Critical Essays
A critical essay can be about a text, article, book, film, article, or other media. It can revolve around significant themes, motifs, directions, literary devices and terms, meanings, and literary pieces. Many students struggle to write critical essays because they demand thorough analysis and a detailed argument-building process.
This article explains what a critical essay is and highlights its purpose, characteristics, and tips for writing a compelling paper.
What is a critical essay?
The term "critical" is often associated with a negative perspective in casual conversation. In the context of a critical essay, the term is used to mean analytical and discerning. Critical essays do not make a judgment about the content or quality of a text. They analyze, interpret, and evaluate its meaning and significance.
Critical essays should not be limited to personal opinion comprising admiration, praise, and censure of merits and demerits of the literary pieces discussed in them. They should be interpretive, with no bias or sympathy in criticism.
Your critical essay should present readers with your interpretation or thought-provoking explanation of the subject of your critique. You should strike a balance between what the original author was trying to say and your position on the matter.
Goals for writing a critical essay include:
- Providing an objective view of the original work
- Analyzing the consistency of the original work
- Breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of the original work
- Offering an objective critique of the original work
- Assessing the author's/artist's ability to support their primary claim or concept
Characteristics of a critical essay
Critical essay writing is done across multiple academic disciplines and covers a diverse subject matter, including books, films, poetry, visual art, and more. Critical essay topics can be about many things from culture to literature. However, despite their variations, critical essays share some common characteristics which include the following:
1. Central claim: A critical essay must have a central argument about the subject matter. This claim is expressed in a thesis statement, which is typically articulated in the essay's introduction. Each body paragraph of the essay presents evidence to support the main argument. The argument can even be bolstered further by introducing counterarguments and then disputing them using evidence.
2. Evidence: The main argument has to be bolstered throughout the critical essay with strategically placed evidence. Primary evidence is usually in the form of textual support. Textual support includes descriptions, dialogue, imagery, word choice, structure, and other details from the text that support the main argument. Secondary evidence that is often used includes scholarly works that support the main claim.
3. Conclusion: A succinct conclusion ties up everything in the critical essay. It summarizes the essay's argument and emphasizes its most important insights.
Writing a critical essay
A lot goes into preparing to write a critical essay before the words can be put on the page. An excellent essay is shaped by effective planning and following the plan.
Follow these steps to write an effective critical essay:
Step one: Understand the assignment.
Study the guidelines closely and ask for clarification if you do not understand fully.
Step two: Examine the source.
You must understand the subject of evaluation before you can begin writing your essay. The source material can be in the form of a film, book, art, or other media. Examine the material more than once while taking notes.
Step Three: Review your notes.
Review your notes to identify patterns and problems that stand out in the work you are critiquing. Identify other issues and fundamental concepts that may emerge in your review. Offer solutions to the issues you identify. These solutions should help you develop arguments about your text and move you closer to a focus and a thesis statement for your paper.
Step Four: Write your essay
Brainstorm the core topic and problem of the work you are critiquing and figure out a central argument and evidence supporting it. Organize your thoughts on paper and state a thesis that expresses your paper's primary focus and direction. Build your essay around this thesis statement.
Critical essay writing tips
There are various critical essay topics that assignments cover. No matter the topic, the analysis and argument-building that goes into writing makes it challenging for many students. The tips highlighted below should help you get started.
1. Practice active reading strategies
Active reading is an essential skill that can help you identify specific details in a text, including an author's claims, how they are presented, the overall value of the message, its strengths, weaknesses, etc.
2. Read critical essay examples.
Before you dive into writing critical essays, you should first familiarize yourself with them by reading various critical essay examples. Pay close attention to other writers' structure and writing style but do not copy their ideas. Use the critical essay examples to develop your writing style.
3. Express your opinions in third-person
When writing a critical essay, your focus should be on the work, not on yourself. Avoid phrases like "in my opinion" or "I think."
3. Express your opinions in third-person
When writing a critical essay, your focus should be on the work, not on yourself. Avoid phrases like "in my opinion" or "I think."
4. Do not re-tell the plot.
Everything you write in your critical essay should be in the service of your main argument. The essay paper should not be a summary but rather an analysis and interpretation of the text. Do not take up space, re-telling the plot, or writing lengthy character descriptions.
Final Thoughts
Your critical essay should demonstrate your understanding of the subject of evaluation and its theme and your ability to evaluate the evidence relating to the theme.
Before you get started writing your critical essay, make sure you understand its purpose and characteristics. Use critical essay examples written by experts to get as idea of what is expected.
