ENGLISH FOR LESSON

ACADEMIC AND 3
Approache
s in
PROFESSIONAL Literary
PURPOSES Criticism
LESSON 3.1
OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT
LESSON 3.1 OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT
In lessons 1 and 2, you have learned about reading academic
texts. This time, you will start analyzing the texts to be able to share
insights that are based on your objective assessment of the texts.
In this lesson, you will try to form opinions based on facts, cite
specific sources to support claims and present ideas convincingly. All
these are very important so that you can have an objective assessment.
Lesson 3.1 is focused on objective assessment. The most important
thing to do in this lesson is to be able to assess what you are reading
objectively.
What are opinions?
- An opinion is a view or judgment formed about something, not
necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
- Opinions are your own views of certain issues or concerns. There are
words that you can use when expressing your opinion. Here are some
phrases that you can use:
 I think… From my point of view
 I believe… From my perspective
 I feel… In my view
 In my opinion… It seems to me that
 I would say…
These are examples of ways to express your opinion:

1. I think technology is harmful.

2. In my view, technology is not useful and helpful.
3. In my opinion, technology is very important nowadays.
You may also just state your opinions without using those phrases.
You can just say, Technology is harmful but only when you are in an
informal situation. If you are in a formal setting, it would be
inappropriate to use those phrases.
You are entitled to your own opinions, but these opinions must be
based on facts so that you will not be biased.
It is very important that you will not be focused only on giving
opinions. You must also look for information that will help support your
opinion because -
• this will add to the credibility and validity of your opinion; and
• more will believe you if what you express is strongly supported with
information that are true and correct.
A very important expository discourse that you must learn is
how to write a reaction paper, review, or critique. It is mainly written
to communicate a fair assessment of situations, people, events,
literary and artistic works and performances. Whether a social
commentary, or a critical judgment, it conveys incisive insights into
its analysis of events, its interpretation of the meaning or
importance of a work or artifact, or its appreciation of the moral or
aesthetic values reflected in the work or performance. It may include
the main purpose of the event; the devices and strategies
employed; an evaluation of its success or failure; and an assessment
of its significance and relevance, timeliness or timelessness. (English
for Academic Purposes Teacher’s Guide, DepEd, 2016)
SHARE YOUR OPINION!
What do you think about these statements? Do you agree or
disagree?
1. Technology is harmful.
2. Technology is beneficial.
3. Technology is both harmful and beneficial.
4. Technology is more harmful than beneficial.
5. Technology is more beneficial than harmful.

Which of these statements are facts? Which are opinions?

ACTIVITY: READ TO LEARN
Before we start with the reading text, let us define these words
to better understand the reaction paper you will be reading.
1. Equity
2. Exponentially
3. Instantaneously
4. Disparities
5. Exacerbate
6. Authentic
“THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: THE CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND EQUITY”
-ANONYMOUS-

(1) Information technology influences the way many of us live and work
today. We use the internet to look and apply for jobs, shop, conduct research,
make airline reservations, and explore areas of interest. We use E-mail and
internet to communicate instantaneously with friends and business associates
around the world. Computers are commonplace in homes and the workplace.
Although the number of internet users is growing exponentially each year, most
of the world’s population do not have access to computers of the internet. Only
6 percent of the population in the developing countries are connected to
telephones. Although more than 94 percent of U.S households have telephones,
only 56 percent has personal computers at home and 50 percent has internet
access. The lack of what most of us would consider a basic communication
necessity -the telephone-does not occur just in developing nations. On some
Native American reservations only 60 percent of the residents have a
telephone. The move to wireless connectivity may eliminate the need for
telephone lines, but it does not remove the barrier to equipment costs.
“THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: THE CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND EQUITY”
-ANONYMOUS-

(2) Who has internet access? The digital divide between the populations
who have access to the internet and information technology tools and those who
don’t is based on income, race, education, household type, and geographic
location, but the gap between groups is narrowing. Eighty-five percent of
households with an income over $75,000 have internet access, compared with
less than 20 percent of the households with income under $15,000. Over 80
percent of college graduates use the internet as compared with 40 percent of
high school completers and 13 percent of high school dropouts. Seventy-two
percent of household with two parents have internet access; 40 percent of
female, single parent households do. Differences are also found among
households and families from different racial and ethnic groups. Fifty-five percent
of white households, 31 percent of black households, 32 percent of Latino
households, 68 percent of Asian or Pacific Islander households, and 39 percent of
American Indian, Eskimos, or Aleut households have access to the internet. The
number of internet users who are children under nine years old and persons over
fifty has more than triple since 1997. Households in inner cities are less likely to
have computers and internet access than those in urban and rural areas, but the
“THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: THE CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND EQUITY”
-ANONYMOUS-

(3) Another problem that exacerbates these disparities is that

African-American, Latinos, and Native Americans hold few of the
jobs in information technology. Women about 20 percent of these
jobs and receiving fewer than 30 percent of the Bachelor’s degrees
in computer and information science. The result is that women and
members of the most oppressed ethnic group are not eligible for the
jobs with the highest salaries at graduation. Baccalaureate
candidates with degree in computer science were offered the
highest salaries of all new college graduates.
“THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: THE CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND EQUITY”
-ANONYMOUS-

(4) Do similar disparities exist in schools? Ninety-eight percent

of schools in the country are wired with at least one internet
connection. The number of classrooms with internet connection
differs by the income level of students. Using the percentage of
students who are eligible for free lunches at a school to determine
income level, we see that the higher percentage of the schools with
more affluent students have wired classrooms than those with high
concentrations of low-income students
“THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: THE CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND EQUITY”
-ANONYMOUS-

