the pandemic caused by COVID-19 ? Find a more recent one that will help you understand the situation.

Objectively examine the major points presented by the author by giving details about the work. How does the author present or express the idea or concept? Is he (or she) convincing the way he/she presents his/her paper’s thesis?

Well, I don’t want to be gender-biased, but I find the “he/she” term somewhat queer. I’ll get back to the “he” again, to represent both sexes.

I mention the gender issue because the literature says that there is a difference in how a person sees things based on gender. For example, Ragins & Sundstrom (1989) observed that it would be more difficult for women to obtain power in the organization than men. And there’s a paper on gender and emotions by Shields et al. (2006) , although I wouldn’t know the outcome of that study as it is behind a paywall. My point is just that there is a difference in perspective between men and women. Alright.

Therefore, always find evidence to support your position. Explain why you agree or disagree with the author. Point out the discrepancies or strengths of the paper.

Well, everything has an end. Write a critique paper that incorporates the  key takeaways  of the document examined. End the critique with an overall interpretation of the article, whatever that is.

Why do you think is the paper relevant in the course’s context that you are taking? How does it contribute to say, the study of human behavior (in reference to the bank robbery)? Are there areas that need to be considered by future researchers, investigators, or scientists? That will be the knowledge gap that the next generation of researchers will have to look into.

If you have read up to this point, then thank you for reading my musings. I hope that helped you clarify the steps in writing a critique paper. A well-written critique paper depends on your writing style.

Read More : How to Write an Article with AI: A Guide to Using AI for Article Creation and Refinement

Notice that my writing style changes based on the topic that I discuss. Hence, if your professor assigns you a serious, rigorous, incisive, and detailed analysis of a scientific article, then that is the way to go. Adopt a formal mode in your writing.

Final Tip : Find a paper that is easy for you to understand. In that way, you can clearly express your thoughts. Write a critique paper that rocks!

Related Reading

Master Content Analysis: An All-in-One Guide

Ragins, B. R., & Sundstrom, E. (1989). Gender and power in organizations: A longitudinal perspective. Psychological bulletin , 105 (1), 51.

Shields, S. A., Garner, D. N., Di Leone, B., & Hadley, A. M. (2006). Gender and emotion. In Handbook of the sociology of emotions (pp. 63-83). Springer, Boston, MA.

© 2020 November 20 P. A. Regoniel

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About the author, patrick regoniel.

Dr. Regoniel, a faculty member of the graduate school, served as consultant to various environmental research and development projects covering issues and concerns on climate change, coral reef resources and management, economic valuation of environmental and natural resources, mining, and waste management and pollution. He has extensive experience on applied statistics, systems modelling and analysis, an avid practitioner of LaTeX, and a multidisciplinary web developer. He leverages pioneering AI-powered content creation tools to produce unique and comprehensive articles in this website.

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How to Write a Critique Paper: Format, Tips, & Critique Essay Examples

A critique paper is an academic writing genre that summarizes and gives a critical evaluation of a concept or work. Or, to put it simply, it is no more than a summary and a critical analysis of a specific issue. This type of writing aims to evaluate the impact of the given work or concept in its field.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

Want to learn more? Continue reading this article written by Custom-writing experts! It contains:

• best tips on how to critique an article or a literary work,
• a critique paper example with introduction, body, and conclusion.

💁 What Is a Critique Paper?

• 👣 Critical Writing Steps

👀 Critical Essay Types

📝 critique paper format, 📑 critique paper outline, 🔗 references.

A critique is a particular academic writing genre that requires you to carefully study, summarize, and critically analyze a study or a concept. In other words, it is nothing more than a critical analysis. That is all you are doing when writing a critical essay: trying to understand the work and present an evaluation. Critical essays can be either positive or negative, as the work deserves.

👣 How to Write a Critique Essay: Main Steps

Starting critique essays is the most challenging part. You are supposed to substantiate your opinion with quotes and paraphrases, avoiding retelling the entire text. A critical analysis aims to find out whether an article or another piece of writing is compelling. First, you need to formulate the author’s thesis: what was the literary work supposed to convey? Then, explore the text on how this main idea was elaborated. Finally, draft your critique according to the structure given below.

Step 1: Critical Reading

1.1. Attentively read the literary work. While reading, make notes and underline the essentials.

• Try to come into the author’s world and think why they wrote such a piece.
• Point out which literary devices are successful. Some research in literary theory may be required.
• Find out what you dislike about the text, i.e., controversies, gaps, inconsistency, or incompleteness.

1.2. Find or formulate the author’s thesis. 

• What is the principal argument? In an article, it can be found in the first paragraph.
• In a literary work, formulate one of the principal themes, as the thesis is not explicit.
• If you write a critique of painting, find out what feelings, emotions, or ideas, the artist attempted to project.

1.3. Make a summary or synopsis of the analyzed text. 

• One paragraph will suffice. You can use it in your critique essay, if necessary.
• The point is to explore the gist.

Step 2: Analyzing the Text

After the reading phase, ask yourself the following questions :

• What was your emotional response to the text? Which techniques, images, or ideas made you feel so?
• Find out the author’s background. Which experiences made them raise such a thesis? What other significant works have they written that demonstrate the general direction of thought of this person?
• Are the concepts used correctly in the text? Are the references reliable, and do they sufficiently substantiate the author’s opinion?

Step 3: Drafting the Essay

Finally, it is time to draft your essay. First of all, you’ll need to write a brief overview of the text you’re analyzing. Then, formulate a thesis statement – one sentence that will contain your opinion of the work under scrutiny. After that, make a one-paragraph summary of the text.

You can use this simple template for the draft version of your analysis. Another thing that can help you at this step is a summary creator to make the creative process more efficient.

Critique Paper Template

• Start with an introductory phrase about the domain of the work in question.
• Tell which work you are going to analyze, its author, and year of publication.
• Specify the principal argument of the work under study.
• In the third sentence, clearly state your thesis.
• Here you can insert the summary you wrote before.
• This is the only place where you can use it. No summary can be written in the main body!
• Use one paragraph for every separate analyzed aspect of the text (style, organization, fairness/bias, etc.).
• Each paragraph should confirm your thesis (e.g., whether the text is effective or ineffective).
• Each paragraph shall start with a topic sentence, followed by evidence, and concluded with a statement referring to the thesis.
• Provide a final judgment on the effectiveness of the piece of writing.
• Summarize your main points and restate the thesis, indicating that everything you said above confirms it.

You can evaluate the chosen work or concept in several ways. Pick the one you feel more comfortable with from the following:

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• Descriptive critical essays examine texts or other works. Their primary focus is usually on certain features of a work, and it is common to compare and contrast the subject of your analysis to a classic example of the genre to which it belongs.
• Evaluative critical essays provide an estimate of the value of the work. Was it as good as you expected based on the recommendations, or do you feel your time would have been better spent on something else?
• Interpretive essays provide your readers with answers that relate to the meaning of the work in question. To do this, you must select a method of determining the meaning, read/watch/observe your analysis subject using this method, and put forth an argument.

There are also different types of critiques. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, in the article “ Writing critiques ,” discusses them as well as the appropriate critique language.

Critique Paper Topics

• Critique of the article Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr .
• Interpret the symbolism of Edgar Alan Poe’s The Black Cat .
• Examine the topicality of the article Impact of Racial/Ethnic Differences on Child Mental Health Care .  
• Critical essay on Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use .
• Discuss the value of the essay The Hanging by George Orwell .
• A critique on the article Stocks Versus Bonds : Explaining the Equity Risk Premium .
• Explore the themes Tennessee Williams reveals in The Glass Menagerie.
• Analyze the relevance of the article Leadership Characteristics and Digital Transformation .
• Critical evaluation of Jonathan Harvey’s play Beautiful Thing .
• Analyze and critique Derek Raymond’s story He Died with His Eyes Open .
• Discuss the techniques author uses to present the problem of choice in The Plague .
• Examine and evaluate the research article Using Evidence-Based Practice to Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia . 
• Explore the scientific value of the article Our Future: A Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing .
• Describe the ideas E. Hemingway put into his A Clean, Well-Lighted Place .
• Analyze the literary qualities of Always Running La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L. A .
• Critical writing on The Incarnation of Power by Wright Mills. 
• Explain the strengths and shortcomings of Tim Kreider’s article The Busy Trap .
• Critical response to Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway .
• Examine the main idea of Richard Godbeer’s book Escaping Salem .
• The strong and weak points of the article The Confusion of Tongues by William G. Bellshaw .
• Critical review of Gulliver’s Travels .
• Analyze the stylistic devices Anthony Lewis uses in Gideon’s Trumpet.
• Examine the techniques Elie Wiesel uses to show relationship transformation in the book Night .
• Critique of the play Fences by August Wilson .
• The role of exposition in Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart.
• The main themes John Maxwell discusses in his book Disgrace .
• Critical evaluation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 .
• The ideas and concept of the book The Vegetarian Imperative .  
• Different points of view on one historical figure in the book Two Lives of Charlemagne .

Since the APA critique paper format is one of the most common, let’s discuss it in more detail. Check out the information below to learn more:

The APA Manual recommends using the following fonts:

• 11-point Calibri,
• 11-point Arial,
• 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode,
• 12-point Times New Roman,
• 11-point Georgia,
• 10-point Computer Modern.

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Add 1-inch margins on all sides.

📌 Page numbers

Page numbers should appear at the top right-hand corner, starting with the title page.

📌 Line spacing

The entire document, including the title page and reference list, should be double-spaced.

Get an originally-written paper according to your instructions!

📌 Title page

The title page should include the following information:

• page number 1 in the top right-hand corner of the page header,
• paper title,
• the student’s name,
• the name of the department and the college or university,
• course number and name,
• the instructor’s name,
• due date (the date format used in your country).

📌 Critique paper title

The title of your critique paper should be no more than 12 words. In addition, it should be centered and typed in bold using title case.

📌 In-text citations

For the in-text citation, provide the author’s last name and publication year in brackets. If you are using direct citation, add the page number after the year.

📌 References

The last page of your paper should include a list of all sources cited in your essay. Here’s a general format of book and journal article citations you should use:

Book: Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle . Publisher.

Journal article: Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title, volume (issue number), start page–end page.

The main parts of good critical response essays are:

• Introduction. The introduction is the most essential part of the critical response. It should be concise and include the author and title of the work being analyzed, its main idea, and a strong thesis statement.
• Summary. This should be brief and to the point. Only the author’s/creator’s main ideas and arguments should be included.
• Analysis/interpretation. Discuss what the author’s/creator’s primary goal was and determine whether this goal was reached successfully. Use the evidence you have gathered to argue whether or not the author/creator achieved was adequately convincing (remember there should be no personal bias in this discussion).
• Evaluation/response. At this point, your readers are ready to learn your objective response to the work. It should be professional yet entertaining to read. Do not hesitate to use strong language. You can say that the work you analyzed was weak and poorly-structured if that is the case, but keep in mind that you have to have evidence to back up your claim.
• Conclusion. The last paragraph of your work should restate the thesis statement, summarize the key points, and create a sense of closure for the readers.

Critique Paper Introduction

The introduction is setting the stage for your analysis. Here are some tips to follow when working on it:

• Provide the reader with a brief synopsis of the main points of the work you are critiquing .
• State your general opinion of the work , using it as your thesis statement. The ideal situation is that you identify and use a controversial thesis.
• Remember that you will uncover a lot of necessary information about the work you are critiquing. You mustn’t make use of all of it, providing the reader with information that is unnecessary in your critique. If you are writing about Shakespeare, you don’t have to waste your or your reader’s time going through all of his works.

Critique Paper Body

The body of the critique contains the supporting paragraphs. This is where you will provide the facts that prove your main idea and support your thesis. Follow the tips below when writing the body of your critique.

• Every paragraph must focus on a precise concept from the paper under your scrutiny , and your job is to include arguments to support or disprove that concept. Concrete evidence is required.
• A critical essay is written in the third-person and ensures the reader is presented with an objective analysis.
• Discuss whether the author was able to achieve their goals and adequately get their point across.
• It is important not to confuse facts and opinions . An opinion is a personal thought and requires confirmation, whereas a fact is supported by reliable data and requires no further proof. Do not back up one idea with another one.
• Remember that your purpose is to provide the reader with an understanding of a particular piece of literature or other work from your perspective. Be as specific as possible.

Critique Paper Conclusion

Finally, you will need to write a conclusion for your critique. The conclusion reasserts your overall general opinion of the ideas presented in the text and ensures there is no doubt in the reader’s mind about what you believe and why. Follow these tips when writing your conclusion:

• Summarize the analysis you provided in the body of the critique.
• Summarize the primary reasons why you made your analysis .
• Where appropriate, provide recommendations on how the work you critiqued can be improved.

For more details on how to write a critique, check out the great critique analysis template provided by Thompson Rivers University.

If you want more information on essay writing in general, look at the Secrets of Essay Writing .

Example of Critique Paper with Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

Check out this critical response example to “The Last Inch” by James Aldridge to show how everything works in practice:

Introduction 

In his story “The Last Inch,” James Aldridge addresses the issue of the relationship between parents and children. The author captured the young boy’s coming into maturity coinciding with a challenging trial. He also demonstrated how the twelve-year-old boy obtained his father’s character traits. Aldridge’s prose is both brutal and poetic, expressing his characters’ genuine emotions and the sad truths of their situations.

Body: Summary 

The story is about Ben Ensley, an unemployed professional pilot, who decides to capture underwater shots for money. He travels to Shark Bay with his son, Davy. Ben is severely injured after being attacked by a shark while photographing. His last hope of survival is to fly back to the little African hamlet from where they took off.

Body: Analysis 

The story effectively uses the themes of survival and fatherhood and has an intriguing and captivating plot. In addition, Ben’s metamorphosis from a failing pilot to a determined survivor is effectively presented. His bond with his son, Davy, adds depth and emotional importance to the story. At the same time, the background information about Ben’s past and his life before the shark attack could be more effectively integrated into the main story rather than being presented as separate blocks of text.

