For many people, the words critic, critical, critique, and criticism have negative connotations. If using a different word (like evaluation, estimation, or appraisal) has a more balanced connotation for you, use it instead. You want to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Brett Frischmann’s “There’s Nothing Wrong with Being a Luddite.” Your job isn’t to “tear him a new one”! Instead, you should give your assessment of the merits of his essay. Chapter 2 of Writing and Reading Across the

Curriculum focuses on writing critiques. The authors organized the chapter around two broad questions:

1) To what extent does the author succeed in his or her purpose?
2) To what extent do you agree with the author?
Goal 1—Summarize the source material. In this case, communicate Frischmann’s argument and main points.
Goal 2—Critique the source material. In this case, you will need to evaluate
Frischmann’s essay.
Three broad questions can help guide your thinking as you evaluate his essay.

Question 1—How well written is the essay? You’ll want to consider what he hoped to accomplish and how likely it was that the essay would have accomplished his
goals.

Question 2—To what extent do you agree with the author? Students don’t usually have much trouble with this question because they are pretty comfortable sharing their opinions.

Question 3—How well is the issue framed? Your book doesn’t directly address this issue. Framing has to do with how authors choose to present information. An example
might be helpful. In recent years, many communities in our region have been
holding local option elections. Most of us think of these referenda as wet/dry
votes. By now, the basic arguments people make are familiar. People who oppose
expanded alcohol sales generally oppose the expansion on moral or religious
grounds—that is to say they seek to frame the issue as primarily being about
immoral or sinful behavior.

People who favor expanded alcohol sales generally
support them on the grounds that the change will result in more jobs and higher
tax revenues. In other words, they try to convince other people to see the issue in
economic terms.

Writing the Critique
Checklist for Introductions to Critiques
An introduction to a critique is in many ways similar to an introduction to a summary, so using
the same list is appropriate. The big difference is that in a critique, you are required to state your
views, so you’ll need to include a thesis in your introduction that sums up your overall
estimation of Frischmann’s essay.
1. Author’s Name
2. Description of Author
3. Date of Publication
4. Source of Publication
5. Genre (Type of Writing—In This Case, Essay)
6. Topic
7. Author’s Argument
8. Author’s Purpose
9. Your Argument
10. Author’s Title
Organization for Critique
English teachers often use the words arrangement, organization, and format interchangeably.
Usually, when they use those words, they are trying to stress the importance of the order writers follow to present their information. Your book addresses the issue on page 82 in the box entitled
“Guidelines for Writing Critiques.” Some of the discussion in that section can be helpful, but you
shouldn’t follow that format when you write your paper. Generally, critiques integrate summary and critique on the paragraph (and often the sentence) level. Most often writers will summarize an important point from the essay and then make their comments on that issue before moving on
to the next point. The outline below illustrates the arrangement I would like you to use for your critique.
I. Introduction
II. Summary/Critique
III. Summary/Critique
IV. Summary/Critique
V. Conclusion
Don’t think of this as a five–paragraph essay. Each of the sections may take multiple
paragraphs. For example, the sample paper from your book, “Critique of ‘The Right to Bury the
(Online) Past’ by Liza Tucker” has more than one paragraph in the introduction.
Since writers have two goals when writing critiques (to summarize, to criticize), it is common for
them to address both in the same paragraph but that won’t always be the case. For instance, a writer may want to summarize a point but not comment on it because doing so would not advance the thesis, so he or she would choose to summarize only. On the other hand, a writer may believe that an issue of enormous importance was not addressed in the essay under consideration and would spend a paragraph or more explaining the importance of that point to the larger discussion. You might have something that looks like this.
I. Introduction
II. Summary/Critique
III. Summary
IV. Summary/Critique
V. Critique
VI. Summary/Critique
VII. Conclusion