EAPP Midterm Reviewer

Thesis Statement – It is a statement that summarizes your topic and declares your position on it

– tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under
discussion
– It is a roadmap for the paper
– It is the central idea for a multiple paragraph composition

A thesis statement is usually one sentence

It is often placed in the introductory paragraph of an essay

Implicit- common sense
Explicit- exactly states the authors main idea

Thesis Statements should not have the following:

 First person
 Unclear language
 An attempt at two topics at once
 Just stating a fact

Thesis Statements Should

 Contain a topic
 Contain an opinion about the topic

Making an Outline

An outline is a general plan of what you are going to write.

The Benefits of an Outline

An outline of an essay can be very helpful for two reasons:

 An outline will help make your essay more organized. A careful plan will help your body
paragraphs stay focused on the ideas in your thesis statement.
 An outline saves time for writers. Preparing an outline can take time, but when you are finished,
you will be able to write the rough draft of your essay more quickly than if you didn’t have an
outline.

Process

Roman numerals can be used to represent paragraphs.

Capital letters can be used to represent supporting details for the paragraphs.

To begin an outline, you need to start with your thesis statement.

The topic sentence for each body paragraph should support the thesis statement.

Under the topic sentence for each paragraph, list some of the supporting details, examples, or ideas you
want to include in each paragraph.
Critical Approaches in Writing Critique Paper

Critic – a person who judges or evaluates, and sometimes a person who only finds negative points

Critique – a verb/noun referring to evaluating and identifying positive and negative points

Critique Paper – This is a specialized form of writing in which a reader evaluates literary pieces, articles,
movies or designs

Critical Approaches – different perspectives we consider when looking at a piece of literature

1. The Reader-Response Approach – Emphasizes that the meaning of a text is dependent upon the
reader’s response to it
- Focuses on the act of reading and how it affects our perception of
meaning in a text
2. Formalism Approach – emphasizes the form a literary work to determine its meaning, focusing
on literary elements and how they work to create meaning
- Focuses on close readings of texts and analysis of the effects of literary
elements and techniques on the text

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939) founder of psychoanalysis and Oedipus

Complex(boy to mother)

3. Psychoanalysis Approach – views a text as a revelation of its author’s mind and personality. It is
based on the work of Sigmund Freud
- Also focuses on the hidden motivations of literary characters
- Looks at literary characters as a reflection of the writer
4. Sociological Approach – argues that social contexts must be considered when analyzing a text
- Focuses on the values of a society and how those views are reflected in
a text

Karl Marx- Prominent thinker who wrote topics related to economics,

political economy, & society.

A. The Marxist Cristism– deals with the societal issues and class struggle
- Emphasizes economic and societal conditions
- It is based on the political theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

5. Feminist Approach – concerned with the role, position and influence of women in a literary text

- Asserts that most “literature” throughout time has been written by

men, for men.
4 Basic principles of Feminist Criticism
1) Western civilization is patriarchal
2) The concepts of gender are mainly cultural ideas created by
patriarchal societies
3) Patriarchal ideals pervade “literature”
4) Most “literature” through time has been gender-biased
 6. Biographical Approach – argues that we must take an author’s life and background into
account when we study a text

Three Benefits
1) Facts about an author’s experience can help a reader decide how to interpret a text
2) A reader can better appreciate a text by knowing a writer’s struggles or difficulties in
creating that text
3) A reader can understand a writer’s preoccupation by studying the way they apply and
modify their own life experiences in their works

7. New Historicist Approach – argues that every literary work is a product of its time and its
world

- Provides background information necessary to understand how literary

texts were perceived in their time
- Shows how literary texts reflects ideas and attitudes of the time in
which they were written.

Reaction Paper

A reaction paper is a written assignment that provides a personal opinion regarding a given piece of
work.

Reaction Paper – a form of writing in which the author expresses his ideas and opinions about what has
been read or seen.

As all essays, a reaction paper comprises introduction body and conclusion.

Introduction – the writer states the main premise

Body - he expresses his ideas

Conclusion – Summarizes the results

Your reaction paper should contain four main parts:

 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusions
 List of citations and sources

Part 1: The Introduction and Summary

 The first part of your paper will include a quick, objective summary of the work you’re reacting
to.
 It should include the author’s name and the title of the piece as well as the publication date.
 The summarization itself should be a highlight reel of the main points and a condensed
explanation of the key supporting elements

Part 2: Your thoughts, feelings and opinions

  The second part of the paper is where you express your opinions on the key points of the work,
supported by reliable sources
 This is your analysis, the most important section of this paper.

Part 3: Your Conclusion

 Your evaluation should discuss the accuracy, organization, importance and completeness of the
work
 This is where you’ll take a stance on whether you recommend this work to others and reasons
for your answer
 Your conclusions should be presented concisely and reiterate your thesis and the main points
that took shape as you wrote

Part 4: Cite your sources

 Finally, your cited sources should be listed according to the writing style you’re using.

REACTION PAPER REVIEW CRITIQUE

- Objective judgment of
- presents your reasonable - most academic and most
something
response about anything elevated evaluation
seen, heard, or experienced - focused on highlighting the
- focused on evaluating and
good and the bad points
- focused on personal analyzing the components of
appreciation of the subject -gives the audience an the work
informed judgment about
- expression of personal - usually made to provide
the subject
Judgments direction for future
-made by knowledgeable improvements of the subject
- can be made by anyone
people of a field
- made by experts of the
field