1.3: Critical Response

Writing a critical response paragraph is an effective way to engage with a text. This is an opportunity to take what you’ve read, look at it closely, and develop your own ideas. It is basically a quick analysis.

This is not a summary. A summary, though useful, simply reports without commentary or bias. A critical response interprets the text and uses evidence from the reading to support your interpretation.  

A critical response is a quick, informal writing. It helps you to think about what you have read in a different way by finding a key idea and supporting that idea from the text. In the process, you will reflect on several ideas, discern which one is important, explain the idea, and find textual evidence. 

Steps to write a critical response paragraph:

1. Start by choosing an specific idea discussed in the reading. You do not need to address the entire text or the overall argument. Focus on a single concept or stance made by the author.
2. Think about what the author meant. Ask questions such as “how” or “why.” Don’t just accept what the author says; instead, be skeptical and scrutinize the ideas. Look for bias or illogical thought.
3. Decide your opinion on the idea you’ve examined.
4. State your opinion in one sentence. Use it as your topic sentence of your critical response paragraph.
5. Develop your paragraph by explaining, adding evidence from the text, and relating it to what the author said.
6. Read your work, revise, polish, and share.

Writing a critical response paragraph helps develop critical thinking skills as well as reviewing information that you may need to remember later. It is a good journaling exercise also. Plus, it can be used in the research process to practice analysis and synthesis.

Building a habit of reading and writing critically helps you engage your brain in news ways. You develop your critical thinking, reading, and writing skills, too.

Additional Resource.

More information is in this handout linked here: How to Write a Critical Response Paragraph

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Media Attribution

Yow, Chris. "Critical Response Paragraphs." UWF Writing Lab, uwf.edu, https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:4b6a23a2-6855-408c-a6ab-c3310669dd57

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