Writing A Reaction Paper, Review and Critique

WRITING A REACTION PAPER,
REVIEW AND CRITIQUE

What are Reaction Papers, Reviews, and Critiques?
• A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized forms of

writing in which a reviewer or reader evaluates any of the following:
• A scholarly work (e.g., academic books and articles)
• A work of art (e.g., performance art, play, dance, sports, film, exhibits)
• Designs (e.g., industrial designs, furniture, fashion design)
• Graphic designs (e.g., posters, billboards, commercials, and digital media)
What are Reaction Papers, Reviews, and Critiques?
• Reaction papers, reviews, critiques usually range in length from

250-750 words.
• They are not simply summaries but are critical assessments,
analyses, or evaluation of different works.
• As advanced forms of writing, they involve your skills in critical
thinking and recognizing arguments.
CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A CRITIQUE
• There are various ways or standpoints by which you can analyze

and critique a certain material.
• You can critique a material based on its technical aspects, its
approach to gender, your reaction as the audience, or through its
portrayal of class struggle and social structure.
1. Formalism
• claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each
work as a distinct work of art.
• In short, it posits that the key to understanding a text is through the
text itself; the historical context, the author, or any other external
contexts are not necessary in interpreting the meaning.
1. Formalism
Following are the common aspects looked into formalism:
• Author’s techniques in resolving • Use of imagery to develop the
contradictions within the work symbols in the work
• Central passage that sums up the • Interconnectedness of various parts
entirety of the work of the work
• Contribution of parts and the work as • Paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the
a whole to its aesthetic quality work
• Relationship of the form and the • Unity in the work
content
2. Feminist Criticism
• also called feminism, it focuses on how literature presents women
as subjects of socio-political, psychological, and economic
oppression.
• It also reveals how aspects of our culture are patriarchal, i.e., how
our culture views men as superior and women as inferior.
2. Feminist Criticism
• How culture determines gender • How women are socially, politically,
• How gender equality (or lack of it) is psychologically, and economically
presented in the text oppressed by patriarchy
• How patriarchal ideology is an
• How gender issues are presented in
overpowering presence
literary works and other aspects of
human production and daily life
3. Reader-Response Criticism
• is concerned with the reviewer’s reaction as an audience of a work.
• This approach claims that the reader’s role cannot be separated
from the understanding of the work; a text does not have meaning
until the reader reads it and interprets it.
• Readers are therefore not passive and distant, but are active
consumers of the material presented to them.
3. Reader-Response Criticism
• Interaction between the reader and • The impact of the reader’s delivery of
the text in creating meaning sounds and visuals on enhancing
and changing meaning
4. Marxist Criticism
• is concerned with differences between economic classes and
implications of a capitalist system, such as the continuing conflicts
between the working class and the elite.
• Hence, it attempts to reveal that the ultimate source of people’s
experience is the socioeconomic system.
4. Marxist Criticism
• Social class as represented in • Social class of the characters

the work • Conflicts and interactions
• Social class of the between economic classes
writer/creator
• Note that these are not the only critical approaches you can use.
Other approaches in writing a critique include postmodern criticism,
post-colonial criticism, structuralism, psychological criticism, gender
criticism, ecocriticism, biographical criticism, historical criticism,
mythological criticism, and deconstructionist criticism.
STRUCTURE OF A REACTION PAPER,
REVIEW, OR CRITIQUE
Structure for Critiques of Academic Researches
and Articles
• Introduction (around 5% of the paper)

• Title of the book/article/work
• Writer’s name
• Thesis Statement
and Articles
• Summary (Around 10% of the paper)

• Objective or purpose
• Methods used (if applicable)
• Major findings, claims, ideas, or messages
and Articles
• Review/Critique (in no particular order and around 75% of the

paper)
• Appropriateness of methodology to support the arguments (for books and
articles) or appropriateness of mode of presentation (other works)
• Theoretical soundness, coherence of ideas
• Sufficiency and soundness of explanation in relation to other available
information and experts
• Other perspectives in explaining the concepts and ideas
and Articles
• Review/Critique (in no particular order and around 75% of the

paper)
• It is best to ask the following questions during this part:
• Does the writer explicitly state his/her thesis statement?
• What are the assumptions (i.e., scientific/logical/literary explanation without
evidence) mentioned in the work? Are they explicitly discussed?
• What are the contributions of the work to the field where it belongs?
• What problems and issues are discussed or presented in the work?
• What kinds of information (e.g., observation, survey, statistics, historical accounts)
are presented in the work? How are they used to support the arguments or
thesis?
• Are there other ways of supporting the arguments or thesis aside from the
information used in the work? Is the author or creator silent about these
alternative ways of explanation?
and Articles
• Conclusion (around 10% of the paper)