Body: Evaluation 

I find “The Last Inch” by James Aldridge a very engaging and emotional story since it highlights the idea of a father’s unconditional love and determination in the face of adversity. I was also impressed by the vivid descriptions and strong character development of the father and son.

Conclusion 

“The Last Inch” by James Aldridge is an engaging and emotional narrative that will appeal to readers of all ages. It is a story of strength, dedication, and the unbreakable link between father and son. Though some backstory could be integrated more smoothly, “The Last Inch” impresses with its emotional punch. It leaves the readers touched by the raw power of fatherly love and human will.

📚 Critique Essay Examples

With all of the information and tips provided above, your way will become clearer when you have a solid example of a critique essay.

Below is a critical response to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

When speaking of feminist literature that is prominent and manages to touch on incredibly controversial issues, The Yellow Wallpaper is the first book that comes to mind. Written from a first-person perspective, magnifying the effect of the narrative, the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces the reader to the problem of the physical and mental health of the women of the 19th century. However, the message that is intended to concern feminist ideas is rather subtle. Written in the form of several diary entries, the novel offers a mysterious plot, and at the same time, shockingly realistic details.

What really stands out about the novel is the fact that the reader is never really sure how much of the story takes place in reality and how much of it happens in the psychotic mind of the protagonist. In addition, the novel contains a plethora of description that contributes to the strain and enhances the correlation between the atmosphere and the protagonist’s fears: “The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight” (Gilman).

Despite Gilman’s obvious intent to make the novel a feminist story with a dash of thriller thrown in, the result is instead a thriller with a dash of feminism, as Allen (2009) explains. However, there is no doubt that the novel is a renowned classic. Offering a perfect portrayal of the 19th-century stereotypes, it is a treasure that is certainly worth the read.

If you need another critique essay example, take a look at our sample on “ The Importance of Being Earnest ” by Oscar Wilde.

And here are some more critique paper examples for you check out:

• A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Critique Paper
• Critique on “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• “When the Five Rights Go Wrong” Article Critique
• Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey — Comparison & Critique
• “The TrueBlue Study”: Qualitative Article Critique 
• Ethical Conflict Associated With Managed Care: Views of Nurse Practitioners’: Article Critique 
• Benefits and Disadvantages of Prone Positioning in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress: Article Critique
• Reducing Stress in Student Nurses: Article Critique
• Management of Change and Professional Safety – Article Critique
• “Views of Young People Towards Physical Activity”: Article Critique

Seeing an example of a critique is so helpful. You can find many other examples of a critique paper at the University of Minnesota and John Hopkins University. Plus, you can check out this video for a great explanation of how to write a critique.

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Writing Critiques

Writing a critique involves more than pointing out mistakes. It involves conducting a systematic analysis of a scholarly article or book and then writing a fair and reasonable description of its strengths and weaknesses. Several scholarly journals have published guides for critiquing other people’s work in their academic area. Search for a  “manuscript reviewer guide” in your own discipline to guide your analysis of the content. Use this handout as an orientation to the audience and purpose of different types of critiques and to the linguistic strategies appropriate to all of them.

Types of critique

Article or book review assignment in an academic class.

Text: Article or book that has already been published Audience: Professors Purpose:

• to demonstrate your skills for close reading and analysis
• to show that you understand key concepts in your field
• to learn how to review a manuscript for your future professional work

Published book review

Text: Book that has already been published Audience: Disciplinary colleagues Purpose:

• to describe the book’s contents
• to summarize the book’s strengths and weaknesses
• to provide a reliable recommendation to read (or not read) the book

Manuscript review

Text: Manuscript that has been submitted but has not been published yet Audience: Journal editor and manuscript authors Purpose:

• to provide the editor with an evaluation of the manuscript
• to recommend to the editor that the article be published, revised, or rejected
• to provide the authors with constructive feedback and reasonable suggestions for revision

Language strategies for critiquing

For each type of critique, it’s important to state your praise, criticism, and suggestions politely, but with the appropriate level of strength. The following language structures should help you achieve this challenging task.

Offering Praise and Criticism

A strategy called “hedging” will help you express praise or criticism with varying levels of strength. It will also help you express varying levels of certainty in your own assertions. Grammatical structures used for hedging include:

Modal verbs Using modal verbs (could, can, may, might, etc.) allows you to soften an absolute statement. Compare:

This text is inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field. This text may be inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field.

Qualifying adjectives and adverbs Using qualifying adjectives and adverbs (possible, likely, possibly, somewhat, etc.) allows you to introduce a level of probability into your comments. Compare:

Readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand. Some readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand. Some readers will probably find the theoretical model somewhat difficult to understand completely.

Note: You can see from the last example that too many qualifiers makes the idea sound undesirably weak.

Tentative verbs Using tentative verbs (seems, indicates, suggests, etc.) also allows you to soften an absolute statement. Compare:

This omission shows that the authors are not aware of the current literature. This omission indicates that the authors are not aware of the current literature. This omission seems to suggest that the authors are not aware of the current literature.

Offering suggestions

Whether you are critiquing a published or unpublished text, you are expected to point out problems and suggest solutions. If you are critiquing an unpublished manuscript, the author can use your suggestions to revise. Your suggestions have the potential to become real actions. If you are critiquing a published text, the author cannot revise, so your suggestions are purely hypothetical. These two situations require slightly different grammar.

Unpublished manuscripts: “would be X if they did Y” Reviewers commonly point out weakness by pointing toward improvement. For instance, if the problem is “unclear methodology,” reviewers may write that “the methodology would be more clear if …” plus a suggestion. If the author can use the suggestions to revise, the grammar is “X would be better if the authors did Y” (would be + simple past suggestion).

The tables would be clearer if the authors highlighted the key results. The discussion would be more persuasive if the authors accounted for the discrepancies in the data.

Published manuscripts: “would have been X if they had done Y” If the authors cannot revise based on your suggestions, use the past unreal conditional form “X would have been better if the authors had done Y” (would have been + past perfect suggestion).

The tables would have been clearer if the authors had highlighted key results. The discussion would have been more persuasive if the authors had accounted for discrepancies in the data.

Note: For more information on conditional structures, see our Conditionals handout .

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How to Write a Critique Paper: Guide + Steps & Tips

Critical thinking is an essential life skill taught in academia. Critique essays help us develop this skill. However, it’s challenging to figure out how to write one independently. Our team has created this comprehensive guide to teach you how to express opinions in an academically correct manner. Here, you’ll discover step-by-step guidelines to help you write an essay. We’ve also addressed the proper essay critique format structure and provided several practical examples of how it should look. So, if you are interested and wish to learn more, start reading ASAP!

📃 What Is a Critique Paper?

• 🔍 Critique Essay Types
• 🥇 Critique Essay Topics
• 🗝 How to Write a Critique Paper
• 📝 Format & Structure
• 🏆 Critique Paper Examples

🔗 References

A critique paper is a piece of writing that provides an in-depth analysis of another work. These include books, poems, articles, songs, movies, works of art, or podcast episodes. Aside from these, a critique may also cover arguments, concepts, and artistic performances. For example, a student may evaluate a book they’ve read or the merit of the First Amendment.

In a critique essay , one addresses the subject of the analysis, its source, intent, and purpose, in addition to its structure and content. You may present your own opinion on the analyzed work or include alternative points of view. Your paper can consist of an interpretation of what a piece of work means and an assessment of its worth.

🔍 Discover All Critique Essay Types

Now, we will detail everything you need to know about the main types of critique papers. Use the table below to determine which one will suit your essay best.

🥇 19 Best Critique Essay Topics

This segment has some of the best topics for critical essays that you can use in your assignments. Make sure to look through them and find some inspiration! Some of them are sure to catch your attention.

• Analyze the effectiveness of the justice system in curbing drug use.
• Why are people reluctant to change their views on the Second Amendment?
• Critical review of the moral lessons in contemporary young adult novels.
• Is critical thinking still relevant in the modern world?
• Analyze the health effects of fast food on the human body.
• Describe the effects of racism on underrepresented groups.
• Build a case for the causes of the homeless crisis in the US.
• Unraveling motivational factors: a critique of psychological theories in the workplace.
• Analyze the shifting of gender roles in modern society.
• What is the impact of corruption on the economy?
• The impact of setting and atmosphere on the reader’s experience of a book.
• Investigate the role of mass media in decreasing racial tension in the US.
• Analyze the use of symbolism and imagery in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories.
• Ethical dilemmas in medical study: critical analysis of journal articles on human trials.
• Which themes are the most common in current TV shows?
• Explain how fashion choices impact one’s identity.
• Build a case for a free higher education.
• What are the effects of social media on human communication?
• From page to screen: A comparative critique of the book and movie versions of The Lord of the Rings.

🗝 How to Write a Critique Paper: 5 Key Steps

We recognize that tackling a critique paper without proper guidance can be time-consuming and daunting. That’s why we have outlined the steps you should take to make a detailed plan for your future essay. These five steps will guide you in analyzing work successfully and creating quality papers.

• Explore the work. Before writing your essay, carefully examine the text you will be critiquing. Take notes relevant to your paper’s topic along the way. Pay attention to details and try noting the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of work.
• Conduct research. Aside from inspecting the work itself, you should also thoroughly study the surrounding context. Learn everything relevant about its author, background, and cultural and historical factors. So, you will receive essential information about the research subject, allowing you to understand it better.
• Create a thesis statement. This part usually includes a concise summary of the analysis of the work and conducted research. Students must carefully write their thesis statements to present their main argument or the work’s brief evaluation.
• Write the critical paper. After you have composed a solid thesis statement, it’s time to write your essay. Begin by providing background data in the introductory paragraph. Follow with analysis and evidence that supports the paper’s intent. Finish with a conclusion that gives a summary of the key points and reinforcing the thesis statement.
• Edit and revise to perfection. When you have the first draft, carefully review and edit its segments. See if the paper is structurally sound, easy to follow, and has a coherent format. Good writing provides its arguments logically, with clear connections between evidence and analysis. Pay close attention to segments that make you stumble and reread all sentences twice.

📝 Critique Paper Format & Structure

Before attempting to write your critique essay, you should familiarize yourself with its structure and form. We’ll examine each part in-depth and describe which elements they should have. It will give you an idea of how to structure your essay correctly.

Examining each component is essential after you get acquainted with the basic structure of a critique paper. We have detailed for you below.

Critique Essay: Introduction

You probably already know how essential the introduction is in a critique paper. This is why it’s vital to understand its proper structure. One should consider all elements that must be present in this part of the paper.

• Provide the name of the critiqued work, when it was first published, and by whom.
• Describe the thesis statement or the main idea of the paper.
• Give the context of the work, political or social, and its importance in a discipline or an academic field.
• Finish with a sentence that briefly evaluates the examined work and transitions into the main body.

Critique Essay: Main Body

We’ve finally arrived at the analysis, the most crucial part of creating a critique. Here, we’ll look at the structure of the main body paragraphs . This part of the article will explain what to include in your critical paper.

The body starts with a summary that explains:

• The main points of the work.
• How the points were achieved through characters, symbols, and various techniques.
• The aim of the research, how it was conducted, and based on what.

The rest of the body is a detailed critical evaluation of the work that includes:

• A systematic and thorough approach to assessing different elements.
• An assessment of the author’s ability or lack thereof to achieve their goals with these components.
• Supporting evidence for your arguments and evaluation.

Critique Essay: Conclusion

Lastly, let’s consider the conclusion of your critique paper. It is the time to summarize and reiterate what you have discussed in your work. An essay conclusion should contain the following elements:

• A concise statement that summarizes the entire work.
• A rundown of key points identified and covered in the evaluation.
• If necessary, the conclusion may provide recommendations for others interested in getting acquainted with the work.

🏆 Great Critique Paper Examples

We believe a good sample is one of the best aids in writing a quality essay. After all, theory can be insufficient and it’s best to see something done in practice. We’ve provided several great essay examples below for you to consider.

• Critique Against Orwell’s Style in “Animal Farm.” Orwell’s Animal Farm is a witty commentary on society and the cycle of power. To this day, the work is one of the strongest anti-Stalinist novels. Despite its themes, one of his most famous novels is often criticized for its mediocre writing style. This essay wants to advocate for this opinion through literary analysis.
• Critique of an Adidas Promotional Strategy. Adidas is one of the world’s most fabulous clothes, shoes, and equipment producers. The corporation registers hundreds of patterns on new tech for its products every year. But this doesn’t mean that Adidas does everything right. This paper demonstrates the unethical practices the company uses in its advertising campaigns.
• A Reader Response Critique of “A Rose for Emily.” Written in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It talks about the role of women in the late 1800s. Back then, they were regarded as passive individuals who couldn’t think independently. This paper critically examines the text’s effectiveness as a psychological horror story.
• Organizational Personnel Policy Critique. Personnel management covers many aspects of a company’s daily operations. It helps create a harmonious work environment that benefits all participants. However, some of the current policies are outdated and need to be adjusted. This paper critically analyzes policies that drive and evaluate performance. It also shows which changes can be applied to standard HR guidelines.

We are confident that our tips and instructions will make it easier for you to achieve great results. Besides, you can try our helpful essay topic maker to come up with writing ideas! Consider forwarding this article to your friends who may be looking for a quality guide on critical papers.

• What Makes a Critique a Critique? – Tara Horkoff, Writing for Success, OpenTextBC
• How to write a critique – CiteWrite, Queensland University of Technology
• Writing a Critique – Tiffin University, Pfeiffer Library
• Writing a Critique Paper: Seven Easy Steps – Patrick A. Regoniel, Simple Educate
• How to Write a Critical Analysis Essay – Dan Brown, MasterClass

• Writing well

How to write a critique

• Starting well
• How to write an annotated bibliography
• How to write a case study response
• How to write an empirical article
• How to write an essay
• How to write a literature review
• How to write a reflective task
• How to write a report
• Finishing well

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.

