Let’s start by defining the critical word. Its origin comes from the Latin criticus and its meaning refers to an opinion, examination or judgment that is formulated in relation to a situation, service, proposal, person or object. Many people associate the critical word with something negative, when in reality a criticism can be both negative and positive.
The critics manifest themselves in a public way and revolve around an artistic work, show, book, or any theme of the world today. The critical word describes your attitude when you read, for example, an article. This attitude is best described as an outstanding assessment, which means that you weigh the coherence of reading, the completeness of your data, and so on, before accepting it or rejecting it.
A critical essay provides the interpretation and analysis of a text, a piece of music, a painting, or a film. It should be written for an academic purpose; He often proposes a sound argument. Although often confused with a review, this type of essay is more akin to a formal essay. It should incorporate academic observations, with all facts correctly referenced.
Steps to Writing a Critical Essay
Regardless of the topic chosen, you should ensure that you have sufficient and informed knowledge about it before writing an essay.
You should research the relevant material from which the references can be taken. Newspapers, books, articles and online materials are appropriate as long as the references are academic.
The notes must be written on the text in question, and an argument must be constructed. A position must be taken by the writer in favor of a particular view.
The body, in the form of three or more paragraphs, should be written first. Each paragraph should discuss a point that supports the argument.
The conclusion should be written next, adding the points, summarizing the argument, and giving a closing in a sentence.
The introduction is written at the end, to make sure you present the argument with clarity. It should contain a strong statement that also sums up the argument.
Once finished, it should be read several times, corrected, edited and finally corrected for any errors.
For example, if you are performing your essay based on a book, you should obviously read the book and then examine the text, question it, and evaluate it. The writer should indicate what type of text it is, and if it achieves the goals of its author. That is, does it amuse, educate, instruct, or inform?
An appropriate combination of major and minor points should be used in the three or more paragraphs of the body, which contain the central thrust of the test. Ideas, notions, and concepts taken from the initial set of notes should be reformulated to produce an argument.
Rhetorical questions should not be used, and truisms should be avoided. Making a point using the findings of an authoritative author is always the best. Persuasive techniques should be used effectively to argue the value or lack of value of the text. The most common techniques are to appeal to the emotion, the evidence, and the facts supported by the citation. These techniques must adhere to a discipline such as logic.
This type of work should not merely accept the decisions and opinions of others. He must question, analyze, and propose alternative views, options, and attitudes.
Tips for a Perfect Essay
Look for more of a fact or information, supported by a reference, for each argument made. Use quotation marks when the author’s exact words are used.
Describe the definite text or piece of art accurately to demonstrate that you have examined it in depth.
Ensure that what you write is not a long stream of negative reviews.
Use philosophical notions such as logic, deduction and inference to support your points.
Use opposing arguments and approach a view from both sides.
Paraphrase accurately and effectively when interpreting book and magazine references.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in a Critical Test
- Do not make categorical statements without the support of referenced facts and quotes.
- Make sure that all your references are up to date and appropriate to the subject and theme.
- Do not lose the notion of your argument.
- Do not insert new material in the final paragraph.
- Do not actively or negatively critique subjective text.
- Do not use colloquialisms, popular rhetoric, magazine prose or common examples.
- Keep the erudite argument at all times.
- Do not neglect your quality of writing and quality of thought.
- Avoid straining your point of view too much. The evidence set forth will be sufficient to support his claims.
- An effective critical essay should appeal to the reader’s feelings, but not in an exaggerated way.
- Avoid mentioning points that are mere opinions.
- Make a sketch or a logical plan, and keep it.
The critical essay is informative. He emphasizes the literary work being studied and not the feelings and opinions of the person who writes about the literary work; In this type of writing, all claims made about the work need to be supported with evidence. The difference between feelings and facts is simple
. What matters is what you can prove about it, resorting to evidence found in the text itself, in the author’s biographies, in the critical discussions of the literary work, etc.
In many cases, you are teaching your audience something new about the text. Use a claims and evidence approach. Be specific about the points you are making about the topic you are discussing and support your opinion with the evidence that your audience would consider credible and appropriate.
If you want to analyze, for example, the War of the Worlds and how this novel talks about how men and women react to annihilation and most of them do not behave in a particularly brave or noble way you must find evidence to support their claim . Using the evidence of the text itself is often your best option.
Another form of evidence you can use is criticism from other writers where they may have stated something about the literature work you are examining. You can treat these critics as expert witnesses whose ideas provide support for the claims you are making about the book. In most cases, you should not simply provide a summary of what the critics have said about literary work.
Do not try to do everything. Try to do one thing well. And beware of matters that are too broad; Focus your discussion on a certain aspect of a job rather than trying to say everything that could be said about it. Make sure your discussion is well organized. Each section should support the main idea.
Each section should logically follow the sections that come before and after. Within each paragraph, the sentences must be logically connected to each other.
Remember that in most cases you want to keep your tone serious and objective. Make sure your essay is free of mechanical and stylistic errors. If you cite or summarize (and you probably will have to do this) make sure you follow an appropriate format and regulations and make sure you provide a properly formatted list of works cited at the end.
It is easy to choose topics. For example, you can choose a novel or a movie to discuss. The most important thing is that you choose a topic you are interested in but also a lot of knowledge and for which you will find research material relatively easily and from reliable sources.
By following all of the above, you will certainly be able to write a complete essay of good quality that captures the attention of your readers. You will be able to improve your argumentative and analytical abilities.
Examples of Topics for Your Essay
- Dilma policies
- The Educational System
- Your favorite movie
- A character from a Book or a Literary Work
- Obesity – Obesity rates are growing all over the world. See the WHO statistics on Obesity. Summarize the problem. Analyze the consequences of obesity for the individual and society.
- Drug use in sports
- Single parent families – Discuss the effects of single parenting on children, on the experience of parents or in schools and communities.
- Need help? Do not hesitate to contact our team of experts. We can help you with choosing the topic by writing any type of work from scratch or simply reviewing it.