ENG4U

Critical Response Writing

Name:

___________________________________________________________________________________

A critical response is a relatively short piece of writing (approx. 250-500 words). Many professors assign
daily or weekly critical responses to ensure students are reading the assigned texts and to help students
think critically about the texts they are reading.

The main purpose of composing a critical response is to show your understanding, opinion and analysis
of a text or some theme/topic discussed in class. Critical responses do not simply summarize the text or
evaluate whether or not you like it; they are a focused analysis, argument, or interpretation about the text
that formulates and/or develops your ideas. Further, critical doesnt necessarily mean negative; it means
to engage objectively with a piece as you analyse it.

Your Task: After watching multiple clips and having read the two essays about youth, Dont You Think
Its Time to Start Thinking by Northrop Frye and Insolence Lost by Chuck Klosterman, you will write
a short critical response exploring the ideas, perspectives, and themes in one or multiple texts.

You should take notes as we are watching various clips, reading and discussing texts to help find specific
quotations, ideas, and incidents to which you may want to respond critically. You may also supplement
your ideas with other examples from the news, pop culture, and your own experiences and/or background
knowledge.

Organization:
You can organize your critical response however youd like, but here is one suggested structure:

1) Begin with a brief overview/summary of the original text (story, article, episode or idea). What are
the main points, ideas, or arguments? What is the primary purpose of the work?

2) Write a clear and argumentative statement that establishes how you feel about/interpret this text
(point)

3) Analyze the text and provide evidence for the argument you are making (proofs)
counterarguments, facts, personal anecdotes, etc. Here you may want to consider whether there are
sections you dont understand; if any of the evidence is weak or insufficient; if there was an idea
that you thought was particularly noteworthy or misguided; the context of the piece; any
assumptions the author makes; anything you are excited or surprised about, or any contradictions
you find in this text

4) Provide an interpretation of your evidence in relation to your argument (explanation)do not just
summarize the issue under discussion; try to answer so what?

5) Write a strong concluding statement that reinforces your ideas and/or offers up some questions for
future consideration

Modern Women by Ms. Levely

I picked up the article 10 of Prime-Times Most Fabulous Females by Rob Salem, which intends
to celebrate the modern women of comedy and drama who inspire fans and challenge conventions. I
decided to reserve judgment until after I had read it in its entirety. My first assumption was that it would
be a male entertainment writer's condescending attempt at giving recognition to the oft-overlooked female
talent on television. I read through and my instinct was right.
Within the first three paragraphs, this quotation troubled me: 'Its not just the mans journey,'
applauds Modern Familys Julie Bowen, 'with the woman standing there shaking her finger, waiting for
him to come back from, like, his fart fest with the guys...That is a huge change from the old standard
Jackie Gleason format.' "
I know she's on Modern Family, but has she watched Modern Family?
Both female leadsJulie Bowen's Claire and Sofia Vergara's Gloriaare hot stay-at-home moms
who are paired with arguably less appealing male counterparts: Claire's husband, Phil, is an averagelooking uber-dork who drools over his step-mother-in-law Gloria within plain eyesight of his wife, and
Gloria's husband, Jay, is an old curmudgeon 20 years her senior.
The show may not portray only the man's journey, as Bowen naively lauds, but it certainly
portrays the women as standing there shaking their fingersI'm pretty sure this is actually one of Gloria's
standard moves when she chastises Jay and her son, Mannyand waiting for them to come home. The
only difference is that they're not coming home from "fart fests with the guys," they're coming home from
work, a place to which neither woman ever goes. Claire is college-educated but feels she is needed around
the house (despite the fact that her youngest child, Luke, appears to be in middle school and her teenage
girls are old enough to take the city bus or drive themselves; either way, they certainly don't need
someone driving them to soccer practice or baking cupcakes for their class). Gloria stays home, too, but
I'm not sure why she is needed there. She is not at all domesticshe cant, not does she desire to, bake or
cleanand her precocious son, Manny, seems to raise himself.
I firmly believe that if a family is financially able to, of course one partner has every right to stay
at home in order to give their children the most nurturing and enriching environment and bond possible.
But why, in twenty-first century TV viewing, is it still the woman, even when her children have far
surpassed a need for her to help micromanage the minutiae of their lives? There is something tragic about
the prospect of a middle-aged woman, who is less than a decade away from experiencing the sense of loss
and insecurity that comes with Empty Nest Syndrome when her children go off to college and the
workforce, who has nothing with which to replace themno job, no discernible hobbies, and few
pastimes besides rolling her eyes at her idiot husband.
Writer Rob Salem congratulates Claire for being as "goofy and neurotic" as her husband, Phil, but
neurosis is a stereotypically female quality (ask Freud), and Phil is painted as an effeminate character
who is matched only by equally neurotic gay couple, Mitchell and Cameron. Only Jay, the patriarch of the
family, is portrayed as the adult voice of reason in a family of feminineboth female and malenuts.
I actually like watching Modern Family, but I acknowledge it for what it is: certainly not a
groundbreaking formula that gives women an opportunity to challenge preconceived notions of
traditionally female roles and responsibilities. It's just funny. Let's not pretend it's anything else.