Example template

There are a variety of ways to structure a critique. You should always check your unit materials or Canvas site for guidance from your lecturer. The following template, which showcases the main features of a critique, is provided as one example.

Introduction

Typically, the introduction is short (less than 10% of the word length) and you should:

• name the work being reviewed as well as the date it was created and the name of the author/creator
• describe the main argument or purpose of the work
• explain the context in which the work was created - this could include the social or political context, the place of the work in a creative or academic tradition, or the relationship between the work and the creator’s life experience
• have a concluding sentence that signposts what your evaluation of the work will be - for instance, it may indicate whether it is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation.

Briefly summarise the main points and objectively describe how the creator portrays these by using techniques, styles, media, characters or symbols. This summary should not be the focus of the critique and is usually shorter than the critical evaluation.

Critical evaluation

This section should give a systematic and detailed assessment of the different elements of the work, evaluating how well the creator was able to achieve the purpose through these. For example: you would assess the plot structure, characterisation and setting of a novel; an assessment of a painting would look at composition, brush strokes, colour and light; a critique of a research project would look at subject selection, design of the experiment, analysis of data and conclusions.

A critical evaluation does not simply highlight negative impressions. It should deconstruct the work and identify both strengths and weaknesses. It should examine the work and evaluate its success, in light of its purpose.

Examples of key critical questions that could help your assessment include:

• Who is the creator? Is the work presented objectively or subjectively?
• What are the aims of the work? Were the aims achieved?
• What techniques, styles, media were used in the work? Are they effective in portraying the purpose?
• What assumptions underlie the work? Do they affect its validity?
• What types of evidence or persuasion are used? Has evidence been interpreted fairly?
• How is the work structured? Does it favour a particular interpretation or point of view? Is it effective?
• Does the work enhance understanding of key ideas or theories? Does the work engage (or fail to engage) with key concepts or other works in its discipline?

This evaluation is written in formal academic style and logically presented. Group and order your ideas into paragraphs. Start with the broad impressions first and then move into the details of the technical elements. For shorter critiques, you may discuss the strengths of the works, and then the weaknesses. In longer critiques, you may wish to discuss the positive and negative of each key critical question in individual paragraphs.

To support the evaluation, provide evidence from the work itself, such as a quote or example, and you should also cite evidence from related sources. Explain how this evidence supports your evaluation of the work.

This is usually a very brief paragraph, which includes:

• a statement indicating the overall evaluation of the work
• a summary of the key reasons, identified during the critical evaluation, why this evaluation was formed
• in some circumstances, recommendations for improvement on the work may be appropriate.

Reference list

Include all resources cited in your critique. Check with your lecturer/tutor for which referencing style to use.

• Mentioned the name of the work, the date of its creation and the name of the creator?
• Accurately summarised the work being critiqued?
• Mainly focused on the critical evaluation of the work?
• Systematically outlined an evaluation of each element of the work to achieve the overall purpose?
• Used evidence, from the work itself as well as other sources, to back and illustrate my assessment of elements of the work?
• Formed an overall evaluation of the work, based on critical reading?
• Used a well structured introduction, body and conclusion?
• Used correct grammar, spelling and punctuation; clear presentation; and appropriate referencing style?

Further information

• University of New South Wales: Writing a Critical Review
• University of Toronto: The Book Review or Article Critique

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How To Write A Critique

Writing a critique can be a daunting task, especially if you are not familiar with the process. Whether you are critiquing a piece of literature, artwork, or a performance, there are certain steps and guidelines to follow in order to provide a thoughtful and constructive critique.

The first step in writing a critique is to thoroughly analyze the work you are critiquing. This means taking the time to carefully examine the piece and consider its strengths and weaknesses. Pay attention to the overall structure, style, and content of the work, as well as any specific elements that stand out to you.

Once you have analyzed the work, it’s important to gather your thoughts and organize them into a coherent critique. Start by outlining the main points you want to address in your critique, such as the effectiveness of the work’s message, the quality of its execution, and any areas where it falls short.

When writing your critique, it’s crucial to be both honest and respectful. Avoid simply stating whether you liked or disliked the work; instead, provide specific examples and evidence to support your opinions. Additionally, be mindful of your tone and language, making sure to offer constructive criticism rather than simply tearing down the work.

In addition to providing your own analysis and opinions, it can also be helpful to include references to other sources or critiques of the same work. This can help provide context for your critique and show that you have considered multiple perspectives.

Finally, when concluding your critique, be sure to summarize your main points and offer any suggestions for improvement. Remember that the goal of a critique is not only to point out flaws but also to help the creator grow and improve their work.

In conclusion, writing a critique requires careful analysis, thoughtful organization, honesty, respectfulness, and constructive feedback. By following these steps and guidelines, you can effectively write a thorough and insightful critique of any piece of work.

Related Pages:

• How To Write A Performance Review
• How To Write Performance Review
• How To Write An Article Review
• How To Write A Character Letter
• How To Write A Counter Argument
• How To Write A Self Evaluation

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How to Write a Book Critique: Step-By-Step Guide & Examples

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A book critique is a written evaluation of a book that provides an objective assessment of its strengths and weaknesses. Its purpose is to help readers understand the book's content and provide a thoughtful analysis of its quality.

Preparing book critique entails reading a piece of writing and describing the author's overall purpose and intent to the reader. You can also pose a question to readers, who might look through the novel, to spark their curiosity.

Drafting a good book critique is not easy, as you should take into account different aspects of writing. In this article, we will give you a breakdown of how to write a book critique from beginning to end. Additionally, you will find some proper book critique examples that may help you write a piece that genuinely reflects your personal opinion on any author's works. Need professional assistance? Consider hiring a proficient book report writer who will tackle your assignment according to the highest academic standards.

What Is a Book Critique?

A book critique is a critical analysis of ideas expressed by an author in a publication. It is an assessment of the novel's strengths and weaknesses, its style, structure, the author's use of language, and effectiveness of its major themes and ideas. Book critiques can be written by a professional book reviewer or an ordinary reader who just wants to share their opinion. It usually includes a book summary, an evaluation of its content, and a discussion of its significance.  Writing a book critique may also be used as an academic assignment for students. In this case, they will be expected to demonstrate their ability to analyze and evaluate a novel using critical thinking skills and providing evidence to support their arguments.

Purpose of a Book Critique

The primary purpose of a book critique is to allow the audience to interact with the author's text and analyze it carefully. It can be used to offer feedback to writers on the quality of their work or to contribute to literary criticism and analysis. A book critique is aimed at helping readers decide whether or not to read a particular publication. Instructors also use it to evaluate their students' critical thinking skills more precisely.

Book Critique Outline

An outline of a book critique is a summary of your write-up's content in a less detailed manner. It helps you logically organize and structure your text. The importance of an outline lies in its ability to help writers clarify what needs to be included in their essays, along with things that should be left out. This is one aspect you need to get right when learning to critique a book or, basically, when writing any complex, lengthy work. Generally, outlines are used by authors to organize their thinking patterns for a paper at the very beginning of essay writing process. Here is an example of a book critique template outline.

• Brief introduction of the novel and its author
• State the genre or novel's purpose
• Summarize the author's key points
• Thesis statement
• Give a summary of the publication
• Provide arguments that support your statement of purpose
• Support your logic with evidence from the novel
• Give your objective opinion
• Summarize your arguments
• Restate thesis statement
• Give your recommendations

Follow the tips from a book report writing service outlined below to nail your task. 

Book Critique Introduction

Writing a book critique introduction is important in providing readers with an overview of the publication you will be critiquing. The introduction should preview what readers can expect from your critique and give some context for the publication itself. To write a book critique preface that accurately serves its purpose, consider following steps:

• Start by providing a title and a brief overview of the book's plot, characters, and setting.
• Give some background information about the author, historical period in which the novel is set, or any cultural or literary influences that may have inspired the writer.
• State your thesis. It should be the last element of an introduction.

Book Critique Thesis Statement

The thesis statement for a book critique aims to provide readers with a clear summary of the arguments you will address further. Thesis is usually developed after you read the novel and understand its contents. It should be clear and concise and touch on the main idea you want to get across. It consists of one or two sentences and is normally placed at the end of your introduction. Understanding what constitutes a strong thesis is vital for writers since it is an integral part of every single write-up. As you will see in most book critiques upon doing your research, thesis statement guides your work's structure and lays out a plan for readers to follow.

Body of a Book Critique

The body of your book critique is the meat and flesh of your essay because the most valuable content is located here. Generally, it should contain several paragraphs. Each section should address a specific point you’ve laid out in the outline. As a writer, such structure will allow you to delve deeper into a particular point without any limitations and help to write your book critique much faster. Remember, each paragraph should focus on one main idea, highlight the argument, and support it with an explanation or evidence. However, if a paragraph is too long, you can split it into two for easier reading.

Book Critique Conclusion

This is the final part of book critique writing. One of the easiest ways to prepare it is by going through your work from beginning to end. It helps you highlight the essay's overall point and ensures that nothing important is left out. To prepare a proper book critique conclusion, summarize your main ideas, restate your thesis statement, and give recommendations. You may also include whether or not you agree with the author's presentation of ideas. When writing a conclusion, you should also remember to provide your overall impression of the novel and, optionally, mention it if you want other readers to try it.

How to Write a Book Critique?

To write a book critique that is really useful and outstanding, first and foremost, make sure to actually read the novel; no matter how funny it sounds, this is the only core component. Reread as many times as possible to ensure you understand the author's points. That way, you will be able to formulate strong arguments. In some cases, you may find that you do not understand the writer's position or ideas, which may call for some research. Research the author, his personal life, and his experiences. This will help you comprehend his approach and make analysis and evaluation easier. Formulate your thesis statement and have an outline in place. If the process still proves challenging, do not hesitate to ask your peers or tutors for advice or borrow inspiration from numerous online materials on how to write a book critique for college. Further in the section, the critique process will be expounded on in nitty-gritty details.

1. Choose and Read the Book

Before starting your analysis, you need to identify the piece you are going to read. It would be better if you read the novel at least once or twice to internalize its contents. Remember to highlight main points and reasoning behind them when reading. This will help you formulate arguments to include in your book critique. It is also crucial to take notes while reading, as it will help you avoid forgetting key points and tightly grasp chronological order of events. Furthermore, it will aid you in creating an outline, which is vital in book critique writing.

2. Do Research on Author's Background

Researching the author's background is necessary before writing book critique. It can help you understand their point of view. For example, we all know the environment one grows up in influences so much of their behavior. You may, for instance, find that writers raised in the countryside and those from urban areas have different interpretations of the same things in life. Understanding the author's views and hypothesis is key as it will inform your arguments. You can also check their credentials, competencies, and corpus (bibliography). Knowing this will help you better formulate the book's summary in introduction and body paragraphs. After doing preliminary research, you will be equipped with all the necessary information to actually critique a book using fundamental assessment "tools" - analysis and evaluation.

3. Analyze and Evaluate the Book

Analysis and evaluation will majorly inform how your critique flows. Evaluation involves an in-depth study of all points in a particular piece. Consider how the characters are developed and ways in which they contribute to a story. While assessing the plot, note whether there are any twists to the narrative. Evaluate whether the story is original and engaging to readers. Just like in a literary analysis , you need to examine its general impact, if it achieves its intended purpose, its thoroughness, objectivity, accuracy, and timeliness. Finally, develop your arguments, forming the foundation for writing a book critique. Remember to be fair and objective in your assessment.

4. Build a Book Critique Outline

Creating a book critique outline can help you organize your thoughts and write clear and comprehensive text. This is where you use notes you gathered earlier while researching and evaluating. These notes will guide you in penning down your thoughts chronologically, starting from introduction to conclusion. Your outline need not be too detailed but should include the primary info you intend to use in your essay. However, do not limit yourself too much as well. While drafting outline for a book critique, ensure it is wide-ranging to avoid missing any parts. Above, you can find an example of an outline to use as a template for creating your own.

Read more: How to Write an Outline for an Essay ?

5. Introduce a Book and Details of an Author

This section is rather straightforward. You need to provide readers with brief background information. In your book critique introduction, discuss the publication, any recurring themes presented, and the purpose it intends to serve. You can also highlight similar titles the author has written, but not too many to not get side-tracked here. In the introduction for a book critique, include clear reasoning behind why the author engages with specific topics in the first place. For example, it could be a result of their own experiences or just stories from other people. You can also consider how the authors attempt to differentiate themselves in the genre without alienating or missing their intended audience.

Book Critique Introduction Example

The introduction paragraph should set pace for the rest of your paper. It should grab the reader's attention and encourage them to read your essay. It is important to note that this is not a summary of your paper but rather just a preview. Here is an example of a book critique introduction.

In literature, you may come across many novels that leave you with lasting impressions, either good or bad. Such is the case with "Romeo and Juliet", a play by William Shakespeare written in the years 1591 and 1595 that is considered one of his most popular and frequently performed plays. This blockbuster of a tragedy has been met with mixed reviews, with some readers finding it a masterpiece while others deeming it a disappointment. In this critique, I will delve into the author's writing style, plot, characters, and themes, ultimately providing a comprehensive evaluation of "Romeo and Juliet". I will also determine whether it is still worth reading in the 21st century.

Read more: How to Start an Essay ?

6. Create a Thesis Statement

Creating a strong thesis statement is vital when you want to critique a book as it provides readers with a clear overview of your position or arguments. Proper thesis statement, in this case, should capture your overall evaluation of the author's work. Here are some general tips to help you write a good thesis statement for a book critique.

• Identify the text's main components, including the author's writing style, plot, characters, and themes.
• Determine your stance on the author's work. Is it good or bad, and what specifically makes it so?
• Using information from the publication, write a sentence summarizing your evaluation.

