ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES (Q1-WEEKS 1- 4)

Timeline: Quarter 1-Week 1

Reference: CO-ADM: SHS English for Academic and Professional Purposes
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW
To accomplish the desired performance stated, please be guided with the following learning competencies as anchor:
• Differentiates language used in academic texts from various disciplines
• Uses knowledge of text structure to glean the information he/she needs
• Uses various techniques in summarizing a variety of academic texts

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lessons, you will be able to:
• Differentiate language used in academic texts from various disciplines.
• Determine the structure of a specific academic text.
• Explain the specific ideas contained in various academic texts.
• Use knowledge of text structure to glean the information he/she needs.
• Use various techniques in summarizing a variety of academic texts.

LESSON 1: Academic Language used from Various Disciplines

WHAT’S IN
A. Direction: Read the passages below. Then, identify whether each passage can be an
academic text or non-academic text. Write A if it is academic and N if it is non-academic.
_____1. Some educators suggest that the distinction between conversational and academic language is somewhat arbitrary and
that it is the situation, community, or context that is either predominantly social or academic.
_____2. The current study showed that COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected the academic performance of most participants
with varying degrees.
_____3. In his reverie he remembers how nature marked the season it happened.
_____4. I believe they are the first and last and the closest things I have to say about my own life.
_____5. The current study showed that the most popular device that students used to access the online materials was the smart
phone followed by laptop, while the least used tool was the personal computer.

WHAT IS IT
Nature and Characteristics of an Academic Text
An academic text is a written language that provides information, which contain ideas and concepts that are related to the particular
discipline. Essay, Research Paper, Report, Project, Article, Thesis, and Dissertation are considered as academic texts.

Structure
The basic structure that is used by an academic text is consist of three (3) parts introduction, body, and conclusion which is formal
and logical. This kind of structure enables the reader to follow the argument and navigate the text. In academic writing a clear
structure and a logical flow are imperative to a cohesive text.

Tone
This refers to the attitude conveyed in a piece of writing. The arguments of others are fairly presented and with an appropriate
narrative tone. When presenting a position or argument that disagrees with one’s perspectives, describe the argument accurately
without loaded or biased language.

Language
It is important to use unambiguous language. Clear topic sentences enable a reader to follow your line of thinking without difficulty.
Formal language and the third person point-of-view should be used. Technical language appropriate to area of study may also be
used, however, it does not mean using “big words” just for the sake of doing so.

Citation
Citing sources in the body of the paper and providing a list of references as either footnotes or endnotes is a very important aspect
of an academic text. It is essential to always acknowledge the source of any ideas, research findings, data, or quoted text that have
been used in a paper as a defense against allegations of plagiarism.

Complexity
An academic text addresses complex issues that require higher-order thinking skills to comprehend.

Evidence-based Arguments
What is valued in an academic text is that opinions are based on a sound understanding of the pertinent body of knowledge and
academic debates that exist within, and often external to a specific discipline.

Thesis-driven
The starting point of an academic text is a particular perspective, idea or position applied to the chosen research problem, such as
establishing, proving, or disproving solutions to the questions posed for the topic.

Features of Academic Texts:

1. Complex
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• Written language has no longer words, it is lexically more varied vocabulary.

• Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and
more passives.
2. Formal
• Should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
3. Precise - Facts are given accurately and precisely.
4. Objective
• has fewer words that emphasize on the information you want to give and the arguments you want to make
• mostly use nouns (adjectives), rather than verbs (adverbs)
5. Explicit
• It is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are
related.
6. Accurate
• Uses vocabulary accurately
• Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings.
7. Hedging
• It is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are
making.
8. Responsible
• You must be responsible for and must be able to provide evidence and justification for any claims you make.
9. Organize
• Well-organized.
• It flows easily from one section to the next in a logical fashion.
10. Plan
• Well-planned.
• It usually takes place after research and evaluation, according to specific purpose and plan.

Purposes in Reading an Academic Text

1. To locate a main idea;
2. To scan for information;
3. To identify gaps in existing studies;
4. To connect new ideas to existing ones;
5. To gain more pieces of information;
6. To support a particular writing assignment; and,
7. To deeply understand an existing idea.

Factors to Consider in Writing Academic Text

1.State critical questions and issues;
2. Provide facts and evidence from credible sources;
3. Use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon;
4. Take an objective point of view;
5. List references; and,
6. Use cautious language.

Academic Language
Academic language is the language
needed by students to do the work in
schools. It includes, for example, discipline-
specific vocabulary, grammar and
punctuation, and applications of rhetorical
conventions and devices that are typical for a
content area (e.g., essays, lab reports,
discussions of a controversial issue.)
Students who master academic language
are more likely to be successful in academic
and professional settings.

