Every student faces tens of various essays during his or her student years, each of which have different demands and requirements. While simple reports or reviews can be completed overnight and without many efforts, there are those, which demand lots of time and skills.
One of them is a critical essay, which aims to carefully study, evaluate and interpret a given piece of text or any other issue. The main goal of such a task is to show professor how good your analytical and critical skills are, presenting additional abilities of researching the topic and thoroughly analyzing it.
It doesn’t matter whether you are asked to write a critical essay on a book or a certain event: your main goal will always be analyzing and explaining what the author of the original matter wanted to say and how well he or she did that.
Additional goals of a critical essay may include:
- To criticize a certain author or work. This is often used to analyze a painting, a song or any other piece of art;
- To show strong and weak sides or a published article, novel or book;
- To assess the work of the author and his or her abilities to stick to the topic;
- To provide an objective outlook on the analyzed work;
- To analyze the background of the source.
A Simple Guide for a Perfect Critical Essay
For most of the students, a critical paper is a pure nightmare and they prefer postponing its completion as much as possible. However, such an essay is not so difficult if you know how to follow guidelines and an accepted structure. Here are the steps, which will surely help you to succeed:
- Make sure you understand all the requirements. If you don’t have a list of guidelines, ask your professor to indicate the length of your essay, formatting style and other peculiarities. You are not able to complete the assignment if you don’t know what is expected from you;
- Devote enough time to analyzing the source. Depending on the task, your source may be a painting, a movie, a book or a publishing material. Make sure you read it carefully several times and write down all the arising thoughts. You should also note all the slightest details, which may then be of a great use;
- Understand the main problems and challenges of the source. When you analyze the source, you need to make a list of the main patterns and problems, discussed in the work. This will help you to make a solid background for your future critique;
- Think about possible solutions of these problems. You should not only analyze and criticize the source but also shape your own opinion on the topic. Write down all the thoughts you have and eventually they will greatly help you in writing a thesis statement and conclusions.
Critical Essay Types
Depending on the requirements and sources, such assignment can be divided into multiple types. They include:
- Sociology critics;
- Formalist critics ;
- Gender critics;
- Psychoanalytical critics;
- Biographical critics;
- Mythological critics.
Structure of a Critical Essay
A critical essay, as any other written assignment, should follow a clear structure and consist of such elements, as introduction, main paragraphs and a closing part. Forgetting about any of these sections will make your essay incomplete. Don’t forget to create a proper outline, because it greatly helps in providing your thoughts and arguments in a clear and structured way.
Introduction
The first part of your critical essay should introduce the reader to your paper and explain what questions will be answered along the way. Don’t forget to write a thesis statement, which is rightfully considered the heart of the work. Explain the main issues you want to focus on and insert a hook to grab reader’s attention.
An outstanding thesis statement should follow such recommendations:
- Always stick to the point and avoid complicated terms and definitions;
- Write your thesis in the beginning of the paper;
- Avoid generalities;
- Always concentrate on the main goal of your critics.
Main Paragraphs
The central part of your essay should consist of the paragraphs, where you refer to the main points of the analysis. Start every paragraph with a topic sentence, which should contain either an argument or a claim. Then proceed with backing the sentence with evidence, following your outline.
Depending on professor’s requirements, your main section should be three – five paragraphs long.
Conclusion
The closing part of your essay should contain a paraphrased thesis and a summary of the main points of your critical essay. This will give the reader a chance to remember all key elements and collect all pieces of the puzzle. Your main aim here is to encourage the reader to learn more about the topic.
Outline of a Critical Essay
Not depending on the topic you choose, the outline of your critical paper will be exactly the same. That is why learning it by heart or consulting our guidelines from time to time will help you to complete the task not depending on its difficulty.
For example, you are asked to write a critical essay on a certain book, which supports female influence on the society. Your outline will look like this:
Introduction
- Describe how women are depicted;
- Introduce the reader to the main characters;
- Write about the main events of the book.
Main paragraphs
- Evaluate differences and similarities of both genders;
- Analyze why women occupy a certain position in the society;
- Give examples from the text.
Conclusion
- Summarize all the arguments of the main section;
- Paraphrase your thesis and explain why you have chosen the particular topic.
Remember, you can use this pattern not depending on the topic you have. Just remember to stick to the main goals of every section, interlinking them. You should also add supportive statements and evidence, when discussing a particular idea.
Once you are done with the outline, start writing the first draft of an essay. Trust us, you won’t be able to complete the final version at once, so just start putting your thoughts on paper. Only when your main arguments are structured, you can concentrate on the spelling, detailed descriptions and grammar. If you have any doubts, just ask your relatives or friends to read your essay and make comments.
Critical Essay Samples
There are different ways, which can help you to improve the quality of your essay and significantly speed up the process. One of them is familiarizing with examples of critical essays online. There are many of them on the web, covering a wide range of topics, so you just need to pick the one you like most of all. Such samples will help you to create your own outline, get access to various sources or even give fresh ideas on the subject. However, you should use such samples only to get a better understanding of the topic and not to deliver it as if it was your own.
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