Thesis Statement Sample

A thesis statement can comprise one or two sentences. You must ensure that it is clear, concise, and arguable. It should be delivered in the form of an idea that provokes opposition, instead of being a factual statement. Here is an example of a book critique thesis statement.

"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare offers an intricate exploration of love and nature of human choices, masterfully brought to life through rich, well-developed characters and compelling narrative.

7. Write a Book Summary

When prewriting critique of a book, a summary will be one of the key components in your outline. It is important because your critique might be read by people who have never heard about the publication, so a properly detailed summary will initially introduce the novel to your audience and explain what it is generally about. Most common way to write a book critique summary is by giving a brief overview of the themes, characters, and main ideas. It requires careful reading, analysis, and the ability to articulate one's opinions about the author's work in a clear and concise manner.

8. Write Your Book Critique

The main part of your book critique is the body. This is the longest part of your essay as well. The goal here is to take the reader through your arguments and evidence supporting your thesis statement. Here are some steps to guide you through book critique writing.

• Provide arguments that support your statement of purpose This entails determining the publication’s strongest and weakest points, analyzing the author's success in formulating ideas and developing themes. Use textual proof to support your views.
• Evaluate the author's purpose in writing the novel What message were they trying to convey? Is the publication intended to entertain, inform, persuade, or educate? Does the writer achieve their purpose? In addition, assess the author's writing style, book's plot, narrative, flow and make a character analysis.
• State your overall opinion of the book Do you think the novel is well-written and engaging? Would you recommend it to others? Be sure to back up your opinion with evidence from the book.

Book Critique Body Example

Below is a book critique body sample for a fictional novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett , The Secret Garden.

“The Secret Garden” is a beautifully written classic that explores the power of nature, friendship, and self-discovery. The story is set in a grand estate in England and follows the journey of Mary Lennox, a young girl who is sent to live with her uncle after parent's death. Its setting is described in rich detail, painting a vivid picture of the estate. Descriptions of the natural world are enchanting and bring the story to life in a magical way. Characters in “The Secret Garden” are well-developed, making it easy for readers to connect with them on an emotional level. Mary, the main character, is a determined young girl who learns to face her fears and find joy through her experiences in the garden. Supporting characters, such as Colin and Dickon, are equally compelling and add depth to the story. Writing style is poetic, with an intense mood that makes readers feel like they are right there with Mary. Themes, such as power of nature and importance of friendship, are woven seamlessly into the narrative, making them both subtle and well-pronounced. In conclusion, the book's deliberate pace allows readers to fully immerse themselves in the secret garden world. Its climax is satisfying, bringing the story's themes to a fitting end.

9. Give Your Opinion and Recommendations

Consider different aspects of the text when giving your opinion, including its plot, theme, setting, and purpose. For example, you can look at whether the author addressed the main idea as per themes and whether his content meets its central purpose. Do not fear to give an opinion as any reader is entitled to have one, and this is, basically, what writing a book critique is majorly intended for. After all, you may even find that many other readers agree with your views! Once you learn how to give an objective opinion, it will be safe to say that you know how to critique a book.

Book Critique Recommendations Example

When writing a book critique for college or university, you must always have a conclusion in your essay. This is where you give your final thoughts on the piece, whether it was good or bad. It will be best if you also provide reasoning for your opinion to make it convincing. Here is a book critique conclusion example.

Overall, "Romeo and Juliet" is a thrilling and enjoyable read that will appeal to fans of tragedy and love story novels. The author's skillful use of language and well-constructed plot make this a must-read for anyone. It highlights human flaws present in our societies and consequences of our choices. One must be keen not to idealize the purity of main characters' love but also look at external forces such as anger and hate that play a big role in their story. Whether you are a fan of tragedy novels or enjoy well-written love stories, this is a text you will surely not want to miss.

10. Proofread Your Critique of a Book

Proofreading is an important step in the writing process. Good book critiques should be clear, accurate, and free of errors. This helps you make a strong impression on your audience and effectively communicate your ideas. By taking the time to go through your critique, you demonstrate that you take your writing seriously and value reader's experience. Here are some useful editing tips.

• Look for spelling and grammar errors Use a spell-check tool and carefully read your book critique to eliminate any possible mistakes.
• Check for consistency Ensure your tone is consistent throughout your essay.
• Verify facts Ensure any facts or quotes you include in your critique are accurate and properly cited. Check our guide on how to cite a quote from a book , in case you need any help.

Book Critique Examples

Before you begin working on your assignment, it is advisable to look through a few book critique samples to understand better how it may be done. This will help you write an excellent paper. Look for a book critique example online to borrow ideas on arranging your work. You should be keen on appropriate articles and narrow your search until you get an example of a good book critique that will be worth your time. Example of a book critique 1

Book critique sample 2

Book critique example 3

Book Critique Format

When writing a book critique, the content of your work must be orderly. Quality of presentation is largely informed by how you arrange your paper. Different formats are used for literary works, such as APA, MLA, and Chicago. Depending on your educational institution, your teacher will guide you on what book critique format to use. Upon knowing the structure, follow it to the letter to ensure that your work has a consistent style. In most cases, by looking at the format for a book critique, you can tell whether you are about to read a good piece.

Book Critique Writing Tips

Here are some extra tips on how to critique a book.

• Know your audience Consider who you are writing the book critique for and what they are interested in reading. For example, if you are composing a review for a literary magazine, you will want to focus more on the novel's stylistic elements.
• Be objective While a book critique writing assignment is a chance to investigate and express your opinions, staying accurate and avoiding overly personal attacks on the author or text is also essential.
• Use credible evidence to support your opinions Whenever you make a statement about the text, back it up with examples. Reliable proof refers to information that majority of readers would deem authentic.
• Maintain an organized structure Good book critiques are well-organized and have a good flow that is easy for an audience to follow.
• Avoid spoilers While including key details in your summary is essential, avoid giving away the ending or plot twists.

If you're a book lover, you might also wonder how to write a book review .  But what if you're also interested in learning how to critique an article ? Check out our blog, which provides tips and strategies for analyzing and evaluating all types of works.

Bottom Line on Book Critique Writing

When writing a book critique, you are not merely describing the book's contents but also critically examining it. After briefly introducing the book and summarizing its contents, proceed to comprehensively review its advantages and disadvantages. This can involve analyzing the author's style of writing, the persuasiveness of their arguments or narrative, and the book's influence on readers. If necessary, use examples from the text and outside sources on how to do a book critique to bolster your analysis. Furthermore, consider that book critiques are subjective, and your viewpoint counts. In your assessment, be forthright and truthful, but also refrain from disparaging the writer or their work in any other way. Best of luck!

Try our expert academic writing service for high-quality work and top-notch grades. Receive quick book review help and achieve success worry-free. 

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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• Spartanburg Community College Library
• SCC Research Guides
• Writing a Critique
• Parts of a Critique

Depending on the source you are critiquing, your critique may not follow this exact format below. However, in general, critiques will be formatted in a similar way.

Introduction

• The name of the source or event
• What kind of source it is (book, film, lecture, etc.)
• The name of the author or the speaker
• The author or speaker's experience/expertise on the topic
• The main argument in the source (or the thesis statement of the source)
• The intended (target) audience for the source or event
• The purpose of the source or the event
• Did the author/speaker well-support their thesis statement?
• Did the author use any interest supports (stories, humor, examples, interactions, personal experience, etc.). Were they effective?
• What kind of evidence did the author/speaker use in the source (statistics, facts, quotations, surveys, studies, interviews, expert opinions). Are these resources credible/reliable? Did the evidence add to or contradict the author/speaker's argument?
• Did the source have quality content (avoiding fillers, presented newsworthy information, kept audiences interested)?
• Did the source use any visual aids (PowerPoint, images, artwork, etc.). Did the visual aids match or enhance what the author/speaker was discussing? Were the visual aids clearly organized, spell-checked, and included citations?
• Did the speaker move well through different topics?
• If the source was a live event or a recording, was the speaker energetic? Did they talk to the crowd or did they look at their notes too much? Were you able to hear and understand the speaker?
• If you're critiquing a film, were the film techniques used effective?

Conclusion/Recommendation

• What was your overall impression of the source?
• Would you recommend this source to others? Why or why not?
• What are your final thoughts about the source?

Helpful Handouts

• Sample Critique Paper Check out a sample critique essay of an event a student attended.
• How to Critique for a Live Performance (WOW) This worksheet will provide an outline of how to write a critique for the Wonders of Writing (WOW) event at SCC.
• How to Critique a Live/Zoom Presentation (Informational Presentation) This worksheet will show the outline for writing a critique for a live or a Zoom informational presentation.
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How to write critiques: An easy A to Z

Learning how to write critiques is a valuable skill to master, whether you’re in a writing group or are an aspiring editor. But how do you write a useful, constructive critique of another writer, especially if you feel ‘unqualified’ (a concern less experienced members of our writing groups have shared in the past)? Here’s a simple A to Z to help:

• Post author By Jordan
• 5 Comments on How to write critiques: An easy A to Z

How to write critiques and evaluations: A to Z

To make sure your critique helps a writer and their story, remember to:

• Make feedback actionable
• Claim your own bias
• Keep it caring
• Err towards detail
• Stay encouraging
• Strive to be fair
• Try to be generous
• Keep it honest
• Identify patterns
• Justify suggestions
• Balance criticism with kindness
• Mention what you loved
• Remember the intended message
• Only nitpick if necessary
• Stay open to other genres/ideas

That’s A through O. Share your thoughts for what words ‘P’ through ‘Z’ should be in the comments, and we may add yours to the article, attributing it!

Let’s define these rules for how to write critiques further:

1. Make feedback actionable

What is actionable feedback? It’s feedback that the writer you critique can act on . It is feedback that is:

• Practical (e.g. identifying a missing punctuation mark)
• Specific (it pinpoints specific issues that may be readily fixed)
• Clearly beneficial to the piece (e.g. it will create better flow, characterization, tension, etc.)

Compare ‘I didn’t really like this’ to ‘I think readers might get bored with the long, meandering paragraphs of flashbacks. Maybe switch between shorter flashbacks and the presently unfolding story to keep each timeline suspenseful.’

The latter pinpoints specifically what the reader did not like and how to make the scene better. This specificity is vital for good fiction editing.

2. Claim your own bias

What if you simply don’t like a certain thing some writers do? It could be:

• A genre you just can’t stand
• A trope you think is way too tired
• A personal bugbear that is not a common ‘don’t’

If you have a specific personal bias or preference, it may be worthwhile to state this so that the author has context for any future feedback point that may be coloured by this bias.

3. Keep it caring

Great feedback is caring .

Does this mean you must declare your undying love for the writer? No. It does mean maintaining a degree of empathy for the writer who has been courageous in sharing something they have created for others’ scrutiny.

To maintain an ethics of care in the way you give writing critiques , ask:

• How would it feel if someone said this to me?
• Is there a way to say this more contructively?
• How can I make this negative feedback read gentler?

For example, compare ‘I got really bored here. Whoa you’re bad!’ to ‘A reader could find this part less engaging because x. Perhaps add y or shorten z’.

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The second option is implying a passage is less interesting (to the reader) yet without being personal, accusatory , or judgmental . It uses hypotheticals (‘a reader could’) to imply possibility.

4. Err towards detail

Broad brushtrokes do not a good writing critique make.

Giving detail in your writing critique is much more useful than a sweeping statement such as ‘you don’t describe enough’. When you state something about a piece in a writing critique, remember to ask:

• Why am I giving this suggestion?
• How can I demonstrate this suggestion is warranted?

For example, if you said ‘You should consider a little more description because your characters are a bit like disembodied heads floating in blank space’ this uses an analogy to show that there is not enough descriptive detail in the story’s setting, use of the characters’ physicality, and so forth.

5. Stay encouraging

Being encouraging is not the same as being dishonest.

In learning how to write critiques, it’s important to balance blunt observations with encouragement (and lean into the latter more). Writing coaches will attest to the fact that you win more (and establish trust) with sweetness than vinegar, as the saying goes. If a writer asks for brutally honest feedback , this may be an invitation for the gloves to come off. It’s an indication they already have a thicker skin, and don’t care if you don’t hold back. Yet even when people say this, they don’t necessarily anticipate ‘finishing off’ barbs, so best err on the side of caution.

When in doubt, go for the mud sandwich: A positive, followed by a suggestion/criticism, followed by a positive.

End with encouraging words such as ‘keep going’, ‘you’ve got this’ or similar, regardless of the quality of the piece. It does not cancel out any criticisms or suggestions you’ve made. It is merely an invitation to persevere, whatever the amount of work this will take.

6. Strive to be fair

As you learn how to write a critique, strive to be fair .

What do you expect an author to know?

As an example, if you are critiquing a piece of writing by someone for whom English is not a first language, you may need to explain trickier English idioms along the way.

Tailor your feedback to where someone is at in their writing journey, not demanding more than they are capable of at this point. Recognise and give kudos for the work they’ve already put in so far.

7. Try to be generous

In writing groups, we may find it tempting to do the bare minimum in giving critiques. After all, we want to save energy for our own writing and submissions. So we gloss over details that we know could use work. Instead of glossing over, take your time. The more generous you are with your time and critiques, the more others will value your contribution.

This creates a reciprocal critique space where everyone has a desire to help every other member, whatever their own personal level of qualification.

8. Keep it honest

Writing critiques are most helpful when honest. If someone needs to go back to building blocks and learn the basics of spelling, punctuation and grammar, it’s better they know this now.

It is tempting to heap praise on others when they are trying and you are building rapport. But you can be frank without being cruel if you follow the tips in this A to Z of how to write critiques.

9. Identify patterns

One of the most helpful services you can provide another writer is to identify patterns they may be aware of. One member of your writing group may tend towards detailed character psychology but pay no mind to setting.

Another might repeatedly make a specific grammar error such as a comma splice or a dangling modifier. This is where you can be a great asset.

