Critiquing Tips

There are differing approaches to critiquing depending on the work to be critiqued. These tips have been put together to assist you with Assessment 2 but are also relevant to critiquing in general.

For Assessment 2, critiquing involves conducting an analysis of a news article and then writing a fair and reasonable description of its strengths, and also provide constructive criticism, with some discussion. This process is outlined below.

Preparation work:

Read the article to gain an overview and then read again with purpose highlighting the main points the writer has made. This helps you to understand the goal of the article.

Summarise the article. This clarifies your understanding of the article’s focus and purpose.

What are the strengths of the main points? Give example(s). Look for supportive literature.

What points will be the focus of your critique? Give example(s). Look for supportive literature.

Writing the critique:

Open with a summarising sentence referencing as appropriate throughout the critique.

Point out the strengths of the main points with an example and a supportive reference.

Give constructive criticism supporting your arguments/point with references and examples from supportive literature.

Include a closing summarising sentence.