MODULE 7

A. What is balanced/objective review or criticism?

It is a system of interpreting, judging, and assessing a person, thing, or any work of art not influenced
by feelings or opinions in considering and presenting facts. It is a systematic way of considering the
truthfulness of a piece of work.

B. To have balanced/objective review of any piece of work, the following are considered:
1. Description
 Pure description of the object, piece of work, art, event, etc. It answers the questions:

A. artwork - "What do you see?" (Description constitutes form of art, medium, size and scale,
elements or general shapes, color, texture of surface, and context of object).

B. piece of writing - "What do you see?" (Form, structure, choice of words, length, genre, etc)

2. Analysis
 Determining what the features suggest and deciding why the artist or writers used such
features to convey specific ideas. It answers the questions:

A. artwork - "How did the artist do it?"

B. piece of writing-"How did the writer write it?"

The analysis constitutes the following: determination of subject matter, analysis of the principles of
design or composition, use of symbol and other elements, portrayal of movement and how it is
achieved, effect of particular medium, relationships of each part of the composition to the whole and
to each other part, and reaction to object.

3. Interpretation
 Establishing the broader context for this type of art. It answers the questions:

A. artwork - "Why did the artist create it and what does it mean?
B. piece of writing - "Why did the write create it and what does it mean?

Remember: you shouldn’t make your interpretation too arbitrary! Provide evidence and point out what
exactly influenced your understanding of the artwork.
Here are the elements that you can include in your interpretation:

How does this art object make you feel?

What do you think of when you’re looking at the artwork?
What did the artist want to tell you as a viewer?
What do you think about the title of the work? Does it influence your interpretation?
If you can’t understand a painting or a sculpture, don’t hurry to give a negative response to it.
Think of other critics who have provided a positive evaluation of the examined artwork. It doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t have your opinion! All you need is to find a good way to express it.

E.g., in this painting, the artist wanted to show us the king’s personality and achievements.

The interpretation constitutes: (a) Main idea (overall meaning of the work), (b) Interpretive Statement
(Can I express what I think the artwork is about in one sentence), and (c) Evidence (What evidence
inside or outside the artwork supports my interpretation?).

4. Judgment
 Judging a piece of work means giving it rank in relation to other works and of course
considering a very important aspect of the visual arts; its originality. It answers the questions
“Is it a good artwork?” Is it a good composition?

Here are some points that can help you write your judgment:
• How do you think: is the work successful or not?
• Does this art object seem original or not?
• What do you feel when looking at this piece of artwork?
• Go back to your first impression. Has anything changed? What did you learn?
• If nothing changed, explain your first reaction to the work.
• What have you learned from this work that you might apply to your own artwork or your thinking?

In judging the piece of work, there must be:

(a) Criteria (What criteria do I think are most appropriate for judging the artwork or writing?),

(b) Evidence (What evidence inside or outside the artwork or piece of writing relate to each
criterion?)’ and

(c) Judgment (Based on the criteria and evidence, what is my judgment about the quality of the
artwork or piece of writing?).

E.g., the artwork successfully conveys the atmosphere of a battle through its composition and color
scheme. Learning about its backstory helped me to appreciate the painting even more.

C. How to Critique Different Art Forms

As you can imagine, all kinds of masterpieces are subject to art criticism. For example, you can
choose to write about paintings, drawings, sculptures, or even buildings. And, naturally, all these
forms of art have their specific features!

These tips will provide you with an art critique template for anything, be it an oil painting or a
cathedral.

1. Painting Critique

 Paint is a medium that emphasizes light, colors, and space.

For example:
What school of painting does it belong to? Is it typical or unusual for this particular school?
 E.g., Monet’s Water Lilies is a typical Impressionist painting.

Describe the way the artist applies paint. Are there broad paint strokes, small points of color,
or just a smooth surface? What effect does it help to achieve?

 E.g., Van Gogh’s broad brush strokes help to create a sense of motion.

Describe how the light is depicted. Where does the light come from? Is there a strong value
contrast? In what way does the shadow function? What, in your opinion, does it evoke?
  E.g., strong contrast makes the central figures stand out.

