Being a Critic and Writing Critiques

1
Being a Critic and Writing Critiques

• Opinions and thoughts on everyone elses stuff
  that you werent talented enough to make on your
  own.

2
Everyones a Critic (pg. 13 yellow section)

• When writing criticism, its important to realize
  that a responsible reviewer should make a sincere
  effort to appreciate the whole of whatever they
  are reviewing.

• Keep an open mind.
• You might discover that you like or dislike
  something after you have reviewed it further.

3
Expressing your Opinion

• First goal describe the subject so that people
  who are unfamiliar with it have a clear idea of
  its content.

• Second goal Communicate your opinion of the
  subject.
• What worked well
• What didnt work well
• What needs to be changed

4
Example from pg. 14

• Read the example
• Even though the review uses few words, it
  accomplishes the critics task.

• You can easily create your own reviews.
• It is human nature to judge a subject and tell
  others our thoughts on a topic.

5
Beyond the Capsule (pg. 15)

• A good critic helps others see what is working,
  whats present that shouldnt be, whats not
  there that should be.
• The longer the review the more in-depth the
  critic can go on the subject.

6
The Joy of Criticism (pg. 17)

• Even though it takes some hard work and
  discipline, being a critic can be fun.
• How many jobs do you know of that allow you to
  spend hours watching movies, TV shows, listening
  to CDs, etc?

7
Critical Thoughts

• Some critical thoughts can seem hard to read or
  understand.
• John Lennon spent the latter half of his
  career trying to downplay this very deification,
  only to have some Salinger-wielding crackpot
  forever fix his constellation in the pantheon
  of martyrdom. What???

8
Critical Thoughts

• You dont always have to confuse the reader, but
  you can make some great analysis or comparison to
  whatever it is you are reviewing
• Pink is definitely the new black!

9

• Your job as a reviewer is to take a product, look
  at it in your objective opinion, and decide how
  you want other people to view the product through
  what you say about it.
• Some simple comparisons and your own opinion can
  relay the message to others about what the new
  coolest thing is that they must have!

10
Examples

• Talladega Nights The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a
  funny movie, but doesnt quite live up to its
  potential.  Co-writer/director Adam McKay and
  Ferrell (who gets a writing credit for the movie)
  seem to have 3 hilarious ideas for the plot, but
  dont quite flesh out each one. 
• Each one has funny moments, especially the
  hilarious scenes of Reese Bobby training Ricky
  Bobby for his big comeback, but I think theres
  more to all of it, and one of these plots needed
  to emerge as the main story with more jokes, more
  scenes and more laughs.

11
Shake and Bake

• Ferrell does his best to create a funny, wild
  character in Ricky Bobby, but he needs more
  dialogue and less whooping and hollering.  He
  finds moments to entertain us, but its as if he
  passed all of the best material to his co-stars,
  and it shows as they deliver the best lines in
  the movie. 
• Talladega NightsThe Ballad of Ricky Bobby is
  funny, and well worth going to see, but it could
  have been so much more with a little more work
  and imagination. 

12
Other Review Samples

• CD Review
• http//www.cinemablend.com/music/CD-Review-Chris-D
  aughtry-s-Daughtry-1754.html
• Video Game Review
• http//www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928901.asp
  
• Restaurant Review
• http//www.seacoastonline.com/calendar/09212006/co
  lumns-s-s21-diningout-s15.html

13
Applying it to YOU!

• Dream Job
• http//www.salary.com/careers/layouthtmls/crel_di
  splay_Cat10_Ser20_Par52.html
• Places to read reviews
• http//www.rottentomatoes.com/author-3584/movies.p
  hp

14
Your Job

• Decide on a subject that you want to review.
• You can choose from CDs, Movies, Restaurants,
  Video Games, etc. (just make sure they are school
  appropriate.)
• You will review the item and write a review for
  the class on what you have found.

15
Your Job

• You may search the internet for some examples but
  you must refrain from plagiarism from sites.
• If you find information from a source that was
  useful then you must give that source credit.

16

• Try and give the class a fresh outlook on things.
• No two people can do a review of the same
  product.
• Also, THE PRODUCT MUST BE NEW!
• Nobody wants to read about old stuff they already
  might have.

17
For Friday

• Bring in a review that you found, written by
  someone else, to share with the class.
• We will talk about some techniques for review
  writing.
• You will begin writing your review for your
  topic.
• If you need to do some extra work for your topic
  (watch a movie, go to a restaurant, read a book,
  listen to a CD, etc.) you need to do that prior
  to writing the review.

18
DUE DATES

• Rough Draft is due Monday September 15th in class
  with three copies (20 pts)
• 1 copy turned in to Mr. Wilkinson
• Other 2 copies used for workshop
• Polished Draft is due Friday September 19th by
  315 1 copy (60 pts)

19

• GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY REVIEWING!
• REMEMBER YOU HAVE THE FINAL WORD FOR YOUR PRODUCT