English for Academic and Professional Purposes
1st Semester, SY 2018-2019
REVIEWER
FACT- It is objective. It is a true piece of information and is
neither influenced by personal judgment nor feelings.
OPINION- It is subjective. It is an expression of judgment
and is influenced by one’s beliefs or feelings.
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PLAGIARISM- is the act of presenting the words, ideas,
images, sounds, or the creative expression of others as
your own.
Plagiarism is not only the verbatim copying of
another person’s work but also copying an idea
even if you have stated it in your own words.
The following are the different ways on how one
commits plagiarism
 Turning in someone else’s work as your own
 Copying words or ideas from someone else
without giving credit
 Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
 Giving incorrect information about the source of
quotation
 Changing words but copying the sentence
structure of a source without giving credit
 Copying so many words or ideas from a source
that makes up the majority of your work, whether
you give credit or not
 Copying media (especially images) from other
Web sites to paste them into your own paper or
web sites
 Making a video using footage from other’s videos
or using copyrighted music as part of the
soundtrack
 Performing another person’s copyrighted music
 Composing a piece of music that borrows heavily
from another composition
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A "CITATION" is the way you tell your readers that certain
material in your work came from another source. It also
gives your readers the information necessary to find that
source again, including:
 information about the author
 the title of the work
 the name and location of the company that
published your copy of the source
 the date your copy was published
 the page numbers of the material you are
borrowing
Why should I cite sources?
Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is the
only way to use other people's work without plagiarizing.
But there are a number of other reasons to cite sources:
 citations are extremely helpful to anyone who
wants to find out more about your ideas and
where they came from
 not all sources are good or right -- your own ideas
may often be more accurate or interesting than
those of your sources. Proper citation will keep
you from taking the rap for someone else's bad
ideas
 citing sources shows the amount of research
you've done
 citing sources strengthens your work by lending
outside support to your ideas
Doesn't citing make my work seem less original?
Not at all. On the contrary, citing sources actually helps
your reader distinguish your ideas from those of your
sources. This will actually emphasize the originality of
your own work.
When do I need to cite?
Whenever you borrow words or ideas, you need to
acknowledge their source. The following situations almost
always require citation:
 whenever you use quotes
 whenever you paraphrase
 whenever you use an idea that someone else has
already expressed
 whenever you make specific reference to the work
of another
 whenever someone else's work has been critical in
developing your own ideas.
APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and
the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For
direct quotations, include the page number as well, for
example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).
Note: When using multiple authors' names as part of your
narrative, rather than in parentheses, always spell out the
word and. For multiple authors' names within a
parenthetic citation, use &.
One author: (Field, 2005)
Two authors: (Gass & Varonis, 1984)
Three to five authors:
First citation: (Tremblay, Richer, Lachance, & Cote, 2010)
Subsequent citations: (Tremblay et al., 2010)
Six or more authors: (Norris-Shortle et al., 2006)
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FOUR VALUES IN DRAMA AND FILM BY NICANOR
TIONGSON
1) Maganda ang Maputi (White is beautiful),
2) Masaya ang may Palabas (Shows are the best),
3)Mabuti ang Inaapi (Hurrah for the Underdog!), and
4) Maganda pa ang Daigdig (All is Right with the world).
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WRITING A REACTION PAPER, REVIEW AND CRITIQUE
What are Reaction Papers, Reviews, and Critiques?
A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized
forms of writing in which a reviewer or reader evaluates
any of the following:
 A scholarly work (e.g., academic books and
articles)
 A work of art (e.g., performance art, play, dance,
sports, film, exhibits)
 Designs (e.g., industrial designs, furniture, fashion
design)
 Graphic designs (e.g., posters, billboards,
commercials, and digital media)
Reaction papers, reviews, critiques usually range in length
from 250-750 words. They are not simply summaries but
are critical assessments, analyses, or evaluation of
different works. As advanced forms of writing, they involve
your skills in critical thinking and recognizing arguments.
However, you should connect the word critique to
cynicism and pessimism.
CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A CRITIQUE
There are various ways or standpoints by which you can
analyze and critique a certain material. You can critique a
material based on its technical aspects, its approach to
gender, your reaction as the audience, or through its
portrayal of class struggle and social structure.
1. Formalism- claims that literary works contain
intrinsic properties and treats each work as a distinct
work of art. In short, it posits that the key to
understanding a text is through the text itself; the
historical context, the author, or any other external
contexts are not necessary in interpreting the meaning.
Following are the common aspects looked into
formalism:
 Author’s techniques in resolving contradictions
within the work
 Central passage that sums up the entirety of the
work
 Contribution of parts and the work as a whole to its