Social language is the set of vocabulary that

allows us to communicate with others in the
context of regular daily conversations. Here
are some of the differences between social and academic language includes:

Characteristics of Academic Language

A. Formal
• It should not sound conversational or casual. Colloquial, idiomatic, slang or journalistic expressions should particularly be
avoided.
B. Objective
• This means it is unbiased. It should be based on facts and evidence and are not influenced by personal feelings.
C. Impersonal
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• This involves avoiding the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. For example, instead of writing ‘I will show’, you might write ‘this
report will show’. The second person, ‘you’, is also to be avoided.

WHAT’S MORE
Using the Venn diagram, compare and contrast the characteristics of academic texts from non-
academic texts.

LESSON 2: Text Structure

WHAT’S IN
From the past lesson, you have learned:
• To differentiate language used in academic texts from various disciplines.
• Academic language is the language needed by students to do the work in schools.
• Academic language and social language have its own purpose.

WHAT IS IT
Have you ever wondered how are the thoughts in academic texts organized? Now, let us learn how academic texts are structured.

Common Text Structures

Text structures (WDPI, 2012) refer to the way authors organize information in text. Recognizing the underlying structure of texts
can help students focus attention on key concepts and relationships, anticipate what is to come, and monitor their comprehension
as they read.

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Why is Text Structure Important?

The readers can significantly improve their comprehension and retention of information when they can identify and recognize the
text structure of a text. It can also help them:
• Organize information and details they are learning in their minds while reading.
• Make connections between the details being presented in a text
• Summarize the important details shared in a text
At this stage, you should have several ideas on the common text structures used in academic texts. Keep in mind these ideas
because you are going to use your knowledge on text structures for enhancing your skills in gleaning information.

WHAT’S MORE
Direction: Read the passages and determine what sentence structure is used. Choose your answer from the list of words below.
Write only the letter of your choice. You may use a separate sheet in writing your answers.
a. Narrative b. Chronological/Sequence c. Cause-Effect
d. Descriptive e. Problem-Solution f. Compare-Contrast
______1. There are two popular sports played at Milton, basketball, and volleyball. Both take place inside of the gym at Milton.
Also, each sport has two teams of people. In basketball, however, the ball can be played off of the floor, and in volleyball,
the ball cannot touch the floor, or it is out of play. Basketball and volleyball are popular sports at Milton. What text structure
is this?

_____2. Lots of students fail classes. Some students fail because the work is too hard for them. Other times they may fail because
they are lazy, and don’t do any work. Another reason why students may fail is if they don’t go to school. If you’re not in
class, you may miss a lot. Many students fail classes every quarter. What text structure is this?

_____3. Dr. Knapp doesn’t want people to sit back and let the toad vanish. He believes that everyone is responsible for restoring
the toad species. Dr. Knapp thinks we could help restore the toad population if we stop mowing parts of our lawns and let
the grass grow wild to reserve space for the toad. He also believes we need to stop using pesticides and fertilizers. The
chemicals kill the insects that toads eat. If we preserve some spaces in our lawns and stop using fertilizers, Dr. Knapp
believes we can save the toads. What text structure is this?

_____4. Devers experienced the highlight of any sprinter’s career, as she stood on the huge platform in the giant stadium and
received an Olympic gold medal. Eighteen months earlier she wasn’t thinking about running. She was hoping that she
would be able to walk again. Just four years earlier, in the summer of 1988, as Devers was training for the Olympic
Games, to be held in Seoul, South Korea, she began to feel very tired all the time and failed to make the Olympic finals.
What text structure is this?

_____5 The Eiffel Tower is divided into three sections. I. The lowest section of the tower contains the entrance, a gift shop, and a
restaurant. II. The middle section of the tower consists of stairs and elevators that lead to the top. III. The top section of the
tower includes an observation deck with a spectacular view of Paris.

LESSON 3: Techniques in Summarizing Variety of Academic Text

WHAT’S IN
In the previous lesson, you have learned:
• Text Structure refers to the way authors organize information in text.
• There are six commonly used text structures these are: Narrative, Chronological/Sequence, Cause & Effect, Problem-
Solution, Compare & Contrast, and Descriptive.

WHAT IS IT
Techniques in Summarizing Academic Texts
Summarizing is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials: the gist, the key ideas, the main
points that are worth noting and remembering. Webster's calls a summary the "general idea in brief form"; it's the distillation,
condensation, or reduction of a larger work into its primary notions. (“Reading Quest Strategies | Summarizing”)

Basic Rules:
A. Erase things that don’t matter. Delete trivial material that is unnecessary to understanding.
B. Erase things that repeat. Delete redundant material. In note taking, time and space is precious. If a word or phrase says
basically the same thing you have already written down, then don’t write it again!
C. Trade, general terms for specific names. Substitute superordinate terms for lists (e.g., flowers for daisies, tulips for roses).
Focus on the big picture. Long, technical lists are hard to remember. If one word will give you the meaning, then less is
more.
D. Use your own words to write the summary. Write the summary using your own words but make sure to retain the main
points.

