When a person says “critical” a person often thinks it has a negative meaning but this does not necessary hold true for a critical essay. A critical essay examines a topic, book, or article. It begins with a summary of the author’s point of view. An evaluation of the work is next which includes the facts and then an evaluation of the work should be done. It is important to state your position but also to consider other positions that might be taken. Remember the critical essay is informative as it emphasizes facts about the literary works. Always use evidence to prove your point of view. Write a well-organized and well-structured essay. The conclusion should restate the title and the author and assert the point of view of the writer.
Critical essay is a type of academic assignments that is often required at colleges and universities. Every student should know how to write this kind of written work, even thought it is not easy to do. No doubt that the process of writing such essays requires critical analysis skills and strong desire to reach success. It also assumes the writer to have erudition, skills of reasoning, originality of thought, and ease of presentation. The major task of critical essay is not just the reproduction of facts, but representation of impressions, thoughts and associations.
This type of essay is a review or a critique of some other work which usually relates to art. It can be a painting, play, book, film, etc. Critical essay is not just a summary of the contents, but a coherent and intelligent analysis of some other work in which the author gives his opinion of its value. It should be objective analysis, meaning that the author should examine both, negative and positive aspects of it. It is important for the author to state his position but also to consider other positions that might be taken. He should keep in mind that the critical essay is informative as it emphasizes facts about the literary works. The author is supposed to use evidence to prove his point of view and make his essay well-organized and well-structured.
The usual structure of critical essay consists of introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction introduces the topic, mentioning the name of the work and its author. In addition it shows authors position on the work and briefly determines the questions that will be discussed in the body.
The biggest part of the essay is its body, which contains information and evidence that supports authors position on the discussed topic. In this part the author of critical essay should develop his arguments using the facts that explain his position. He should also evaluate opinions of various experts and evaluate the work. There is a need of each statement of opinion to be followed with clear and relevant supporting evidence. The body should examine the viewpoints of other people on the topic; include statistic data, examples and comparisons if needed.
In the conclusion of the essay the author should restate his position and sum up all presented arguments and evidences that support his view point to make sure the reader understands him. He should also repeat the title and the author of the observed work in the conclusion.
