I am showing students how to critique.  I am hoping they will return the favor.

I am using this very simple critique matrix that I am adapting from Andrew Dlugan.  He used it for evaluating speeches.  I am adapting it to a New York Times editorial board op-ed about coal, the Clean Air Act and an upcoming Supreme Court case.

The purpose here is to show how adapting a critique from another discipline might help you see others’ writings in a different slant.  The original matrix is below:

Here is the adapted version with a couple of small changes:

 

So here are the question I am going to ask as I take notes for my critique (which I will do with Diigo).

How do I feel about the content?

How do I feel about the presentation?

What am I seeing in the presentation?

What am I seeing in the content?

What thoughts do I have about the issue and its content?

What thoughts do I have about the presentation of the issue?

Here is a link that shows all my annotations about this editorial where I answer these questions…for the most part.

I hope my students choose their own critique templates.  Here is a critique template for dance, one for art, one for websites, another for video game critiques from my friend Kevin Hodgson.  Each critique is a “stance” that might give you a different view of the same information.