If you notice someone making the same mistake over and over, correct the error but also share a resource that explains how to avoid the same error in future. This is how we grow each other’s ability for good.

10. Justify critique suggestions

What’s more helpful than writing critique suggestions such as ‘think about the goal, motivation and conflict for your character in this chapter’? A justification for the suggestion.

When you suggest a writer makes a change, justify why the piece will benefit. Will cutting out those lines of redundant dialogue make the scene flow with better pace? Will focusing on what the main character wants help the reader understand the risks and the stakes?

Let your critique recipient know your reasoning.

11. Balance criticism with kindness

As discussed regarding the ethics of care, it’s important to balance criticism with kindness.

When you give a critique, it might be to a near-stranger. Yet think, ‘how would I say this to my best friend over a cup of tea or a glass of wine? Or to my most sensitive, touchy, dearest family member?’

12. Mention what you loved

Learning how to write critiques isn’t only about finding how to pinpoint precise, actionable suggestions and fixes. It’s also a process of being an engaged member of an important, beta audience .

You might assume that an author knows that their character is a hoot, that their world is deep and layered. But tell them anyway. List what you loved , what resonated.

Not only does this help writers know what to keep. It also lets them know what moves and interests you .

This gives context for your responses as a reader while also building rapport in your writing group.

13. Remember the intended message

In writing critique groups, we enjoy a benefit as writers we don’t always have when work is ‘out there’, in the wild. The ability to guide readers’ reception via explanations, sharing story concepts and the message we’re striving to convey.

If the author has specified the purpose of a scene (as members often do in critique submissions on Now Novel), keep this in mind. It’s a valuable clue to a precise objective you can make the topical focus of your feedback.

14. Only nitpick if necessary

Sometimes writing submitted to a critique group is so polished that you have to nitpick to provide utility. At other times, an author may grow annoyed if you harp on minute errors.

If in doubt over what level of detail to go into, focus on any clues the author has given (such as whether this is a first draft or an MS that has been through many edits already). This will give you an idea of whether to take out your fine comb or your hammer and chisel.

15. Stay open to other genres/ideas

In learning how to write critiques, it’s a valuable exercise to critique outside of your comfort zone. Maybe you don’t know the ins and outs of sci-fi, romance or fantasy. Maybe the author has an anti-hero narrator who is not the moral or woke agent you want them to be. Try to be open to other genres and ideas. You don’t have to necessarily agree with the exact politics or aesthetics of a piece of writing to work out and advise on how it could become a better version of itself.

Become a part of a small, motivated group, stay accountable, and finish your book in 6 months .

Related Posts:

• How do you write an outline for a novel? 7 easy steps
• How to write a query letter: 10 easy steps
• Help with writing: 6 tips for getting critiques
• Tags how to critique , writing groups

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

5 replies on “How to write critiques: An easy A to Z”

It a well written informative and educative feature article on writing critique methods. Other. suggestions are as follows P -The analysis must be practicable in presentation and editing purposes . Q. The criticism must not be queer or in bad or wrong faith . It must be fair in all aspects of writings methodology and communication process. R. The crititique reviewer must have a deep knowledge of the genre or art work . S . The criticism must follow standard procedure in all aspects to work harmony and writing community relationship. T. There must be a comprehensive report on the work criticism process taken and any adjustments to be made. U . There must be unity of narration of narrator , use of Grammer ,syntaxes etc in the work analysed . V. There should be ultra vires interest in any work or book presentation for review. W. There must be genuine workability of any revisions made and applications. X. There should be no xylish or improper analysis of any book presented for review ,etc . Y. All book revisions are not for unnecessary criticisms but with yearning aspirations of better performance in the narrative settings. Z. There should be little or zero error in book reviews.

Hi David, I like ‘xylish’?. We’re inventing words here like Shakespeare. Thank you for sharing your suggestions!

Please adjustment for. X.The right statement is there should be no ultra vires interest in any work or book presented for review.

This was incredibly helpful and I may refer back to it during challenging critiques. This is what I found most useful: 1. Tailor your feedback to where someone is at in their writing journey. ?Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is a good skill for any writer. 2. Share a resource that explains how to avoid the same error in future. ?What a great idea. Bonus: I can read the article and make sure I’m doing it right, too. ? P- process. It’s all a process for the critiqued and critiquer. We’re all growing, so cut yourself some slack. ? Q- quality over quantity. ? R- respect. We all deserve it. ? S- sensitive. It’s a lot harder to write with hurt feelings. ? T- time. Allow yourself some time to walk away and come back if necessary. ? U- united. We’re all in it together. ? V- voice. No matter the genre, this is a voice trying to be heard and our job is to make it clearer. ? W- widdershins. It means “counterclockwise.” Just sayin’. ? X- xtra serious. It’s not necessary. Lighten up. ? Y- the “Y” of our writing may be as varied as the “what.” ? Z- zoo. I love being a part of this one with you ?

Thank you, Margriet! I’m glad you found it helpful. I love ‘widdershins’ (good word). There’s truth in this; that one of the great benefits of feedback is getting the contrasting/opposing/’thinking otherwise’ point of view. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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Writing a Critique

• About this Guide
• What Is a Critique?
• Getting Started
• Components of a Critique Essay

Further Reading

This article provides additional guidance for writing critiques:

Vance DE, Talley M, Azuero A, Pearce PF, & Christian BJ. (2013). Conducting an article critique for a quantitative research study: perspectives for doctoral students and other novice readers.  Nursing : Research and Reviews ,  2013 , 67–75.

Parts of a Critique Essay

There are 4 distinct components to a critique, and those are the:

Introduction

Each of these components is described in further detail in the boxes on this page of the guide.

An effective introduction:

• Provides a quick snapshot of background information readers may need in order to follow along with the argument
• Defines key terminology as needed
• Ends with a strong argument (thesis)

For additional guidance on writing introduction paragraphs, librarians recommend:

Need some extra help on thesis statements? Check out our Writing Effective Thesis Statements guide .

A summary is a broad overview of what is discussed in a source. In a critique essay, writers should always assume that those reading the essay may be unfamiliar with the work being examined. For that reason, the following should be included early in the paper:

• The name of the author(s) of the work
• The title of the work
• Main ideas presented in the work
• Arguments presented in the work
• Any conclusions presented in the work

Depending on the requirements of your particular assignment, the summary may appear as part of the introduction, or it may be a separate paragraph. The summary should always be included before the analysis, as readers need a base-level familiarity of the resource before you can effectively present an argument about what the source does well and where improvements are needed.

More information about summaries can be found on our Writing an Effective Summary guide .

The critique is your evaluation of the resource. A strong critique:

• Discusses the strengths of the resource
• Discusses the weaknesses of the resource
• Provides specific examples (direct quotes, with proper citation) as needed to support your evaluation
• The accuracy of the resource
• Any bias found within the resource
• The relevance of the resource
• The clarity of the resource

A critique is your opinion  of the text, supported by evidence from the text.

If you need further guidance on how to evaluate your source, you can also consult our Evaluating Your Sources guide .

Need help with citation?  

Compose papers in pre-formatted APA templates. Manage references in forms that help craft APA citations. Learn the rules of APA style through tutorials and practice quizzes.

Academic Writer will continue to use the 6th edition guidelines until August 2020. A preview of the 7th edition is available in the footer of the resource's site. Previously known as APA Style Central.

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A conclusion has three main functions in an essay. A conclusion will:

• Summarize the main ideas presented in the essay
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November 13, 2022 By Anne R. Allen 24 Comments

Critiquing 101: Ten Do’s and Don’ts for Giving Helpful Critiques

Bad critiquing can pop somebody’s bubble without being helpful

by Anne R. Allen

I often advise new writers to look for a critique group to help them learn the writing ropes and get free feedback as well as the support they need when starting on a writing journey. But critique groups vary widely and some can be dangerous to a writer’s mental health.

I’ve written about how Critique Groups Can Help AND Hinder Your Writing Growth , the types of Critique Groups that Drive you Batty , and Dangerous Critiques.

But now I think it’s time for a checklist for providing a useful critique. It’s a delicate business, and not everybody can critique effectively. If you don’t read much outside your genre, or you never read fiction, you need to learn to open your mind or find a group that’s genre-specific.

No matter your genre, a good critique requires empathy. Learn to empathize with your fellow writers. If they are newbies, critique accordingly. Remember you were a beginner once. Pick one or two areas to work on. Nobody can take in a huge amount of information all at once, and 100% negativity shuts down a person’s ability to listen. It feels like an attack, even to a seasoned writer.

These tips are variations on the traditional “Milford” method of workshopping writing, first used at the Milford Writing Conference in 1956.

Notes for the Critiqued:

• Tell your group the genre and audience you’re writing for, and let them know where you want readers to focus: pacing, clarity, dialogue, grammar, repetitions, authenticity, etc.
• Don’t expect 100% praise.
• Stay silent during an oral critique, except to give a quick answer to a direct question. Once the critiques are finished, you can elaborate.
• Don’t argue or explain “what you really meant.” One of the major things a critique can do is tell writers how much of what’s in our heads did or didn’t make it onto the page.
• Give trigger warnings : If you’re going to read a scene of rape, abuse, torture, or extreme violence, let the critique group know beforehand. Some members may prefer to give it a pass and not read or listen to that piece.

Do’s and Don’ts for Critiquing

1. do keep in mind the purpose of the critique.

Remember everybody was a beginner once, and everybody makes mistakes. It’s your job to help them remedy those mistakes, not send them home in tears.

A manuscript critique is not the same as a book review:

• A review is for readers — to help them decide whether a book is for them.
• A critique is for writers — to help them improve the piece they are working on.

Whether you’re exchanging critiques online or in person, reading out loud, or sending around digital copies, as a critiquer, you have ONE job: help writers improve their work.

This is not a time to talk politics, religion, or hold forth on your distain for people who order pineapple on their pizza.

No matter how much you hate Chick Lit, don’t condemn a Chick Lit piece because it’s not angsty prose about middle-aged academics with prostate issues. Your job is to help make it the best Chick Lit it can be.

Avoid culture wars. We live in an era when the simple act of writing is going to offend somebody somewhere, so work on being helpful, not offended.

A critique is also not the place to show off. The writer being critiqued doesn’t care that you’ve read all the works of Proust in the original French, or that you once took a writing workshop with somebody who went to high school with Stephen King.

2. Don’t Judge or Condemn

Don’t critique as if you’ve recently arrived from Mt. Olympus on a fault-finding mission.

Unless you’re actually the Pope, nobody believes you’re infallible, so don’t talk as if you are. Say you don’t like something, not that it is “bad.”

Use “I” statements: It’s better to say “I wasn’t interested in your character,” rather than “your character is shallow and stupid.” Say, “I found this part boring” not, “your story is boring.”

It also helps if you make some suggestions for making it more engaging rather than simply condemning the piece.

And don’t assume the author is a mentally deficient space alien recently arrived from a galaxy far, far away. If you catch a typo, just say, “there’s a typo here where you wrote ‘cqt’.” That’s much better than, “you don’t know how to spell the word ‘cat’.”

3. Do Use the “Sandwich Method”

The human brain can’t take unrelenting criticism. 100% negativity comes across as an attack, and the only thing gained is the writer’s anger and distrust.

Start with something positive and conclude with another. Even if a beginner has presented 5 pages of embarrassing classic writing mistakes , use your imagination to come up with something positive to say. You’re a creative person, remember?

When I was first learning the ropes as a stage director, a veteran director told me that no matter how dismal an actor’s performance is, you should never give notes that are 100% critical.

Sometimes you have to say, “You remembered your blocking! You didn’t fall down!” before you tell him that playing Hamlet with a hillbilly accent is not working.

Make sure you remember the nice comment at the end too. “You looked good up there!” always worked, and kept the costumers happy.

4. Don’t Make ad hominem Criticisms

Critique the writing, not the writer. And remember the characters are not always stand-ins for the author.

Avoid calling the author a Satan-worshipper because he writes about vampires. And if you’re critiquing a steamy romance, it’s not helpful to call the author a slut. (Or a harlot, trollop, doxy, chippie or floozy. 🙂 )

Ditto the characters. If the author intends for the reader to see the character has a dangerously chaotic sex life, you don’t need to call the character derogatory names. 

That kind of statement is about you and your prejudices, and unhelpful for the author.

5. Do Listen to and/or Read the Other Critiques

If your critiques are done in person, don’t take a snooze during the other members’ critiques. It’s painful to hear the same criticism from two or more critiquers. Plus it wastes everybody’s time.

Maybe Sadie says, “I think it’s ridiculous when the vampire breaks into song in the middle of the battle with the werewolves. Everybody knows vampires can’t sing.”

So the next critiquer might say, “I agree with Sadie. I got taken out of the story when the vampire started singing I’m a Little Teapot when the werewolves were attacking his friend.”

But if you’ve been snoozing during Sadie’s critique, it’s annoying if you say, “Nobody else has mentioned it, but it’s ridiculous that the vampire starts singing about teapots in the middle of the battle.”

6. Don’t Mistake Critiquing for Group Therapy

Therapy stuff is most likely to surface with a memoir. People may feel the need to tell the author that he was being co-dependent with his second wife, or his current squeeze sounds like she’s got Borderline personality disorder. Resist it.

This is true with fiction too. You may not approve of the choices or lifestyles of an author’s characters, but your job is to judge the writing, not the characters. Say “I’d like more reasons to care about this character.” Or, “I find it hard to be sympathetic to his problems when he keeps turning into a werewolf and eating his girlfriends.”

And remember your # 1 goal here is to be helpful, not to blabber your unfiltered thoughts. Your honest opinion might be that the author is ugly and his mother dresses him funny, but keep it to yourself.

7. Do Know Your Own Blind Spots

Some neurodivergent people genuinely don’t get irony, sarcasm, or subtext. Satire is not fun for them. The strongly empathetic don’t find violence entertaining or enlightening. And many people have a powerful dislike of certain genres.