The Death of Embarrassment or the Resurgence of Anxiety? By Ms. Levely

I was just reading an article in an online journal called In Character. The article, The Death of
Embarrassment, by Christine Rosen, laments what she perceives to be the death of embarrassment in
North American societyfrom people getting laser teeth whitening in the middle of a shopping mall to
people obnoxiously cuddling and making out all over the place. She cites other journalists' studies which
blame social networking sites like Facebook, online sharing sites like youtube, and reality television
shows for our collective desensitization to embarrassing situations and thus our subsequent ability to up
the ante of our own personal tolerance for embarrassment.
What she fails to acknowledge, however, is how contrived all of these media actually are in the
first place. On Facebook, people's profile pictures, status updates and comments are carefully chosen
(Thats me in front of the Eiffel Tower! Arent I sophisticated and well traveled!?) and increasingly
constructed (tilt head slightly to the left, raise chin to avoid looking unnecessarily plump, hold iPhone at
appropriate distance from headdont forget to pretend youre looking at something off camera, pout
sassily, or really go for it with everyones fave, duck lipsand snap, as if the lens just happened to
capture your image without your consent).
On Jersey Shore, Big Brother, and an array of sickening MTV and TLC reality shows, the
producers cast the fill-in-the-blank (GTL, redneck, overprivileged) stars, make suggestions to them in
terms of how to behave, tempt them with copious amounts of booze/drama/poverty, and continue filming
even when things escalate far beyond the level of ordinary embarrassment to which the rest of us are
accustomed. When Snooki fist fights a group of girls who show up one night on the groups patio, it is
difficult to feel actual embarrassment for her because I know how fake the experience is in the first place
and how pride, the antithesis of embarrassment, is Snooki's primary emotion (though how she developed
it, Ill never know). Garnering attention is her objective, and thus it would be a waste of my own feelings
of embarrassment for her.
One pressing question I have: with the alleged death of embarrassment, why do so many of us
suffer from anxiety, which seems, at times, like an extreme and almost preemptive version of
embarrassment? We are so excessively worried about what others will think or say about us that we have
panic attacks before leaving the house. This is like extreme embarrassmentembarrassment that hasnt
even happened yet, yet we are so stressed that it might potentially happen.
Perhaps instead Rosen should be questioning the death of shame, not embarrassment. We dont
seem to have an individual or collective sense of shame eithershame for being so self-absorbed, so
ignorant, and so easily entertained by these other shameless pseudo-celebrities.