Speak about the handling of space in the picture. Does it look flat or three-dimensional? What
kind of perspective is used? (e.g., one-point perspective, or bird’s eye view?)
 E.g., in this painting, Picasso uses multi-dimensional geometrical shapes.

2. Sculpture Critique
 Similarly, many specific factors influence the overall impression of a sculpture.

Here are some things to pay attention to:

Say if the material gives a particular texture to the statue. Is the surface smooth, or is it
uneven?
 E.g., Rodin’s sculpture has an unusual earthy texture.
The surrounding space is just as important as the sculpture itself. Describe the place (in the
museum, in a park, in front of a building) where it is situated. What does it add to the
sculpture?

 E.g., the statue appears to walk along the road.

Speak about the color of the sculpture. Is it painted? Does it rely on natural lights and
shadows? Above
 E.g., the statue is white. A museum floodlight lights it from creating expressive shadows.
Describe the composition of the sculpture. What does it look like when you approach it? Did
the sculptor provide any instructions on how to position it?

 E.g., the statue is enormous and can be viewed from all sides.

3. Architecture Critique

 You can write art critiques on architecture, too!

Just bear in mind the following points:

What architectural style does it belong to?
 E.g., the cathedral is a typical Gothic building.
Was it built with a purpose? Did a specific person request it?
  E.g., the Palace of Versailles was requested by Louis IV as a symbol of his monarchy.

Did one architect complete the building, or were there any alterations? Why were they made?
 E.g., the spire was added to the cathedral much later. It became the integral part of its image.
What do the exterior and the interior look like? What effect do they produce? Is there a
contrast between them?
 E.g., the building has a high ceiling painted like the sky. It also makes the organ music sound
louder.
Are there statues or paintings on the walls? Discuss them as well!
 E.g., statues on the cathedral’s facade illustrate scenes from the Bible.

4. Photography Critique

 Analyzing a photograph is a lot like critiquing a painting.

Still, there are some unique features to consider:

How does the photographer use focus? Is any part of the image blurry? What effect does it
produce?
 E.g., the background is out-of-focus, which has a dreamy effect.
Is the picture monochrome? If yes, describe its tone, contrast, and shadows. If no, describe
the use of color.
 E.g., the picture is in black and white, with stark contrasts.
If it’s a photo of a face, pay extra attention to the emotion it expresses. If it’s dynamic, discuss
the sense of motion.
 E.g., the photograph conveys a sense of cheerfulness through the girl’s expression and the
use of light.
 M0DULE 8

WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH?

WHAT IS AN EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPH?

An effective paragraph contains three main parts: a topic sentence, the body, and the concluding
sentence. A topic sentence is often the first sentence of a paragraph.

Types of Informational Text Structures

The vast majority of texts are written for one or more of these three purposes:
• To make an argument
• To inform
• To tell a story
To achieve these purposes, authors use one or more of the following 5 text structures:
• Description
• Sequence/Instruction/Process
• Cause/Effect
• Compare/Contrast
• Problem/Solution
Students must be able to unpack these 5 text structures and study their components in order
to fully understand and analyze informational texts, whether they're reading textbooks, news
articles, or works of literary nonfiction.

1. Description

This is pretty straightforward. Texts that use this structure simply describe something. With
few exceptions, these texts also present plenty of details about what they're describing. A text
using this structure might also:

• Tell you why something is being described

• Tell you why the described topic is important
• Provide examples of the described topic(s)
Descriptive texts are everywhere—in novels, works of literary nonfiction, news articles,
science textbooks—which makes sense because the entire point of description is to present
information.
2. Sequence/Instruction/Process
This text structure covers a few purposes:
• Sequential instructions (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3; do this, then do that, and finally do this)
• Chronological events (This happened, then this happened, then this happened, etc.)
•Arguments that use evidence to support a claim (presenting evidence from least to most
convincing)

When students read or write a text with this structure, order is key. Texts that use this format
usually don't present any event or instruction out of order, as doing so would make its
directions more difficult to follow.

