·Address your critique to the
author – they are your primary audience.
·Get in the habit of writing
in MLA format for everything, including this assignment.
·It is helpful to give the
author concrete examples or ideas. Do
not just say “add more detail,” instead give examples of details they could
include.
Example: “In the first paragraph, it
would make your argument about the girl stronger if some descriptions of the
girl are given. What does the girl look
like? How does the audience know that
she is happier because of the cosmetic surgery?”
Example: “For example, the author
should talk more about why the ad is targeting black teens instead of just
leaving it alone.”
·Make a point and then back
it up with detail.
Example: “Another thing I see is
that you aren’t confident in your point.
You uses a lot of ‘might allude to’ statements, or some variations of
that.”
·Use quotes if you are
directly citing from someone’s paper.
Example: “For example, ‘Although
most people don’t have a clue what that means, since the article is targeting
skaters, they will know what trick he is doing and just how crazy the trick
really is.” There are many ways to
correct it, but I would reword it as “Most people don’t understand the stunt,
but since the article is targeting primarily skaters, they will
understand.” I took out the last part
‘just…really is’ because it is irrelevant and contributes to a run-on
sentence.”
·This is a critique, not a
summary. The author is familiar with
his or her own work and does not need it to be restated.
·Have a structure for your
critique. Do not randomly attack
various points of their paper.
·Ask questions to make the
author probe further into their topic.
Example: “Your ad is selling Skyy
Vodka in this 1930’s starlet, glamour-filled, decadent lifestyle. Why are they using that as the image? What is the argument they are making by
using that image? How is that image
persuading people to buy that product?
What are the strong elements in the ad that depict glamour?
· Finally, do not worry
excessively about hurting the author’s feelings. The assignment is to find problems with their paper and help them
fix their problems.
A
good example of several hints: “You should review your sentences because there
is some repetition and misspellings.
For example, in paragraph two it is stated, ‘the visual content also
possesses the characteristics of boldness, danger, courage, and fashion
styles,’ and the next sentence says, “these characteristics of boldness,
danger…” You could change it to ‘these characteristics can all compare to each
other…’”