Techniques:
1. Somebody, Wanted, But ,So. The strategy helps students generalize, recognize cause and effect relationships, and find main
ideas.

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After answering the questions, combine the answers to form a summary:

Little Red Riding Hood wanted to take cookies to her sick grandmother, but she encountered a wolf. He got to her grandmother’s
house first and pretended to be the old woman. He was going to eat Little Red Riding Hood, but she realized what he was doing
and ran away, crying for help. A woodsman heard the girl’s cries and saved her from the wolf.

2. SAAC Method. This method is particularly helpful in summarizing any kind of text. SAAC is an acronym for “State, Assign,
Action, Complete.” Each word in the acronym refers to a specific element that should be included in the summary.

Use the four SAAC cues to write out a summary of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" in complete sentences:
"The Boy Who Cried Wolf," by Aesop (a Greek storyteller), tells what happens when a shepherd boy repeatedly lies to the villagers
about seeing a wolf. After a while, they ignore his false cries. Then, when a wolf really does attack, they don’t come to help him.

3. 5 W's, 1 H. This technique relies on six crucial questions: who, what, when where, why, and how. These questions make it easy
to identify the main character, important details, and main idea. Try this technique with a familiar fable such as "The Tortoise and
the Hare."

4. First Then Finally. This technique helps students summarize events in chronological order.

First: What happened first? Include the main character and main event/action.
Then: What key details took place during the event/action?
Finally: What were the results of the event/action? Here is an example using "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." First,
Goldilocks entered the bears' home while they were gone. Then, she ate their food, sat in their chairs, and slept in their
beds. Finally, she woke up to find the bears watching her, so she jumped up and ran away.

5. Give Me the Gist. This type of techniques is like giving a friend the gist of a story. In other words, they want a summary – not a
retelling of every detail.

WHAT I CAN DO
Directions: In a paragraph, summarize your personal experiences during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Use a technique
the best fits the nature of the summary you are writing.

Please be guided by the suggested criteria for scoring:

Concept - 20 pts.
Convention - 15 pts.
Creativity and Organization - 15 pts.
Total - 50 pts.

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Timeline: Quarter 1-Week 2

Reference: CO-ADM: SHS English for Academic and Professional Purposes
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW
To accomplish the desired performance stated, please be guided with the
following learning competencies as anchor:
• States the thesis statement of an academic text
• Outlines reading texts in various disciplines

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lessons, you will be able to:
• State the thesis statements of an academic text.
• Create an outline reading texts in various disciplines

LESSON 1: Identifying Thesis Statement and Outline Reading Text

WHAT’S NEW
Direction: Create a thesis statement based on the following information.
Topic: Education is important to have.
Supporting details:
• It could enable one to get a better paying job.
• It makes a person a more interesting individual.
• It makes a person a more informed citizen.
Thesis Statement:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHAT IS IT
Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is the controlling idea that you will develop in your paper. This can be found usually at the end of an
introduction. A thesis statement can be one sentence. However, if necessary, it can also be two or three sentences.

Elements of a Thesis Statement

1. Topic. The topic of your paper.
2. Argument/Claim. This depends on the type of paper you are writing. If it is an argumentative paper, then this should express
your opinion. If it is a research or explanatory paper, this should explain the purpose of your paper.
3. Evidence. The support for your argument/claim.

If you already have these three elements, you can combine them to create your thesis statement.
Example 1: (argumentative)
1. Topic – The Harry Potter book series
2. Argument – stole many fantastical elements from The Lord of the Rings series
3. Evidence – giant spiders, dangerous hooded undead creatures (Dementors and Nazgul), and a wise mentor.

The Harry Potter book series stole many fantastical elements from the Lord of the Rings series. Some of the uncanny similarities
include giant spiders, dangerous hooded undead creatures, and a wise mentor that the hero must learn to survive without.

Example 2: (Research/explanatory)
1. Topic – Chesse
2. Argument – has healthy tendencies
3. Evidence – calcium helps bones and teeth, boosts the growth of good bacteria in the gut, and the protein helps cells repair
themselves

Research has shown that cheese has healthy tendencies because its calcium provides necessary nutrients for the growth of bone
and teeth, it boosts the growth of food bacteria in the gut, and it has protein that helps cells repair themselves.

