Description

What opens up in this module:
The gap between a well-informed response to a creative work and a piece of criticism worth reading is almost entirely a writing and argumentation problem. This module covers how to close that gap — developing the critical writing practice that produces analysis rather than reaction.

This module works through:
– Critical argument construction: building a reading of a work that makes a specific, defensible claim and supports it with evidence drawn from the work itself
– Evidence and analysis balance: the ratio of description, quotation or reference, and analytical commentary that makes criticism readable without sacrificing substance
– Voice and register in criticism: developing a critical voice that is authoritative without being inaccessible and analytically precise without losing the reader who came to be illuminated rather than tested

Estimated engagement: +/- 5 hours

What changes afterward:
A critical writing practice that produces pieces with a clear analytical purpose — criticism that makes the works it engages with more interesting and more accessible to readers rather than more intimidating or more remote.