The word critique is very broad. It can refer both to professional literary and art works, and to academic assignments. A tutor can ask you to write a critique on pretty much anything.
The question is – are you able to see the difference between different kinds of art and, therefore, add alterations and specific accents to your critical works?
Art Critique is usually a critical analysis of a painting. If you ever had business with drawing, this assignment is going to be easy for you at least from the following point: you will be able to distinguish oil pastels from hatching and cross-hatching, and figure out that Salvador Dali was a painter, and not a web-designer. What is valued most in art critiques is the depth of evaluation. Apart from giving basic information on the name of a painter, painting, and materials used, you will have to get into the plot of an artwork. After choosing a painting, try to find relevant information about the painter. Very often, life position is a reflection of the canvas. Pay specific attention not only to the aesthetic theory of a particular painting, but to the impact of artistic ideology on previous works as well. It will be helpful if you conducted some researches in the sphere of techniques of painting. Probably, terminology like "linear perspective" sounds awkward, but it evolved with the history of painting. The purpose of writing an art critique is to explain the plot of the painting, its hidden senses and messages (like in Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”), author’s beliefs and their embodiment on the canvas, and the significance of the artwork in the matter of historical time. Critique writing also analyzes the followers of a particular painting and answers the question “was it inspired by something, or did it inspire future generations?”. The aim of critique is to analyze, not criticize in the plain meaning of the word.
Book Critique is more commonly used than art critique. Books are easier to read and understand, and the practice of writing book critiques is older than art critique writing. But there is still something that unites both of these genres, and it is the attempt to perform a deep analysis of the work, unfold its hidden ideas, and give them out to the audience. Professional writers usually say, “I don’t care about the content. I know it. But I’m really interested in shape”. In other words, there are only two or three stories that hundreds of writers keep on twisting and spinning around for centuries. The more original it looks – the better for them. As a critic, you will have to deliver the readers not only the message of a book, but also the ways it is written in. This does not mean you have no right to share your impressions. Please do, but limit yourself to the point where all your points of view have arguments and evidence. The “I don’t like it” stage has to be left to the elementary school students. The “Writer failed to illustrate it because…” position is what you are looking for. There should be no doubt you have to read the book to be able to give deep analyses. The roughest mistake you can do is lean on someone else’s impression. Your task is to evaluate author’s idea, its significance and logical development in the context of modern society.
Movie Critique is written to point out strong and weak sides of a movie and to make practical advice on how to make the work look better. Movie critique writing is one of the most up-to-date writings, for it reacts on the most recent cinematographic works. That is why writing a movie critique is the easiest way to relate oneself to the audience. Nevertheless, old movie works can also become an object for analysis. The topic is up to you or up to your teacher. The technique, however, is up to the professionals. They urge students to evaluate movies in accordance with four basic criteria. The first one is the plot. When writing a movie critique, pay attention to the logical sequence of actions and overall believability. Second one is the character: does he/she correspond to the plot, is he/she character-driven? Answer these questions before proceeding to the third stage – dialogues. They have to tell the story of the plot and character. They also have to be connected to the scene – the fourth and the final criterion for evaluation. Pay attention to so-called empty scenes – the ones that do not have any impact on the character. What would you advise to a director of a motion picture to do to avoid those in the future?
Finally, let us get things straight with one more genre that is similar to critique writing, but still differs and stands out among the variety of critical works. It is called a Critical Review. While critique writing sets deep evaluation as a primary goal, critical review is a way of getting a point across to the readers. It means that there is a writer’s position, it arises from a work reviewed, and its main arguments (without any practical advice as to the alterations) are given to the audience. Still, some analysis has to be included into writing. A critical review has a certain pattern to follow. In the introduction, you should reveal the object of your evaluation and the reasons for choosing it. After stating a point and giving a thesis, defend your position by several (no less than three) body paragraphs. Remember to give only one point per paragraph, and, at least, two supportive facts for each idea. Finally, summarize the arguments and restate the thesis. Polish the writing and turn it in.