If you’re one of those people, give critiquing that kind of work a polite pass. You simply aren’t the right audience. 

Also, people who are recently clean and sober often see addiction everywhere. If that’s you (congrats!), think twice before pronouncing every character a hopeless alcoholic or addict, and realize you’re seeing things through different eyes than the average reader.

8. Don’t Enforce Stupid Writing Rules

One of the biggest problems with critiquers and beta readers is the belief that there are hard and fast rules that every writer must follow. Of course there are rules of grammar and spelling that are necessary for your work to be read by others.

But dogmatic enforcement about silly rules like “You should never use the word ‘was’,” or “Contractions are forbidden on the written page,” or “Your characters must never utter a cliché” is unhelpful and, well, stupid.

Here’s my post about Stupid Writing Rules and The Writing Police .  And last month’s post on Clichés, Tropes, and Archetypes .

9. Do Give Attention to Detail.

Attention to detail makes a good critique. Any author is going to be deaf and blind to certain things and a good critique will point them out.

So watch for repetitions, grammar problems, imprecise word choices and continuity issues.

A good critique can help the author avoid embarrassing mistakes like having four Saturdays in a row, or your hero’s eyes changing color half way through the love scene.

10. Don’t Try to Rewrite the Work

When a passage is unclear, suggesting a substitute word or phrase can be extremely helpful. Rewriting whole paragraphs is not. Resist the urge to rewrite the author’s work.

Then go home and use that creativity on your own WIP.

As in all things, the Golden Rule needs to be in force here. If you would be furious if somebody said that stuff about you or your work, don’t say it about others’. 

What about you, scriveners? Do you think your critiquing chops are up to snuff? Have you ever had a critique that felt like a personal attack? How do you react to an unhelpful critique?

BLOG NEWS: 

We have some sad news here at the blog. Our beloved webmaster, Barb Drozdowich, is having to step down while she fights a serious health issue. Do check out her publishing and marketing books at Bakerview Consulting . The sales and support will mean a lot to her. We’ve spotlighted one of her wonderfully helpful books below.

Tech guru Nate Hoffelder , a frequent guest here, has played superhero and jumped in to take over as webmaster and move the blog to a new host. There may be some glitches along the way. The blog may not go up on its regular schedule and MailChimp notices may not arrive. So please do check in regularly, even if you don’t get a notice. Our loyal readers mean so much to us, and we want to keep you informed.

Ruth and I give a massive “Thank You” to both Barb and Nate. You are the tech angels who have kept this blog alive. 

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About Anne R. Allen

Anne writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. Oh, yes, and she blogs. She's a contributor to Writer's Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery RomCom Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Anne lives on the Central Coast of California, near San Luis Obispo, the town Oprah called "The Happiest City in America."

November 13, 2022 at 10:03 am

Anne—Thanks for a most excellent post loaded with wit, charm and very very good advice!

Bottom line: Mind your manners and watch your language….don’t say such-and-such is stupid. Instead: Such-and-such doesn’t work for me. Such-and-such isn’t quite there yet. And get specific! No global, generic disses. Please!

How do I know this? Years as a writer (on the receiving end) and as an editor (on the giving end) clued me in. 🙂

November 13, 2022 at 1:34 pm

Ruth–Exactly! Your years of experience in the publishing business showed you how to communicate with new writers and help them get better, rather than squelching their dreams.

November 13, 2022 at 10:09 am

Huzzah! The more good critiques there are in the world, the better. Thanks, Anne, for highlighting quality critiquing.

November 13, 2022 at 1:35 pm

CS–True! We need more good critiques!

November 13, 2022 at 11:06 am

You covered everything well! Yes, resist the urge to rewrite it for the writer. And the part about not being offended is spot on.

November 13, 2022 at 1:37 pm

Alex–Some people will be offended that I mentioned being offended. 🙂 but it’s a pet peeve of mine. Fiction should be above manufactured culture wars.

November 13, 2022 at 11:25 am

Good post, Anne! After 30 years of teaching writing, with readabout in every class, the best line I found to help writers understand criticism is one you promote here: “I got taken out of the story when…” This is such an honest and gentle thing to say and addresses exactly what we’re all about – we want to hook readers into the story and keep them reading. We don’t want them to leave!

November 13, 2022 at 1:40 pm

Melodie–It’s a useful phrase I’m sure came in handy during all your years of teaching new writers. I guess my Camilla would say it comes down to good manners. 🙂

November 13, 2022 at 12:21 pm

I co-ran an in-person critique group almost a decade ago. It was run a lot like the way you describe how such groups should be run. Looking back on it now, I see how fortunate I was to have been part of it. I took critiques kinda hard at first, though. Took me awhile to appreciate them.

November 13, 2022 at 1:42 pm

Rich–A good critique group can make all the difference in a writer’s career. And way cheaper than writing classes. But those first lessons can be painful, whether from a teacher or a critique. I remember it well.

November 13, 2022 at 1:05 pm

Anne, what great guidelines for positive, helpful critique.

For more than three decades, I’ve been fortunate to take part in some amazing groups. Each has its own personality and quirks but every writer sees tremendous improvement in their work.

When you put someone else’s story under a microscope to find effective fixes for them, you recognize your own problems.

Not everyone sees the same thing so you wind up with the collective wisdom of six or seven brains.

Critique groups aren’t for every writer. Some are downright toxic–if you stumble into one of those, run fast and far away. But if members genuinely want to help each other, everyone wins.

November 13, 2022 at 1:48 pm

Debbie–It’s true that we often learn more from other people’s mistakes than we do from our own. It’s one of the benefits of critiquing. But you need to shop for the right group. As you say, many can be toxic. I wrote this post about the ones you should run away from, very fast. https://annerallen.com/2019/09/critique-groups-can-drive-you-bonkers/

November 13, 2022 at 1:07 pm

P.S. Wishing Barb strength and healing. She’s been a rock. Thanks also to Nate for stepping up.

November 13, 2022 at 1:54 pm

Debbie–Barb has been so good to us. Now she needs our positive thoughts and support. She’s going through a tough time. Nate has been wonderful!

November 13, 2022 at 4:43 pm

Thank you for this checklist, Anne. There is so much of this post to like–especially the reminder to remain sensitive to the neurodivergent. It’s so helpful when I share with critique partners who know about dyslexia and don’t think my poor spelling has anything to do with my intellect or lack of care. One of my favourite critique partners always used the sandwich method. In the beginning it was difficult for me to share my writing. I always feared that I would be judged harshly and sent packing. However, her critiques always made me feel supported and encouraged.

November 13, 2022 at 5:22 pm

Leanne–A good critique should make you feel encouraged. Generally we know where our writing needs work, but we’re not sure what the exact problem is. When someone can point that out to us, we know we can make it better. Overcoming dyslexia is hard. Congrats on being a writer in spite of it.

November 13, 2022 at 5:31 pm

Got Barb’s book – picked up a good use for the X-ray feature on ebooks at Amazon: being able to put a bit of information on a character – in case the reader has forgotten because they read the first book in my mainstream trilogy YEARS ago.

I don’t do character reminders in the next book; since I use multiple third person deep pov, a character would have to have a reason for thinking or talking about another character (“As you know, Bob”) for that little bit of description to be dropped into the current book – or another character would have to have a reason for asking – and that wouldn’t work for me.

But at least one reader has asked, and taking the time to do a classic ‘Cast of Characters’ page, even for the books’ site, still wouldn’t make it available at the point of reading in the ebook, this may be a good solution.

I thought X-rays were for dictionary terms!

Thanks, Barb.

November 17, 2022 at 12:53 pm

Alice–As a reader, I appreciated those “cast of characters” pages in big books in the past. I think it would be a great idea to revive the practice. Thanks for supporting Barb by buying her book!!

November 14, 2022 at 6:34 am

Thank you for your encouragement and support, Anne.

For many years, I believed that I had to overcome dyslexia. But now I realize that it’s due to my amazing dyslexic brain that I can draw from a seemingly bottomless pool of ideas and that solving plot problems is fun. Now I realize that I don’t write in spite, I write because of dyslexia. After all, it’s part of who I am.

All the best, Leanne

November 17, 2022 at 11:55 am

Leanne–“Overcoming” was obviously the wrong word choice. I apologize. I do get it that we can use our differences to our advantage.

November 14, 2022 at 10:07 am

Brilliant. This is so needed by those who write and those who review.

November 17, 2022 at 11:56 am

Mark–Many thanks!

November 21, 2022 at 6:52 pm

I joined a critique group three years ago with established guidelines. One idea that works fabulously is the writer must wait for everyone to share their comments about the chapter before he/she responds. This method prevents writers from immediately getting defensive or trying to justify or arguing for their choices. I agree with at least 90% of their comments and suggestions. When all critiques are finished, we open it up for open discussion and the writer can join in.

It’s crucial to develop trust in the group and to not take it personally if someone else offers suggestions. They’re merely trying to help by making recommendations. It’s the writer’s job to look at their remarks with an open mind.

November 21, 2022 at 7:24 pm

Pete–Yes! I covered all this in the first part of the post– To recap: “These tips are variations on the traditional “Milford” method of workshopping writing, first used at the Milford Writing Conference in 1956. Notes for the Critiqued: *Tell your group the genre and audience you’re writing for, and let them know where you want readers to focus: pacing, clarity, dialogue, grammar, repetitions, authenticity, etc. *Don’t expect 100% praise. *Stay silent during an oral critique, except to give a quick answer to a direct question. Once the critiques are finished, you can elaborate. *Don’t argue or explain “what you really meant.” One of the major things a critique can do is tell writers how much of what’s in our heads did or didn’t make it onto the page.” The point of this post was also to give some pointers on how to critique effectively, because some people take the silence of the critiqued as a license to bully.

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How to Write a Critique in Five Paragraphs

Last Updated: January 20, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Diane Stubbs . Diane Stubbs is a Secondary English Teacher with over 22 years of experience teaching all high school grade levels and AP courses. She specializes in secondary education, classroom management, and educational technology. Diane earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Delaware and a Master of Education from Wesley College. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 973,579 times.

A critique is usually written in response to a creative work, such as a novel, a film, poetry, or a painting. However, critiques are also sometimes assigned for research articles and media items, such as news articles or features. A critique is slightly different than a traditional 5-paragraph theme, as it is usually focused on the overall effectiveness and usefulness of the work it is critiquing, rather than making a strictly analytical argument about it. Organizing your critique into 5 paragraphs can help you structure your thoughts.

Laying the Groundwork

• 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?

• 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. Google Scholar can also be a good source for research.

Writing the Introductory Paragraph

• For a work of fiction or a published work of journalism or research, this information is usually available in the publication itself, such as on the copyright page for a novel.
• For a film, you may wish to refer to a source such as IMDb to get the information you need. If you're critiquing a famous artwork, an encyclopedia of art would be a good place to find information on the creator, the title, and important dates (date of creation, date of exhibition, etc.).

• For example, if you’re assessing a research article in the sciences, a quick overview of its place in the academic discussion could be useful (e.g., “Professor X’s work on fruit flies is part of a long research tradition on Blah Blah Blah.”)
• If you are evaluating a painting, giving some brief information on where it was first displayed, for whom it was painted, etc., would be useful.
• If you are assessing a novel, it could be good to talk about what genre or literary tradition the novel is written within (e.g., fantasy, High Modernism, romance). You may also want to include details about the author’s biography that seem particularly relevant to your critique.
• For a media item, such as a news article, consider the social and/or political context of the media outlet the item came from (e.g., Fox News, BBC, etc.) and of the issue it is dealing with (e.g., immigration, education, entertainment).

• The authors of research articles will often state very clearly in the abstract and in the introduction to their work what they are investigating, often with sentences that say something like this: "In this article we provide a new framework for analyzing X and argue that it is superior to previous methods because of reason A and reason B."
• For creative works, you may not have an explicit statement from the author or creator about their purpose, but you can often infer one from the context the work occupies. For example, if you were examining the movie The Shining, you might argue that the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's goal is to call attention to the poor treatment of Native Americans because of the strong Native American themes present in the movie. You could then present the reasons why you think that in the rest of the essay.

• For example, if you were writing about The Shining, you could summarize the main points this way: "Stanley Kubrick uses strong symbolism, such as the placement of the movie's hotel on an Indian burial ground, the naming of the hotel "Overlook," and the constant presence of Native American artwork and representation, to call viewers' attention to America's treatment of Native Americans in history."

• For a research article, you will probably want to focus your thesis on whether the research and discussion supported the authors' claims. You may also wish to critique the research methodology, if there are obvious flaws present.
• For creative works, consider what you believe the author or creator's goal was in making the work, and then present your assessment of whether or not they achieved that goal.

Writing the 3 Body Paragraphs

• If you have three clear points about your work, you can organize each paragraph by point. For example, if you are analyzing a painting, you might critique the painter’s use of color, light, and composition, devoting a paragraph to each topic.
• If you have more than three points about your work, you can organize each paragraph thematically. For example, if you are critiquing a movie and want to talk about its treatment of women, its screenwriting, its pacing, its use of color and framing, and its acting, you might think about the broader categories that these points fall into, such as “production” (pacing, color and framing, screenwriting), “social commentary” (treatment of women), and “performance” (acting).
• Alternatively, you could organize your critique by “strengths” and “weaknesses.” The aim of a critique is not merely to criticize, but to point out what the creator or author has done well and what s/he has not.

• For example, if you are critiquing a song, you could consider how the beat or tone of the music supports or detracts from the lyrics.
• For a research article or a media item, you may want to consider questions such as how the data was gathered in an experiment, or what method a journalist used to discover information.

• Does the author use primary sources (e.g., historical documents, interviews, etc.)? Secondary sources? Quantitative data? Qualitative data? Are these sources appropriate for the argument?
• Has evidence been presented fairly, without distortion or selectivity?
• Does the argument proceed logically from the evidence used?