• Overall impression of the work
• Scholarly or literary value of the reviewed article, book, or work
• Benefits for the intended audience or field
• Suggestion for future direction of research
Structure for Other Types of Reviews
there is no prescribed structure, but

the following sections are almost
always present.
there is no prescribed structure, but

the following sections are almost
always present.
1. Introduction
• Basic details about the material, such as its title, director or artist, name of
exhibition/event, and the like
• Main assessment of the material (for films and performances)
2. Plot Summary/Description
• Gist of the plot
• Simple description of the artwork
• Analysis/Interpretation
• Discussion and analysis of the work (you may employ the critical
approach here)
• It is best to ask the following questions during this part.
• What aspects of the work make you think it is a success or failure?
• Were there unanswered questions or plot lines? If yes, how did they affect the
story?
• Does the work remind you of other things you have experienced through
analogies, metaphors, or other figurative devices? How
does this contribute to the meaning?
• How does the work relate to other ideas or events in the world and/or in your
other studies?
• What stood out while you were watching the film or the performance?
• Conclusion/Evaluation
• Reinforcement of main assessment
• Comparison to a similar work
• Recommendation of the material (if you liked it)
GUIDELINES IN WRITING A REACTION
PAPER, REVIEW, OR CRITIQUE
• For articles or journals

• Read, view or listen to the work to be reviewed carefully to get the main topic
or the concepts presented. Then revisit the work to further identify its
arguments or message.
• Relate the content of the work to what you already know about the topic. This
will make you more engaged in the article or book.
• Focus on discussing how the book treats the topic and not the topic itself. Use
phrases such as this book/work presents and the author argues.
• Situate your review. This means that your analysis should be anchored on the
theories presented by the writer or creator.

• Report the type of analysis or mode of presentation the writer/creator used
and how this type of analysis supports the arguments and claims.
• Examine whether the findings are adequately supported and how the
connections between ideas affect the conclusion and findings.
• Suggest points for improvement of the reasoning, explanation, presentation of
ideas, as we as alternative methods and processes of reasoning.
• Compare the writer’s or creator’s explanation of the topic to that of another
expert from the same field of study.

• Point out other conclusions or interpretations that the writer/creator missed
out. Present other ideas that need to be examined.
• Show your agreement with the writer’s or creator’s ideas and present an
explanation for this agreement.
• For artworks and other media

• When critiquing artworks or posters, make sure to use speculative verbs such
as evoke, create, appear, and suggest to show that your interpretation of the
artist’s work is just that- an interpretation.
• Presume that the reader has not yet seen the material you are reviewing, so
make sure to describe it to them. For reviews of films or plays, make sure not
to spoil key events unless they figure in your review, in which case always
add a disclaimer.
• For artworks, describe the material in simple terms to help your audience
visualize it; refrain from being vague or abstract.
• On a general note, your reaction paper’s conclusion may focus

on the following ideas.
• Did the work hold your interest?
• Did the work excite or annoy you?
• Did the work prompt you to raise questions to the author?
• Did the work lead you to some realizations?
• Did the work remind you of other materials that you have read, viewed or
listened to in the past?

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WRITING A REACTION PAPER,

REVIEW AND CRITIQUE

• A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized forms of

• Reaction papers, reviews, critiques usually range in length from

• There are various ways or standpoints by which you can analyze

• Social class as represented in • Social class of the characters

• Introduction (around 5% of the paper)

• Summary (Around 10% of the paper)

• Review/Critique (in no particular order and around 75% of the

• Review/Critique (in no particular order and around 75% of the

• Conclusion (around 10% of the paper)

there is no prescribed structure, but

there is no prescribed structure, but

• For articles or journals

• For articles or journals

• For articles or journals

• For artworks and other media

• On a general note, your reaction paper’s conclusion may focus

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