Writing a critical analysis demonstrates your critical-thinking skills.
Writing a critical analysis demonstrates your critical-thinking skills. This skill is essential for completing some educational courses and working in the academic field, as a critic or in some managerial or decision-making roles.
Critical analysis is the detailed examination and evaluation of another person’s ideas or work. It is subjective writing as it expresses your interpretation and analysis of the work by breaking down and studying its parts. You may write a critical analysis to critique a piece of literature, a film or TV program, a business process or another person’s academic report, for example. Critical analysis is usually presented as a written essay or paper, but may also be presented as an oral report. Good critical analysis evaluates the ideas or work in a balanced way that highlights its positive and negative qualities. (Indeed Editorial Team, 2021, para. 1–2)
For this discussion, you will engage in the research and writing of a critical review requiring both critical thinking skills and quality writing skills. Critically appraising the work of others—when done well—helps you and others to become better researchers and writers.
References
Indeed Editorial Team. (2021, February 22). How to write a critical analysis with examples and tips. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-critical-analysis(new tab)
Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:
· Integrate the Virtuous Business model into their reading, research, writing, and reporting.
Background Information
The Discerning Reader and Writer
Writing an article critique is often confused with an article summary where the article’s contents are summarized and paraphrased into an essay. Although some summarizing of the article is needed in the introduction, an article critique focuses on the author’s writing in such areas as claim (how well its supported) and appeal (how effectively the author presents the material). Think of it this way: you are a movie critic, reviewing a director’s choice of script, actors, and graphics so that the audience will know whether the movie is good or not. The critic does not simply tell you what the movie is about but lets you know how the director made it great. In the same way, the writer of an article critique will talk about what the author did to make the article effective or ineffective and gives advice on how it could have been better. What you gain from the article is only as effective as what you bring to it. Therefore, before reading the article, be sure to have a highlighter and a pen or pencil close by so that when you read something relevant or have a sudden idea, you can write it down or mark it. Always read the article twice. On the second time, make highlights and notes.
[Additionally,] A critique (or critical review) is not to be mistaken for a literature review. A ‘critical review’, or ‘critique’, is a complete type of text (or genre), discussing one particular article or book in detail. In some instances, you may be asked to write a critique of two or three articles (e.g., a comparative critical review). In contrast, a ‘literature review’, which also needs to be ‘critical’, is a part of a larger type of text, such as a chapter of your dissertation.
Most importantly: Read your article as many times as possible, as this will make the critical review much easier. (University College London, n.d., para. 1)
The process of conducting a critical article review requires active reading—that is, fully engaging with the text. It is like sitting down with a friend and having a deep conversation over a good cup of coffee, with you mostly doing the question asking and soliciting information from the article. It can be a very enjoyable experience. As University College London emphasized in the prior statement, you will want to delve deeper and deeper into the article through multiple readings. It is surprising how new questions are raised and the new details are suddenly made known during the second or third or fourth pass-through. Having pen and highlighter, notepad and sticky notes available will be to your advantage.
References
University College London. (n.d.). Writing a critque. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe-writing-centre/critical-reading-and-writing/critical-review(new tab)
Writing an article critique. (n.d.). https://www.occc.edu/writingcenter/Writing%20an%20Article%20Critique.pdf(PDF document)
Instructions
1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read chapters 8, 9, and 10 in How to Critique Journal Articles in the Social Sciences.
3. Access and review Writing Critical Reviews(new tab) .
4. Access and review Writing a Critical Review(PDF document) .
5. Access and download Writing a Critical Review Structure Map(PDF document) .
6. Access and review Writing a Critique(new tab) which includes reading notes and language use options.
7. Locate, download, and read one full-text, qualitative, scholarly article at least 10 pages in length that would be beneficial for a research study on the Virtuous Business Model.
8. Use the qualitative scholarly article to address the following prompts:
a. Write a critical review on the selected article using concepts introduced throughout the textbook.
b. Access and use the hyperlinked resources to inform the scholarly process and writing of the review.
c. The completed article critique should be at least two full pages and no more than three full pages in length, single spaced, with a few headings as appropriate.
i. The use of two columns with inclusion of headings is optional to the typical page layout.
d. Doctoral quality, reasonably sized tables, charts, bulleted lists or figures may be included (of limited quantity to not overshadow the narrative critic are optional as well.)
9. In the initial post, identify and describe in 200 words a few genres that scholars and businesspeople may use in the craft of writing (e.g., essay, research brief, critical review, book review, and so on). Particularly emphasize how they are distinct.
10. Use Grammarly to edit your discussion post and the critical review.
11. Use APA formatting for all citations and references.
12. Upload the critical review.
13. Post your initial response by the end of the workshop.
14. You are encouraged to read and respond to your classmates’ postings but you are not required to submit a response posting.