aesthetic quality
 Relationship of the form and the content
 Use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
 Interconnectedness of various parts of the work
 Paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work
 Unity in the work
2. Feminist Criticism-also called feminism, it focuses
on how literature presents women as subjects of socio-
political, psychological, and economic oppression. It also
reveals how aspects of our culture are patriarchal, i.e.,
how our culture views men as superior and women as
inferior. The common aspects looked into when using
feminism are as follows:
 How culture determines gender
 How gender equality (or lack of it) is presented in
the text
 How gender issues are presented in literary works
and other aspects of human production and daily life
 How women are socially, politically, psychologically,
and economically oppressed by patriarchy
 How patriarchal ideology is an overpowering
presence
3. Reader-Response Criticism- is concerned with the
reviewer’s reaction as an audience of a work. This
approach claims that the reader’s role cannot be
separated from the understanding of the work; a text
does not have meaning until the reader reads it and
interprets it. Readers are therefore not passive and
distant, but are active consumers of the material
presented to them. The common aspects looked into
when using reader response criticism are as follows:
 Interaction between the reader and the text in
creating meaning
 The impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and
visuals on enhancing and changing meaning
4. Marxist Criticism- is concerned with differences
between economic classes and implications of a
capitalist system, such as the continuing conflicts
between the working class and the elite. Hence, it
attempts to reveal that the ultimate source of people’s
experience is the socioeconomic system. The common
aspects looked into when using Marxist criticism are as
follows:
 Social class as represented in the work
 Social class of the writer/creator
 Social class of the characters
 Conflicts and interactions between economic classes
Note that these are not the only critical approaches you
can use. Other approaches in writing a critique include
postmodern criticism, post-colonial criticism, structuralism,
psychological criticism, gender criticism, ecocriticism,
biographical criticism, historical criticism, mythological
criticism, and deconstructionist criticism.
STRUCTURE OF A REACTION PAPER, REVIEW, OR
CRITIQUE
You have to follow a logical organization and structure for
your reaction paper or review to be able to present your
critical evaluation effectively.
Structure for Critiques of Academic Researches and
Articles
Introduction (around 5% of the paper)
o Title of the book/article/work
o Writer’s name
o Thesis Statement
Summary (Around 10% of the paper)
o Objective or purpose
o Methods used (if applicable)
o Major findings, claims, ideas, or messages
Review/Critique (in no particular order and around
75% of the paper)
o Appropriateness of methodology to support the
arguments (for books and articles) or appropriateness
of mode of presentation (other works)
o Theoretical soundness, coherence of ideas
o Sufficiency and soundness of explanation in
relation to other available information and experts
o Other perspectives in explaining the concepts and
ideas
o It is best to ask the following questions during this
part:
 Does the writer explicitly state his/her
thesis statement?
 What are the assumptions (i.e.,
scientific/logical/literary explanation
without evidence) mentioned in the
work? Are they explicitly discussed?
 What are the contributions of the work
to the field where it belongs?
 What problems and issues are
discussed or presented in the work?
 What kinds of information (e.g.,
observation, survey, statistics, historical
accounts) are presented in the work?
How are they used to support the
arguments or thesis?
 Are there other ways of supporting the
arguments or thesis aside from the
information used in the work? Is the
author or creator silent about these
alternative ways of explanation?
Conclusion (around 10% of the paper)
o Overall impression of the work
o Scholarly or literary value of the reviewed article,
book, or work
o Benefits for the intended audience or field
o Suggestion for future direction of research
For other types of reviews, there is no prescribed
structure, but the following sections are almost always
present.
Introduction
o Basic details about the material, such as its title,
director or artist, name of exhibition/event, and
the like
o Main assessment of the material (for films and
performances)
Plot Summary/Description
o Gist of the plot
o Simple description of the artwork
Analysis/Interpretation
Discussion and analysis of the work (you may employ the
critical approach here)
It is best to ask the following questions during this part.
o What aspects of the work make you think it is a
success or failure?
o Were there unanswered questions or plot lines? If
yes, how did they affect the story?
o Does the work remind you of other things you
have experienced through analogies, metaphors, or
other figurative devices? How
does this contribute to the meaning?
o How does the work relate to other ideas or events
in the world and/or in your other studies?
o What stood out while you were watching the film
or the performance?
Conclusion/Evaluation
o Reinforcement of main assessment
o Comparison to a similar work
o Recommendation of the material (if you liked it)
GUIDELINES IN WRITING A REACTION PAPER, REVIEW,
OR CRITIQUE
1. For articles or journals
a. Read, view or listen to the work to be
reviewed carefully to get the main topic or the
concepts presented. Then revisit the work to
further identify its arguments or message.
b. Relate the content of the work to what you
already know about the topic. This will make
you more engaged in the article or book.
c. Focus on discussing how the book treats the
