How to write an article critique

How to write an article critique

An article critique is a paper about a previously published article or essay. The first thing it does is summarize the work of the author. Then it assesses the work critically and evaluates its strengths and weaknesses. However, it is not confined only to criticism. An article critique is a specialized kind of essay in which you identify, evaluate, and reply to the author's claims in the work. Remember that the criticism can be either positive or negative. Why do you need to write a critique? Writing a critique is an important instrument in judging the worth of a written piece or research.  Knowing how to write an article critique can improve your own writing and researching skills, and you will also surely increase your understanding of the subject.

Preparation

• Read the article very thoroughly. If you think taking notes will help you, take notes. Do not hesitate to reread the article as many times as you want if you think you are missing out on something. Only stop when you feel like you fully understand it.
• Try to summarize the article. You may do this by enumerating important elements or by bulleted notes. There is no prescribed way so you may use whichever technique you are comfortable with.
• After reading and summarizing, evaluate the content and come up with questions about the article. First, establish the author’s main points, and second, present how the author backs up his points.
• Consider other writers’ points of view. How does the work compare with the works of other writers on the subject? Also, you must know if you agree or disagree with the author.

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The writing part

You are now ready because you already have the framework of the critique. This now the main prompt of how to write an article critique:

• Analyze. Point out the article’s purpose and identify the author’s main points. Write a discussion about the main points and the evidence used to back them up.
• Evaluate. Critiquing how the article is written is equally important.
• Are the author’s points logical, accurate and is the argument easy to read and understand?
• Do the evidence clearly support the points?
• Does the author consider opposing viewpoints?
• The format should be essay-like.
• Write in your introduction how you will approach the task. Present your thesis statement at the end of the introduction. It should let the reader know your position. This should contain the summary of what your work wants to prove.
• The main body should contain the subject’s analysis.
• Remember to point out both the strengths and weaknesses of the article. Remember to discuss the importance of the article–does it improve the study on the subject or just imitates previous work?
• In writing the conclusion, you must place more emphasis on your point of view. Express how and why you have come up with your conclusion. Remember to avoid claims without evidence.
• Come up with final suggestions about the article. Do not hesitate to express a positive/negative criticism.
• Do not forget to state the new questions/issues that the article raises.
• Remember to read, reread, and proofread.

Since you now know how to write an article critique, you must remember two key elements–reading and understanding. You must focus on the article’s content and do your very best to understand it–how and why the author wrote it, its strengths and weaknesses, purpose and effects. The guidelines above can surely assist you. Remember that an article critique is just one kind of essay, and there are many others that have different requirements. 

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An article critique must be one of the more demanding and tricky academic papers to write, a few notch above essays and in line with more advanced academic papers that require not only keen reading and analysis skills, but a mastery of facts and knowledge, as well as critical thinkingin the field in which the article to be critiqued is written. It can be likened as almost in line with research papers, term papers, and reaction papers.