• If the work is a creative work, consider whether it presents its ideas in an original or interesting way. You can also consider whether it engages with key concepts or ideas in popular culture or society.
• If the work is a research article, you can consider whether the work enhances your understanding of a particular theory or idea in its discipline. Research articles often include a section on “further research” where they discuss the contributions their research has made and what future contributions they hope to make.

Writing the Conclusion Paragraph and References

Sample Critiques

Community Q&A

• Before you begin writing, take notes while you are watching or reading the subject of your critique. Keep to mind certain aspects such as how it made you feel. What was your first impression? With deeper examination, what is your overall opinion? How did you come to this opinion? Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• While the 5-paragraph form can work very well to help you organize your ideas, some instructors do not allow this type of essay. Be sure that you understand the assignment. If you’re not sure whether a 5-paragraph format is acceptable to your teacher, ask! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Avoid using first and second person pronouns such as, “you”, “your”, “I”, “my”, or “mine.” State your opinion objectively for a more credible approach. Thanks Helpful 39 Not Helpful 14

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-critique
• ↑ https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/writing-article-critique
• ↑ https://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/writing-well/critique.html
• ↑ http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/book-review
• ↑ https://www.hunter.cuny.edu/rwc/handouts/the-writing-process-1/invention/Writing-a-Critique
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/resources/writing-critiques/

About This Article

To write a 5-paragraph critique, provide the basic information about the work you're critiquing in the first paragraph, including the author, when it was published, and what its key themes are. Then, conclude this paragraph with a statement of your opinion of the work. Next, identify 3 central positive or negative issues in the work and write a paragraph about each one. For example, you could focus on the color, light, and composition of a painting. In the final paragraph, state your overall assessment of the work, and give reasons to back it up. For tips on how to take notes on the piece your critiquing, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Definition of Critique

Critique is a literary technique that means to critically evaluate a piece of literary work, or a political or philosophical theory in detail. A critique could be a critical essay , an article evaluating a literary piece, or a review. It may be just like a summary that identifies the central issue, raises questions, takes notice of theoretical and experimental approaches, and reviews the significance of the results. Apart from that, its purpose is to highlight both the shortcomings as well as strengths of a literary piece or a work of art. Moreover, critical evaluation or assessment requires sufficient knowledge about the subject matter.

Examples of Critique in Literature

Example #1: the guardian (by philip hope-wallace).

In The Guardian , critic Philip Hope-Wallace has portrayed Beckett’s play , Waiting for Godot, as “inexplicit and deliberately fatuous.” He also claimed this play to have “bored some people acutely. [while] Others found it a witty and poetic conundrum .” Godot would possibly be a God, and the dresses of tramps are like Chaplinesque zanies in a circus. Both speak futile cross talks like music hall exchanges. This play bored audience acutely, while others consider it as a poetic and witty conundrum. Finally, he calls the play a dramatic vacuum. It is without any plot , climax , denouement , beginning, middle and end.

Example #2: The Washington Post (By The Washington Post)

A famous writer, Jonathan Yardley, gives a complete analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s popular novel , The Great Gatsby in The Washington Post . He calls the novel an enormous achievement in Fitzgerald’s career. It is his masterwork and seems that no other American novel could ever come close to its literary artistry.

This novel is very popular, and its every passage is famous, thus there is no need to retrace its details and familiar background. Fitzgerald has written it with unusual subtlety and sustained that tone in the entire novel. In the end, he says that this novel is “the most beautiful, compelling and  true  in all of American literature.” Then he says, “If from all of our country’s books I could have only one, The Great Gatsby , would be it.”

Example #3: Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (By Harold Bloom)

In his book, Hamlet : Poem Unlimited , Harold Bloom declares William Shakespeare ’s Hamlet as “unlimited,” coming “of no genre ,” because its greatness “… competes only with the world’s scriptures.” This amazing significance cannot emerge from a work, which is about tendentious and politicized things.

Bloom abandons the idea that Prince Hamlet ’s double shock of his father’s death and his mother’s second marriage has brought a drastic change in Hamlet. The truth, however, is that “Something in Hamlet dies before the play opens.” In fact, the theme or central idea of this play is “Hamlet’s consciousness of his own consciousness, unlimited yet at war with itself.” Thus, the play is about awakening of self-awareness, and Hamlet fights with “his desire to come to an end of playacting.”

Example #4: The Daily Telegraph (By Victoria Lambert)

Victoria Lambert, in The Daily Telegraph, writes her critical reviews on Jane Austen ’s novel, Pride and Prejudice . She describes the novel as surprisingly comforting as much as iconoclastic. It is a great story that challenges the people’s perceptions, and also draws a line through their thoughts and female history.

Certainly, there is an enjoyment of the Georgian grace, a world where we can solve problems by a ball invitation, a new gown, and scrumptious gossip. The social life at Hampshire Vicarage, its complex social mores, obsessions with money and class, its picnics and parities, draw the readers – especially females – to a point of obsession. The critics appreciate Austen’s overall depiction of the way money rules a society. She also admits Austen’s ability to describe the human heart in detail, setting her literary pulse racing.

Function of Critique

Critiques vary widely, ranging from giving reviews of books, as these reviews might determine whether a book is going to be popular or not, to rhetorical analysis of articles and pieces of artwork. Its advantage is that, despite negative criticism and reviews, many books win commercial success. Sometimes a critic serves as a scholarly detective, authenticating unknown books and unearthing master pieces. Thus, obscure scholarly skills could work as a most basic criticism, bringing literary pieces to public attention.

Besides, a critique may antagonize the author. Many authors do not feel that literature needs investigators, and advocates are not happy when they hear that their works are imitative, incomplete, or have unintended meanings. However, most critiques are useful, as they help improve the works of authors.

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Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

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• Steps for Writing a Critique

Evaluating the Article

• How to Write It
• Helpful Tips

An article critique involves critically analyzing a written work to assess its strengths and flaws. If you need to write an article critique, you will need to describe the article, analyze its contents, interpret its meaning, and make an overall assessment of the importance of the work.

Critique papers require students to conduct a critical analysis of another piece of writing, often a book, journal article, or essay . No matter your major, you will probably be expected to write a critique paper at some point.

For psychology students, critiquing a professional paper is a great way to learn more about psychology articles, writing, and the research process itself. Students will analyze how researchers conduct experiments, interpret results, and discuss the impact of the results.

At a Glance

An article critique involves making a critical assessment of a single work. This is often an article, but it might also be a book or other written source. It summarizes the contents of the article and then evaluates both the strengths and weaknesses of the piece. Knowing how to write an article critique can help you learn how to evaluate sources with a discerning eye.

Steps for Writing an Effective Article Critique

While these tips are designed to help students write a psychology critique paper, many of the same principles apply to writing article critiques in other subject areas.

Your first step should always be a thorough read-through of the material you will be analyzing and critiquing. It needs to be more than just a casual skim read. It should be in-depth with an eye toward key elements.

To write an article critique, you should:

• Read the article , noting your first impressions, questions, thoughts, and observations
• Describe the contents of the article in your own words, focusing on the main themes or ideas
• Interpret the meaning of the article and its overall importance
• Critically evaluate the contents of the article, including any strong points as well as potential weaknesses

The following guidelines can help you assess the article you are reading and make better sense of the material.

Read the Introduction Section of the Article

Start by reading the introduction . Think about how this part of the article sets up the main body and how it helps you get a background on the topic.

• Is the hypothesis clearly stated?
• Is the necessary background information and previous research described in the introduction?

In addition to answering these basic questions, note other information provided in the introduction and any questions you have.

Read the Methods Section of the Article

Is the study procedure clearly outlined in the methods section ? Can you determine which variables the researchers are measuring?

Remember to jot down questions and thoughts that come to mind as you are reading. Once you have finished reading the paper, you can then refer back to your initial questions and see which ones remain unanswered.

Read the Results Section of the Article

Are all tables and graphs clearly labeled in the results section ? Do researchers provide enough statistical information? Did the researchers collect all of the data needed to measure the variables in question?

Make a note of any questions or information that does not seem to make sense. You can refer back to these questions later as you are writing your final critique.

Read the Discussion Section of the Article

Experts suggest that it is helpful to take notes while reading through sections of the paper you are evaluating. Ask yourself key questions:

• How do the researchers interpret the results of the study?
• Did the results support their hypothesis?
• Do the conclusions drawn by the researchers seem reasonable?

The discussion section offers students an excellent opportunity to take a position. If you agree with the researcher's conclusions, explain why. If you feel the researchers are incorrect or off-base, point out problems with the conclusions and suggest alternative explanations.

Another alternative is to point out questions the researchers failed to answer in the discussion section.

Begin Writing Your Own Critique of the Paper

Once you have read the article, compile your notes and develop an outline that you can follow as you write your psychology critique paper. Here's a guide that will walk you through how to structure your critique paper.

Introduction

Begin your paper by describing the journal article and authors you are critiquing. Provide the main hypothesis (or thesis) of the paper. Explain why you think the information is relevant.

Thesis Statement

The final part of your introduction should include your thesis statement. Your thesis statement is the main idea of your critique. Your thesis should briefly sum up the main points of your critique.

Article Summary

Provide a brief summary of the article. Outline the main points, results, and discussion.

When describing the study or paper, experts suggest that you include a summary of the questions being addressed, study participants, interventions, comparisons, outcomes, and study design.

Don't get bogged down by your summary. This section should highlight the main points of the article you are critiquing. Don't feel obligated to summarize each little detail of the main paper. Focus on giving the reader an overall idea of the article's content.

Your Analysis

In this section, you will provide your critique of the article. Describe any problems you had with the author's premise, methods, or conclusions. You might focus your critique on problems with the author's argument, presentation, information, and alternatives that have been overlooked.

When evaluating a study, summarize the main findings—including the strength of evidence for each main outcome—and consider their relevance to key demographic groups.  

Organize your paper carefully. Be careful not to jump around from one argument to the next. Arguing one point at a time ensures that your paper flows well and is easy to read.

Your critique paper should end with an overview of the article's argument, your conclusions, and your reactions.

More Tips When Writing an Article Critique

• As you are editing your paper, utilize a style guide published by the American Psychological Association, such as the official Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association .
• Reading scientific articles can be challenging at first. Remember that this is a skill that takes time to learn but that your skills will become stronger the more that you read.
• Take a rough draft of your paper to your school's writing lab for additional feedback and use your university library's resources.

What This Means For You

Being able to write a solid article critique is a useful academic skill. While it can be challenging, start by breaking down the sections of the paper, noting your initial thoughts and questions. Then structure your own critique so that you present a summary followed by your evaluation. In your critique, include the strengths and the weaknesses of the article.

Archibald D, Martimianakis MA. Writing, reading, and critiquing reviews .  Can Med Educ J . 2021;12(3):1-7. doi:10.36834/cmej.72945

Pautasso M. Ten simple rules for writing a literature review . PLoS Comput Biol . 2013;9(7):e1003149. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003149

Gülpınar Ö, Güçlü AG. How to write a review article?   Turk J Urol . 2013;39(Suppl 1):44–48. doi:10.5152/tud.2013.054

Erol A. Basics of writing review articles .  Noro Psikiyatr Ars . 2022;59(1):1-2. doi:10.29399/npa.28093

American Psychological Association.  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.). Washington DC: The American Psychological Association; 2019.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Oscar Wilde’s Art of Disobedience

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Revisiting his critical writing, we learn a valuable lesson about the critic’s role in refusing bad taste and bad politics.

“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue,” Oscar Wilde declares in his 1891 essay, “The Soul of Man Under Socialism.” “It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”

Books in review

The critical writings of oscar wilde: an annotated selection.

“Classic Wilde,” you might think. Isn’t it like him to argue that the betterment of civilization depends upon misbehavior? Since his death in 1900, at the age of 46, the writer’s popular image as a provocateur has only strengthened, and not without cause. In Wilde’s oeuvre, contradiction is not merely a rhetorical attitude, but an implicit intellectual challenge. Yet as a critic and essayist, his commitment to insubordination is also entangled with a lifelong philosophical inquiry into the conundrum of creating art on one’s own terms, unburdened by the demands of public opinion or by a milieu’s prevailing aesthetic conventions. If yielding to authority was tantamount to degradation, as Wilde believed, beauty and art could flourish only in conditions of freedom, which by his own definition constituted a utopia of socialist hedonism. “Man is made for something better than disturbing dirt,” he writes. Rather than brute, “unintellectual” labor, human life ought to be occupied by the sorts of activities likely to draw accusations of idleness: creative pastimes of one’s choosing or absolute contemplative leisure.

His body of criticism, newly collected in The Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde , cultivates an aesthetic of disobedience. Its language—sly, limber, epigrammatic—models the same rebellious individualism that it so fiercely advocates. In this annotated volume, editor Nicholas Frankel assembles a selection of Wilde’s most famous nonfiction writing, largely devoted to the matters of how an artist creates art and how others should receive it. Frankel divides this collection into four chronologized groups: reviews, essays and dialogues, letters to the press, and epigrams and paradoxes. Together, they illuminate a swaggering intellectual career that spans not just the novel, the play, and the poem but also, to a prodigious degree, the periodical.

As Frankel suggests in his introduction, “Wilde approached the writing of criticism with wit, irony, and a consummate sense of style, so much so that his critical writing is often hardly recognizable as criticism .” This flouting of rhetorical custom may itself be understood as a subtle form of defiance: a commitment to submitting language to a laboratory experiment of Wilde’s own devising. Take, for example, the argument that human progress requires disobedience, in which he invokes the latter’s “virtue,” as if the point of his writing is to yoke opposites, arousing tension through their unexpected alliance.

Wilde was no stranger to tension, or to scandal. The chutzpah of his criticism issues from his enduring friction with the cultural habits and assumptions of late Victorian England, from his resistance to complacency within a context he found sorely wanting. Yet inside that raucous rebellion, one cannot but discern a yearning impulse: that to obey, or not, could finally diminish as relevant modes of sociality; that an individual—queer, Irish, aesthetically flamboyant—could commit himself to beauty amid the peril fomented by an anxious nation scouting out transgression on every page.