As a ludicrous example, imagine a cake recipe in which preheating the oven is the last step. It
would just be confusing and odd. Poorly written instructions just aren't worth your time.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of words and phrases that indicate a text follows the
sequence/instruction/process text structure:

after before during earlier

eventually finally first from

how to in order last

next now until

3. Cause/Effect

Cause/Effect text structures explain, well, causes and effects. Sounds pretty
simple! But works that use this structure can become complex when an effect
has multiple causes (or vice versa).

Students will encounter complex examples of cause-effect when they read

historical texts. Many events in history had more than one cause, all related in
ways that can be difficult to unpack.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of words and phrases that indicate a text follows the
cause/effect text structure:

because cause led to reason

accordingly effect result consequence

4. Compare/Contrast

This text structure involves a comparison involving multiple things, revealing

how they are similar and how they are different.

Make sure your students know that contrasting two or more things doesn't
necessarily mean identifying them as either good or bad. Comparisons simply
relay the differences; therefore, one thing could have both positive and negative
traits.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of words and phrases that indicate a text follows
the compare/contrast text structure:

alike also both comparable

even in common just as similar

although but despite difference

however instead otherwise unlike

 5. Problem/Solution

This text structure involves two parts:

• The author identifies a problem
• The author details a solution to this problem
Problem/Solution can be a very complex text structure, as it necessitates the
use of other structures, too. Clearly, the author needs to describe the problem.
The author would likely also explain the causes and effects of the problem in
order to argue in favor of their solution. Does implementing the author's solution
involve following a series of specific steps? That involves another structure.
What if the author wants to mention other potential solutions and then explain
why their solution is the best one? Oh, hello there, Compare/Contrast!

What's important here, as it is with any text in which an author marshals an

argument, is that the author uses only the information needed to advance the
argument or refute counterarguments. When students examine a text that uses
the Problem/Solution text structure, they should examine at least two things: the
argument as a whole and the individual components of it.

Knowing that aspects of other text structures might appear in the

Problem/Solution one will help students examine the argument's individual
components. That's why it's essential that students understand and can analyze
the other four structures if you want them to be able to examine
Problem/Solution effectively.
 MODULE 9

Before doing your research or writing your research paper, you will need to draft a catchy
summary of what the research is about and how it contributes to the world of academia,
and especially with regards to the particular industry in question. This summary is what is
known as a concept paper.
The concept paper will be read by your lecturer or supervisor who will be tasked to
determine the suitability of the research project you want to undertake. Based on their
analysis and your prowess in convincing them that it is a worthy and helpful research
project, they will either give you the go-ahead to carry on with the project, suggest similar
alternative topics you can focus on, or tell you to come up with another project altogether
(Santos, 2020).
The use of this project, as what research is intended to be employed, is to provide solution
to a problem or issue.

Parts of a Concept Paper

a) Title: It begins with a title that fully summarizes what the project you are carrying out
is about. Avoid being wordy and stick to the main point.
b) Introduction: This serves as the most important part of the concept paper. You must be
seeking to add value and convince the reader that you are doing so. For example, your
research should seek to solve an existing problem or provide further insights into a
scarcely researched topic. The problem should be clear. Why would you want to
investigate the topic under study, and how your research will be helpful in achieving this?
Herein, you need to provide the evidence that the research you need to carry out is
necessary in that it has not been carried out before or has not been adequately done.

c) Literature Review: It backs up your interest for the topic under research with solid
literature that supports the topic, for example, literature that supports the fact that further
research needs to be carried out in that area. You need to show that there exists an
information gap which your research seeks to fill. The wider the variety of literature review
you have carried out, the more solid and convincing your concept paper will be.

d) Project Description: This functions as the solution to the problem, the answer to the
need, or the investigation that will fill the knowledge gap. In this section, you have to
address the unique, unusual, distinctive, innovative, and/or novel aspects of the project-
based concept paper.

e) Objectives: This is a broad statement or statements of what the research seeks to

achieve. It should start with ‘to’ and answer the questions who, what, when, which, or how.

f) Timeline: Undertaking a research can take a very long time if not well planned for, and it
is, therefore, important to lay out just how much time you may need to complete each
element of the research project and ultimately the whole project. In this section, you need
to set a time frame that is realistic.

g) References: Always remember to give credit to any sources you may have sourced
your information from. This can be done within the document or at the end of the concept
paper.