(5) Access to computers and the internet will be important in

reducing disparities between groups. It will require higher equality
across diverse groups whose members develop knowledge and
skills in computer and information technologies. The field today is
overrepresented by white males. If computers and the internet are
to be used to promote equality, they have to become accessible to
schools cannot currently afford the equipment which needs to be
updated regularly every three years or so. However, access alone is
not enough; Students will have to be interacting with the
technology in authentic settings. As technology has become a tool
for learning in almost all courses taken by students, it will be seen
as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. If it is used in
culturally relevant ways, all students can benefit from its power.
DO YOU AGREE WITH WHAT THE
TEXT SAYS? WHAT IS YOUR
ASSESSMENT OF THE TEXT?
The text is a good reaction paper due to the following reasons:
1. The text tells us of the author’s opinions about how technology affects lives of
people especially students. You may agree or disagree with what the author says
and your reaction would depend on how the author supported his ideas with facts.
2. The text contains statistical data and these are good evidences which helped in
making the opinions strong. Without those data, you might think that the author is
just inventing ideas.
3. Even your personal experience can be used as support because it was also
mentioned that students use the internet and computers.
4. You will most likely agree with the author. But if you disagree, it is alright as long
as you also have enough facts to support why you disagree with the author.
5. The most important thing to note is facts are necessary in supporting opinions
because these will make your opinion objective and not biased.
LESSON 3.2
APPROACHES IN LITERARY
CRITICISM
LESSON 3.2 APPROACHES IN LITERARY CRITICISM

Lesson 3.1 taught you how to make an objective assessment. This lesson
will now lead you to some critical approaches in writing a critique. This is the next
step to prepare you for the main output of Lesson 3.
When you express your views, it is also important to use appropriate
language for a specific discipline. There are terms that you should prefer to put
in your writing depending on the field or context you are in.
For example, if you are to convince people who are experts in the field of
Science and Mathematics, you need to use their language.
You should be formal and use technical terms that are familiar to them.
However, if your audience is the general public, you also need to use the
language they know. Do not use those that are not common to them. Avoid
jargons or technical words and slang or invented words. You can be informal
when necessary. However, you must never forget to be POLITE to avoid having
future problems.
Learning appropriate language and manner is not enough in expressing
your views. There are critical approaches that you can use to make it more
convincing and appropriate.
SO HOW DO YOU
CRITICIZE LITERATURE?
Criticism Approaches to Literature
1. FORMALIST CRITICISM
This approach regards literature as “a unique form of
human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own
terms.” All the elements necessary for understanding the
work are contained within the work itself. Of particular
interest to the formalist critic are the elements of form—
style, structure, tone, imagery, etc.— that are found within
the text. A primary goal for formalist critics is to determine
how such elements work together with the text’s content
to shape its effects upon readers.
2. GENDER CRITICISM
This approach “examines how sexual identity influences the creation and
reception of literary works.” Originally an offshoot of feminist movements, gender
criticism today includes a number of approaches, including the so-called “masculinist”
approach recently advocated by poet Robert Bly. The bulk of gender criticism, however,
is feminist and takes as a central precept that the patriarchal attitudes that have
dominated western thought have resulted, consciously or unconsciously, in literature
“full of unexamined ‘male-produced’ assumptions.” Feminist criticism attempts to
correct this imbalance by analyzing and combatting such attitudes—by questioning, for
example, why none of the characters in Shakespeare’s play Othello ever challenge the
right of a husband to murder a wife accused of adultery. Other goals of feminist critics
include “analyzing how sexual identity influences the reader of a text” and “examining
how the images of men and women in imaginative literature reflect or reject the social
forces that have historically kept the sexes from achieving total equality.”
3. HISTORICAL CRITICISM
This approach “seeks to understand a literary work
by investigating the social, cultural, and intellectual
context that produced it—a context that necessarily
includes the artist’s biography and milieu.” A key goal for
historical critics is to understand the effect of a literary
work upon its original readers.
4. READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM
This approach takes as a fundamental tenet that
“literature” exists not as an artifact upon a printed page
but as a transaction between the physical text and the
mind of a reader. It attempts “to describe what happens in
the reader’s mind while interpreting a text” and reflects
that reading, like writing, is a creative process.
5. MEDIA CRITICISM
It is the act of closely examining and judging the media.
When we examine the media and various media stories, we
often find instances of media bias. Media bias is the
perception that the media is reporting the news in a partial
or prejudiced manner. Media bias occurs when the media
seems to push a specific viewpoint, rather than reporting the
news objectively. Keep in mind that media bias also occurs
when the media seems to ignore an important aspect ofthe
story. This is the case in the news story about the puppies.
6. MARXIST CRITICISM
It focuses on the economic and political elements of art, often
emphasizing the ideological content of literature; because Marxist
criticism often argues that all art is political, either challenging or
endorsing (by silence) the status quo, it is frequently evaluative
and judgmental, a tendency that “can lead to reductive judgment,
as when Soviet critics rated Jack London better than William
Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, and Henry James,
because he illustrated the principles of class struggle more
clearly.” Nonetheless, Marxist criticism “can illuminate political and
economic dimensions of literature other approaches overlook.”
7. STRUCTURAL CRITICISM (STRUCTURALISM)
It focused on how human behavior is determined by social,
cultural and psychological structures. It tended to offer a single
unified approach to human life that would embrace all disciplines.
The essence of structuralism is the belief that “things cannot be
understood in isolation, they have to be seen in the context of
larger structures which contain them. For example, the
structuralist analysis of Donne’s poem, Good Morrow, demands
more focus on the relevant genre, the concept of courtly love,
rather than on the close reading of the formal elements of the
text.