Anti-Intellectualism and Consumerism by Kai Fan

It is a sad truth that our societys interest in literacy has lessened over the years. In Dont You
Think Its Time to Start Thinking Northrop Frye attributes this declining interest to the powerful antiintellectual drive in our society. Although he is partially correct, the underlying factors that contribute to
our lack of interest in literacy are far more complex.
Our societys anti-intellectual drive is only a side effect of the ways in which we endeavor for the
ultimate goalmonetary profit. Historically, our parents, teachers, and political leaders were the most
influential figures in our everyday lives. Today, our most influential figure is not a person; its a cult
comprised of a series of ideas, plans, and fake promises collectively known as the media, and this cult has
become the single most influential figure in all of our lives. The media wants to make money, just like
every other organization in our world. But the media makes their profit in a very unique way: todays
media has succeeded in achieving something that literacy has failed to dothe provocation of most
humans inner desires. By attacking our weak spots, the media looks into the human psyche, and
ostentatiously advertises ideas or objects in a way that sparks our endless desires. This indirectly compels
all of us into investing unnecessarily in luxurious items.
This has come at a great cost: the privileged are living a wasteful consumer lifestyle that we see
highlighted by the media; and the working poor, just a paycheque away from poverty, also strive to
possess the same outward signs of status as their wealthy or middle class counterparts. The irony is that if
these people focused more on developing literacy skills in themselves and in their children, they could
perhaps earn a better income and buy some of these luxury items without risking bankruptcy, shelter or
malnutrition.

Or, even better, they would perhaps achieve self-confidence and contentment, realizing that they
can overcome the medias empty distractions and refuse to buy their message of inadequacy and selfdoubt.ENG4U

Critical Response Rubric

Knowledge and Understanding

Voice 2.2 establish a distinctive and original
voice in their writing, modifying language
and tone skilfully and effectively to suit the
form, audience, and purpose for writing
5 marks
Thinking
Extending Understanding of Texts 1.5
extend understanding of texts, including
complex and challenging texts, by making
rich and increasingly insightful connections
between the ideas in them and personal
knowledge, experience, and insights; other
texts; and the world around them
Analysing Texts 1.6 analyse texts in terms
of the information, ideas, issues, or themes
they explore, examining how various
aspects of the texts contribute to the
presentation or development of these
elements

Name:

Level 4:
80-100%
- Voice and style
are highly
appropriate for
critical response
(academic,
critical,
inquisitive,
analytical)
- Analyses and
assesses ideas,
themes,
concepts,
arguments, and
the influence of
social/cultural
values in an indepth, unique,
highly insightful
and mature way

Level 3:
70-79%
- Voice and
style are
appropriate for
critical
response

Level 2:
60-69%
- Voice and
style are
somewhat
appropriate for
critical
response

Level 1:
50-59%
- Voice
and style
are not
appropriat
e for
critical
response

- Analyses and
assesses ideas,
themes,
concepts,
arguments and
social/cultural
values in an
insightful way

- Somewhat
analyses and
assesses ideas,
themes, and
concepts,
but often relies
on clichs or
does not fully
explore issues

- Analyses
and
assesses
ideas,
themes,
etc. in a
shallow or
vague way

- Carefully
organizes,
synthesizes and
revises
significant
information and
ideas to suit the
critical response
(including both
content and
style: sentence
structure,
transitions,
spelling,
grammar and
punctuation)

- Organizes,
synthesizes
and revises
information
and ideas to
suit the critical
response

- Attempt to
organize,
synthesize
and/or revise
information
and ideas to
suit the critical
response but
some mistakes
remain

- Does not
sufficientl
y organize,
synthesize,
and/or
revise
informatio
n and
ideas to
suit the
critical
response

10 marks
Communication
Organizing Ideas 1.4 identify, sort, and
order main ideas and sup- porting details for
writing tasks, using a variety of strategies
and selecting the organizational pattern best
suited to the content and the purpose for
writing
Producing Finished Works 3.7
produce pieces of published work to meet
criteria identified by the teacher, based on
the curriculum expectations

10 marks

Application
Research 1.3 locate and select information
to fully and effectively support ideas for
writing
5 marks

- Selects and
uses significant
and compelling
evidence from
texts to support
critical analyses

- Selects and
uses evidence
from texts to
support critical
analyses

- Attempts to
use some
evidence from
texts to
support critical
analyses

- Does not
use
evidence
from texts
to support
critical
analyses