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Critical analysis examines an article or other work to determine its effectiveness. You may have to write a critical analysis of an article, book, movie, picture, or other text. Begin by reading critically to understand the author’s argument and begin to form your own opinion about it.[1]
Then dig deeper into the text to analyze it. When you have finished developing your analysis, create it according to the structure of the critical analysis.
When writing a critical analysis, take a moment to think about the source material and the author’s main ideas to arrive at your thesis. Be sure to write down your own responses to the points made by the author and answer each in a paragraph.
Read the source or sources carefully and take notes. Read all the material you use for your critical analysis. Highlight, underline, or jot down important passages as you go. Look up any words, terms and other information you don’t understand.[2]
- You may need to read the text more than once, especially if it is dense or complicated.
- As you read the text, think about what is important, valuable, useful, relevant, controversial or valid about it.[3]
Identify the author’s thesis. As you read the text, determine what the author is arguing for or against. Identify their thesis and underline or highlight it. A thesis statement often appears in the first 1 to 2 paragraphs of an essay. A thesis is usually a single sentence that explains the author’s argument.
- It may be easier to find a thesis in an academic article than in a creative work, film or painting. If you are critiquing a work of fiction or creative nonfiction, whether in written or film form, identify one of the main themes of the story instead. For the painting, identify what the painter may be trying to convey with his artwork.
Note the author’s main ideas as you read.[4]
Underline or highlight any topic sentences and other passages that seem significant to you. This may include the author’s reasons and the evidence he provides throughout the text. Recognizing these parts of the text will allow you to analyze its structure.
- In an academic article, identify the topic sentences of each paragraph or section.
- For works of fiction or paintings, look for scenes and images that seem to support the thesis.
Summarize work in own words. As a final way to reinforce the ideas you read about in the text, write a brief summary of it. Try to keep your summary about 1 paragraph long and describe what the focus of the text is, including the author’s main argument.
- If the text was a movie or a work of art, write a short 1-2 paragraph synopsis of the movie or a description of the image.
Think about your response to the text. Take a moment to think about what the text made you feel or think.[5]
The way a text affects you emotionally is also known as pathos and is an important component of rhetoric. Write down your initial reactions to the text, good and bad. Try to explain in writing why you answered that way. Determine the aspects of the text that evoked that reaction in you.[6]- For example, if the text made you angry, what about the text made you angry?
- If you laughed at the text, what was funny?
Consider the author’s background and all the implications of that. If the author of the text has a well-known background that may have influenced his claim, this can help you do a critical analysis of the text. Look at the author’s background to see if it helps to know why they made the argument they did. Try to check what else they have written, what they are known for and what they are associated with.[7]
- For example, if the author is an outspoken proponent of health care reform, this would likely explain any bias in an argumentative essay on universal health care.
- The author’s experience may also include credentials, such as a doctorate or medical degree. This is part of the ethos of the text as having credentials can help strengthen the author’s credibility.
Determine how well the author defines terms in the text. Another way to approach analysis is to consider how well the author has defined the concepts in the text. If terms are poorly or inadequately defined, this will give you an easy way to critique the text. Determine what is inadequate or unclear in the definitions and what would make them easier to follow.[8]
- For example, if the author’s explanation of greenhouse gases is long, jargon-filled, and confusing, then you might want to focus on that as part of your critique.
Advice: Note that you can also have a positive critique of the text if you think it was effective. For example, if the author’s description of greenhouse gases is written in simple, easy-to-understand language, you might note this as part of your analysis.
Examine the author’s use of evidence to see if it is effective. Whether or not the author has used credible evidence to support their position is also a great way to critically analyze the text. Look at each of the sources the author used to check their credibility. Then consider whether the content of those sources provides good support for the author’s claims. If it is, then the author made good use of the logo, that is, the appeal to logic.[9]
- For example, if the author used a website known to be biased in favor of their arguments, this would weaken their position. However, if the author were to use sources that are honest and unbiased, it would strengthen their position.
- Not all texts will contain evidence. For example, if you are doing a critical analysis of a film or a work of art, it probably won’t include secondary sources.
Start your essay by writing a brief overview of what you are analyzing. Include all basic information about the work you are analyzing, such as the author’s name, title, date of publication, and any other relevant information. Then give a brief overview of the work and its purpose. Try to keep all this information within 2 to 3 sentences.
- For example, in the first sentence of your essay, provide basic information about the text. Then describe the argument of the text in about 1 to 2 sentences.
Name yours thesis statement at the end of your introduction.[10]
After you finish describing the author’s claim, state your claim in the form of your thesis. Depending on whether you felt the text was effective or not, you can frame your thesis to show where the text failed to achieve its goal or how it succeeded.[11]
- For example, you could write: “Darcy Gibbons’ essay on the environmental impact of consumerism provides a thorough and valuable overview of the problem.”
- Or you could write: “Shannon Duperty’s mixed media painting, ‘Dove on Heroin,’ fails in its attempt at sharp political commentary.”
Summarize the text in 1 paragraph. After you have provided your thesis statement, include a 1-paragraph summary of the paper. You can use the summary you wrote after reading the text or write a new one. Focus on the main points the text covers and leave out the rest.
- Remember that the summary paragraph is the only place in your essay where you can include a summary. The rest of the essay should contain an analysis of the essay.
Use each of the body parts rate 1 author’s point. After summarizing the text, start going through the points that support your thesis. If you thought the text was ineffective, devote 1 paragraph to each of your reasons why it was ineffective. If you think it was effective, devote 1 paragraph to each reason why it was effective. You can also organize paragraphs by topic if you have trouble identifying multiple reasons for the effectiveness of the text. Some topics you can use to decide what to talk about include:[12]
- Organization. How did the author organize their discussion? Was it a good strategy or not? Why?
- Style. What style did the author use to get his point across? How did the style hurt or help their discussion?
- Efficiency. Overall, was the text effective in getting its point across? Why or why not?
- Fairness or bias. Has the author shown a fair or biased view of his subject? How do you know?
- Reach out to a specific audience. Did the author seem to have a specific audience in mind? If so, who were they and how well did the author meet their needs?
Cite evidence from the text to support your analysis. As you go through your reasons for your position, you will also need to point to specific examples from the author’s text, so be prepared with quotations, paraphrased sections, and summaries. Be sure to enclose all direct quotations in quotation marks and provide page numbers for any evidence you use from the written text.[13]
Advice: Check with your teacher for details on how to cite sources. They may want you to use a specific citation style, such as MLA, Chicago, or APA.
Conclude with your final judgment of the author’s argument. Here you can summarize the main points of your analysis and give your opinion on the overall effectiveness of the text. In other words, explain to the readers whether the author has achieved his goal or not. Do not repeat your introduction or other parts of the essay word for word. Instead, try to cover the most important information with different words or discuss the implications of your argument.[14]
- For example, you could conclude by talking about how the author tried well in some aspects, but their argument was ultimately ineffective, and then explain why in 2 to 3 sentences.
Research paper critique sample
A sample of literary criticism analysis
Categories: How to
Source: HIS Education