By the late 19th century, Great Britain’s literary ecosystem was populated by a roster of venerated critics: Thomas Carlyle loomed large in the field, his sway unhindered by his death in 1881. Matthew Arnold’s 1865 essay “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time”—which Wilde would take to task 25 years later—famously champions the work of critics as crucial to literature in the wake of much public disparagement. John Ruskin and Walter Pater played crucial roles in art history and aesthetics, and each was uniquely indispensable to Wilde’s own thinking. But whatever intellectual debts Wilde owed to his critical forebears, he would not compound them through stylistic mimicry. Even the most recreational readers of Wilde could not confuse him for the author of The Stones of Venice (written by Ruskin in 1851) or Studies in the History of the Renaissance (written by Pater in 1873, and often referred to by Wilde as “my golden book”). Nor did the figure of “the critic,” chiseled in the Victorian imagination as a Carlyle-like symbol of sober wisdom, appeal to Wilde’s puckishness.

While he delighted in the role of the critic, Wilde was the first to admit his own limits. A critic cannot confer truth to his readers, nor should he attempt to do so, Wilde argued. At most, a critic can propose the terms of conversation. He implies that the power of language is essentially dialogic; it draws significance through its summoning of oppositions. Frankel delineates this impulse in Wilde’s criticism, identifying it as a proto-Bakhtinian “dialectical understanding of the truth”—an understanding that renders proof and reliability as red herrings. “No artist desires to prove anything,” Wilde asserts in the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray , for “even things that are true can be proved.”

To scout out the precise coordinates of Wilde’s critical inconsistencies would be to miss his greater rhetorical point. (“Who wants to be consistent?” asks Vivian in his 1889 dialogue, “The Decay of Lying: An Observation.”) Still, his mercurial tendencies were not always choreographed. Early in his career, Wilde argued that artistic self-sufficiency existed in autonomous relation to one’s milieu. “Such an expression as English art is a meaningless expression,” he told the Royal Academy’s art students in an 1883 lecture. “Nor is there any such thing as a school of art even. There are merely artists, that is all.” Like the Greek deities depicted in Wilde’s beloved Hellenistic sculpture, artistic sensibility is born unto the artist with inviolable sanctity; it is a tidy, closed system, he suggests, dependent only upon itself.

Yet within two years’ time, Wilde changed his mind and began to acknowledge, even to insist upon the significance of cultural context. “An artist is not an isolated fact,” he writes in “Mr. Whistler’s Ten O’Clock” (1885), a withering review of the American painter’s lecture on aestheticism; “he is the resultant of a certain milieu and a certain entourage, and can no more be born of a nation that is devoid of any sense of beauty than a fig can grow from a thorn or a rose blossom from a thistle.” Wilde had once counted James McNeil Whistler among his friends, but the affection between them soured as Wilde’s views shifted to an irreconcilably opposing position. One blistering point of contention regarded the critic’s role in artistic discourse. In his lecture, Whistler laments the scourge of criticism, condemning its practitioners as “the middleman in this matter on Art.” Criticism, in Whistler’s estimation, amounts to little more than static interference: “It has widened the gulf between the people and the painter, has brought about the most complete misunderstanding as to the aim of the picture.”

The Nation Weekly

Wilde saw the matter differently. He also knew that Whistler had long harbored a grudge against Victorian critics. In 1878, Whistler had filed a libel suit against Ruskin for a mean review. The artist won the case, although the jury conveyed its disdain for the proceedings by awarding him only a farthing in damages. Nonetheless, as Frankel writes in his introduction, the ruling in such a public case imperiled the critic’s “hitherto unquestioned authority.” The case implied the triumph of the artist over the critic, which is a constant conflict that still produces a thorny question: Why should critics possess the authority to critique art they did not create?

Wilde pokes at this question in “Mr. Whistler’s 10 O’Clock” and attempts to settle it through a shift in vocabulary: “I say that only an artist is a judge of art…. For there are not many arts, but one art merely: poem, picture and Parthenon, sonnet and statue…he who knows one knows all.” This statement foreshadows a more explicit moment of philosophical departure, in which Wilde demands criticism’s recognition as an aesthetic equivalent to other artistic forms. Even Matthew Arnold, one of criticism’s most famous defenders, had declined to make this leap: “The critical power is of lower rank than the inventive,” he admitted. Arnold’s critic does not create art but instead evaluates, assembles, organizes.

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Although an admirer of Arnold, Wilde could not abide what seemed to him a diminishing of the critic’s role. A critic was no mere lens by which to reflect a superior creation, nor a pale imitation of literary artistry. The cultural contributions made by critics warranted appreciation on their own terms. Wilde issued his own apologia in 1890 by way of his famous dialogue, “The Critic as Artist: With Some Remarks on the Importance of Doing Nothing.” Initially titled “The True Function and Value of Criticism,” it delivers a pointed refutation of Arnold’s thesis.

The conversation unfolds between Wilde’s slick, in-dialogue proxy, Gilbert, and his skeptical interlocutor, Ernest, who feeds Gilbert a handy supply of queries and protestations that incite his elaboration on the art of criticism. “You seem to me to be allowing your passion for criticism to lead you a great deal too far,” Ernest protests. “For, after all, even you must admit that it is much more difficult to do a thing than to talk about it.” Gilbert, who shares the author’s love of sly contradiction, is prepared for this moment, epigrams loaded in his quiver: “Not at all. That is a gross popular error…. Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it…. [Action] is the last resource of those who know not how to dream.”

Here is a defense of criticism that refuses all prior terms and is shaped instead by Wilde’s own pleasure-centered metric. Loath to accommodate an industrializing empire’s fetish for productivity, he casts the writing of criticism in opposition to exertion of any sort. As Gilbert and Ernest debate, they gaze at the night sky, where “the moon…gleams like a lion’s eye”; Egyptian cigarettes dangle from their fingers. As Frankel notes in his introduction, “The critic is an artist, to be sure, but he is also a corporeal creature, whose thoughts and ideas are extensions of his physical life, not a repudiation of it.” In the domain of Wilde’s dialogues, his speakers are at liberty to enact the conditions that Wilde understands as central to creative work. If it is the critical instinct, not the creative one, that breeds innovation, then the critic requires the stillness afforded by “doing nothing”—by settling into one’s flesh and heeding one’s own impressions, wherever they meander.

Gilbert’s position in “The Critic as Artist” is seductive, but it courts disagreement. When I’ve read this dialogue in the past, my reactions have sometimes eked into Ernest territory. One could dispense with Arnold’s solemn distinction between critical and creative abilities without landing where Wilde does. But why would one read Wilde in pursuit of intellectual mitigations? Rather, one turns to him because the extravagance of his theories begets the most enthralling possibilities. Or as Gilbert concludes, “To the critic the work of art is simply a suggestion for a new work of his own, that need not necessarily bear any obvious resemblance to the thing it criticizes.”

There are a few peculiar lines at the conclusion of Wilde’s 1885 essay, “The Truth of Masks: A Note on Illusion,” in which he offers a sly disclaimer to the argument he would make five years later:

Not that I agree with everything that I have said in this essay. There is much with which I entirely disagree. The essay simply represents an artistic standpoint, and in aesthetic criticism attitude is everything.

The critic shoulders many artistic and intellectual responsibilities, but always saying precisely what one believes is not among them. As the essay’s title implies, a writerly posture—a linguistic mask—might signify more than any so-called authentic claim. Performance, Wilde knew, was a reliably tangible fact of existence; another person’s truth was a glint on the horizon, easily contested and endlessly deferred.

In April 1895, during Wilde’s failed libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, he was questioned about a line in his series of epigrams, “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young” (1894): “A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes it.” Wilde explained that according to his “philosophical definition,” truth was “something so personal…that in fact the same truth can never be apprehended by two minds.” The court could not abide such vast ideological diversity, particularly when posited by a man who, soon after, would be convicted of gross indecency for homosexuality. Wilde’s truth—and his adherence to it—yielded criminal condemnation and punishment: It signified an illicit, unpardonable refusal.

In “The Critic as Artist,” Wilde also invokes the matter of necessary disobedience, although he draws on more strident language than he does in “The Soul of Man Under Socialism.” “What is termed Sin is an essential element of progress,” Gilbert declares. But lest the reader misinterpret the remark as equivocal, he presses the point: “Without it the world would stagnate, or grow old, or become colourless…. In its rejection of the current notions about morality, it is one with the higher ethics.” Perhaps these lines comprise a kind of beatitude, uttered for those who, like Wilde, resisted impossible assimilatory demands. Or perhaps they’re a nudge to the docile reader: The only route to Utopia is illuminated by disobedience.

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9 places to nosh on bagels in southern Maine

From old-school spots to foodie favorites, there's a 'hole' lot to try.

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Bread and bagels at The Works Cafe in downtown Portland. Photo by Aimsel Ponti

From New York-style boiled bagels to Montreal-inspired wood-fired ones, there’s lots of great bagels in southern Maine and several shops have the accolades to back that up.

In 2023, Bon Appetit named bagels from Rose Foods and Rover Bagel among the best in the country.

Two years before that,  Food & Wine Magazine put Rover, Forage and Scratch Baking Co. on its list of best bagels in the U.S.

Whether you like yours toasted with cream cheese or as the bread for your breakfast sandwich, you can find plenty of styles and flavors from Biddeford to Brunswick.

BEACH BAGELS

The offerings at Beach Bagels include a French toast and marble bagel, and the cream cheese menu comprises spreads like strawberry, olive and honey walnut. Along with breakfast sandwiches, Beach Bagels has hearty breakfast options like omelets and pancakes. Best of all, you’re steps away from a beach stroll. Just don’t let the seagulls steal your bagel. Advertisement

WHEN: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily WHERE: 34 Old Orchard St., Old Orchard Beach. beachbagels.yolasite.com ______________

Dutchman’s opened in 2022 as a pop-up housed at Nomad pizza in Brunswick’s Fort Andross building. It’s since become a permanent fixture there and uses the pizzeria’s wood-fired ovens to bake its bagels. The hand-shaped, honey-boiled bagels come in plain, roasted garlic, poppy and a bagel-of-the-day flavor.

WHEN: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday to Sunday WHERE: Fort Andross, 14 Maine St., Brunswick. dutchmans.me ______________

FORAGE MARKET

Making bagels at Forage Market involves a two-day aging process. The bagels are naturally leavened with wild yeast starter and baked next to a hardwood fire. There are usually five flavors available, including sesame and garlic. Breakfast sandwiches (including vegan options) are available. Forage also has a location in Lewiston. Advertisement

WHEN: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday WHERE: 123 Washington Ave., Portland. foragemarket.com _____________

MISTER BAGEL

There are 10 or so Mister Bagel locations in Maine, including South Portland and Falmouth. It all began with the Portland location, which was the first bagel shop to open in Maine. The late Rick Hartglass started Mister Bagel in 1977, and it is still a family business. Music fans will appreciate the breakfast sandwich menu, which includes The David Bowie (bacon, egg and American cheese), the Jimmy Buffett (egg with roast beef and cheddar) and The Lady Gaga (avocado, salt and pepper, with or without egg).

WHEN: 6:30 a.m. to noon Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday WHERE: 599 Forest Ave., Portland. misterbagelforestave.com ______________

At Rose Foods, the menu varies depending on the day, but there are usually six to eight flavors available. For example, should you pop in on a Friday, you’ll find a poppy and onion bialy (a cousin of the bagel that is not boiled). Rose Foods also makes a number of bagel sandwiches, including the Classic Nova with Nova lox and the Classic Whitefish. Advertisement

WHEN: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily WHERE: 428 Forest Ave., Portland. rosefoods.me

______________

ROVER BAGEL

At Rover Bagel, you’ll find wood-fired plain, poppy, sea salt, sesame and everything bagels available most of the time, and the spread game here is strong with cream cheese options like lemon-thyme-honey cream and chili-garlic.

WHEN: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon Sunday WHERE: 10 West Point Lane Suite 10-204, Biddeford (Pepperell Mill). roverbagel.com

______________ Advertisement

SCRATCH BAKING CO.

You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the line of devoted fans waiting for Scratch Baking Co. to open, especially on weekend mornings. Along with the popular Maine sea salt, plain and other everyday flavors, Scratch has a daily special bagel. There’s honeyed rosemary on Wednesday and jalapeno cheddar on Thursday. Scratch is also famous, at least to locals, for its P-Cheese spread. It’s a pimento cheese recipe made with cheddar, mayo, roasted red peppers and seasoning and was passed down to co-owner and head baker Allison Reid by her grandmother, Mern.

WHEN: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to noon Sunday WHERE: 416 Preble St., South Portland. scratchbakingco.com ___________

THE MAINE BAGEL

The Maine Bagel is a drive-thru with several breakfast and other kinds of sandwiches available. With a bagel list that features egg and bialy among the standards, the family-owned spot is the perfect place to stop on your way to Pine Point Beach. The Maine Bagel really shines with a dozen kinds of cream cheese spreads, including raisin-walnut, lox, strawberry, cranberry-nut and bacon-chive.

WHEN: 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. WHERE: 117 Route 1, Scarborough. themainebagel.com Advertisement

THE WORKS CAFE

The Works Cafe is an institution on the edge of the Portland’s Old Port. It opened in 1990 as Bagel Works before it changed its name in 2002. The original shop in this regional chain opened in Manchester, Vermont, in 1988, and there are 11 locations around New England, though just the one in Maine. Gone are the ’90s-era banana-walnut bagels and cold pizza cream cheese, but The Works Cafe is still a reliable place to grab a salt, multigrain or cinnamon raisin bagel, among others. The menu also has bowls, sandwiches and smoothies.

WHEN: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily WHERE: 15 Temple St., Portland. workscafe.com

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