topic and not the topic itself. Use phrases such
as this book/work presents and the author
argues.
d. Situate your review. This means that your
analysis should be anchored on the theories
presented by the writer or creator.
e. Report the type of analysis or mode of
presentation the writer/creator used and how
this type of analysis supports the arguments
and claims.
f. Examine whether the findings are adequately
supported and how the connections between
ideas affect the conclusion and findings.
g. Suggest points for improvement of the
reasoning, explanation, presentation of ideas,
as we as alternative methods and processes of
reasoning.
h. Compare the writer’s or creator’s explanation
of the topic to that of another expert from the
same field of study.
i. Point out other conclusions or interpretations
that the writer/creator missed out. Present
other ideas that need to be examined.
j. Show your agreement with the writer’s or
creator’s ideas and present an explanation for
this agreement.
2. For artworks and other media
a. When critiquing artworks or posters, make
sure to use speculative verbs such as evoke,
create, appear, and suggest to show that your
interpretation of the artist’s work is just that-
an interpretation.
b. Presume that the reader has not yet seen the
material you are reviewing, so make sure to
describe it to them. For reviews of films or
plays, make sure not to spoil key events
unless they figure in your review, in which
case always add a disclaimer.
c. For artworks, describe the material in simple
terms to help your audience visualize it;
refrain from being vague or abstract.
3. On a general note, your reaction paper’s
conclusion may focus on the following ideas.
a. Did the work hold your interest?
b. Did the work excite or annoy you?
c. Did the work prompt you to raise questions to
the author?
d. Did the work lead you to some realizations?
e. Did the work remind you of other materials
that you have read, viewed or listened to in
the past?
Clarification
It is a method of explanation in which the points are
organized from a general abstract idea to specific and
concrete examples.
Definition
It is a method of identifying a given term and making its
meaning clearer.
Explication
It is a method of explanation in which sentences, verses,
quotes, or passages are taken from a literary or academic
work and interpreted and explained in a detailed way.
Identifying Types of Definition
A formal definition consists of three parts: the term, the
part of speech to which it belongs, such as a noun or
a verb, and all the traits or characteristics that are specific
to that term. The dictionary is filled with formal
definitions, but it is not the only place where you will find
them. Writers often include formal definitions when they
are writing about something that may be unfamiliar to
their readers. In textbooks, you may find the formal
definition of terms listed at the beginning, at the end of a
chapter, or in the glossary, which is a mini-dictionary of
terms relevant to that text.
Formal definition example:
Term: freedom
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The power or right to act, speak, or think
as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
Informal Definitions
In an informal definition, the writer uses known words or
examples to explain an unknown term. These definitions
may be synonyms or antonyms introduced
by or, in other words, or like.
Informal definition example:
Freedom, also referred to as liberty or independence,
is a state people reach when they are free to think
and do whatever they please.
Extended Definitions
Extended definitions generally have components of both
informal and formal definitions. However, as the name
suggests, the author uses a number of other techniques to
define a word, concept, or phrase, including the following:
 Listing and describing the parts: identifying smaller, more
familiar pieces of an idea to point to the definition of the
bigger concept.
 Etymology: sharing a word's origin.
 Examples or anecdotes: telling a story or example that
illustrates the term.
 Negation: defining a term by explaining what the concept
is not.
 Evoking the senses: using a word that creates a picture in
the reader's mind so that the reader might relate through
memory of sound, sight, touch, hearing, or smell.
 Environment or sector: pointing out how and where
something is used.
 Ramifications: showing how the term or concept affects
people or objects.
 Historical references: showing how a word has been
defined throughout history.
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Structure of writing a review, reaction and critique
paper
Introduction
Body
Conclusion/Summary
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Structure of writing concept paper
Introduction
Purpose or Need or Rationale
Project Description & Methodology
Support or Budget
Contact Information

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A topic sentence is a sentence, sometimes at the beginning
of a paragraph, that states or suggests the main idea
(or topic) of a paragraph.
Not all paragraphs begin with topic sentences. In some, the
topic sentence appears in the middle or at the end. In
others, the topic sentence is implied or absent altogether.

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Critical Approaches in writing critique

Gender Criticism - It Examines how sexual identify
influences the creation and reception of literary works.

Sociological Criticism- It examines the literary work its

structure, content, mechanics, style and language used.

Biographical Criticism - It begins with simple but

central insight that is written by actual people

Historical Criticism - It examines literature in the

cultural, economic, and political context

Mythological Criticism - It implies the recurrent

universal pattern, underlying most literary works.

Feminist Criticism - It is concerned with the impact of

gender on writing and reading