Outline
An outline is a design to follow when writing a structure, a discourse, or a article. It arranges a material in a logical way into main
ideas, supporting ideas, and supporting details. The main idea or topic is the main topic of the outline. All main topics are indicated
by Roman Numeral. Subtopics are noted by letters and supporting details are indicated by Arabic Numerals.

An outline can be a sentence outline or topic outline. A sentence outline is written in full sentence while a topic outline is in words or
phrases.

Guidelines in Writing an Outline:

1. Place the title at the center above the outline.
2. Every level of the outline must have at least two items (I and II, A and B, 1 and 2).
3. Put a period after each numeral and letter.
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4. Indent each new level of the outline.

5. All items of one kind (roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals) should lineup with each other.
6. Capitalize the first letter of each item.
7. The terms Introduction, Body, and Conclusion do not have to be included in the outline. They are not topics; they are merely
organizational units in the writer’s mind.

WHAT’S MORE

Directions: Identify the thesis statement in each of the following text. Write your answers on a separate sheet.
1. Psychologists have argued for decades about how a person’s character is formed. Numerous psychologists believe that one’s
birth order (i.e. place in the family as the youngest, oldest, or middle child) has the greatest influence. I believe birth order can have
a significant impact in the formation of a child’s character based on my own experience growing up in a family of four children. Birth
order can strongly affect one’s relationship with parents, relationships with others, and how one views responsibility as an adult.
Thesis Statement:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. One sign of pregnancy is nausea upon awakening. Other signs are increase in size and tenderness of the breasts. Still other
signs include increase in the frequency of urination and an increase in the size of the abdomen. Thus, aside from pregnancy tests,
a woman can sometimes recognize the early signs and symptoms of pregnancy.

Thesis Statement:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHAT I CAN DO

Direction: Read the essay below and pay careful attention to how it is organized. Identify the thesis statement and make an outline
for this essay. You may modify the sample outline format.

The Golden Age of Comics

(1) The period from the late 1930s to the middle 1940s is known as the golden age of comic books. The modern comic book
came in the early 1930s in the United States as a giveaway premium to promote the sale of the whole range of household products
such as cereal and cleanser. The comic books, which are printed in bright colors to attract the attentions of potential customers,
proved so popular that some publishers decided to produce comic books that would come out on a monthly basis and would sell for
a dime each. Though comic strips had been reproduced in publications prior to this time, the Famous Funnies comic book, which
was started in 1934, marked the first occasion that a serialized book of comics was attempted.

(2) Early comic books reprinted already existing comic strips and comics based on known characters, however, publishers
soon began introducing original characters developed specially for comic books. Superman was introduced in Action Comics in 1938,
and Batman was introduced a year later. The tremendous success of these superhero comic books led to the development of
numerous comic books on a variety of topics, though superhero comic book predominated. Astonishingly, by 1945, approximately
160 different comic books were being published in the United States each month, and 90 percent of US children were said to read
comic books on a regular basis.
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 ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES (Q1-WEEKS 1- 4)

Timeline: Quarter 1-Week 3

Reference: CO-ADM: SHS English for Academic and Professional Purposes
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW
This is where you start to do critical reading and write your understanding and reaction to what you are reading. This will help you
appreciate the texts you are reading and will also develop your critical thinking skills.

These competency are covered in the following lessons:

• use appropriate critical approaches in writing a critique such as formalism

LESSON 1: Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique

WHAT’S IN
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 this module. The diagram below shows the coverage of this lesson.

WHAT IS IT
Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique
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. Here are examples of terms that you can use in the
following disciplines.

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. Read about the critical approaches. You can highlight some important ideas. You can
use these in expressing your views.

1. Formalist Criticism
• This approach regards literature as “a unique form of humanknowledge 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.”

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3. Historical Criticism
• This approach “seeks to understand a literary work byinvestigating 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
tounderstand 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 topush 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. 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.

WHAT’S MORE
Directions: Summarize what you have read by completing the table with what you understood.
Approach Definition How it is done
Example: Example: Example:
1. Formalism This approach regards literature as “a A primary goal for formalist critics is to
unique form of human knowledge that determine how elements of form (style,
needs to be examined on its own terms.” structure, tone, imagery, etc.) work
together with the text’s content to shape
its effects upon readers.
2. Gender Criticism

3. Historical Criticism

4. Reader-Response Criticism

5. Media Criticism

6. Marxist Criticism

7. Structuralism

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Timeline: Quarter 1-Week 4

Reference: CO-ADM: SHS English for Academic and Professional Purposes
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW
These competencies are covered in the following lessons:
• applies the principles of writing effective reviews and critiques (CS-EN11/12A-EAPP-Id-f-17), and
• writes an objective/balanced review or critique of a work of art, an event or a program (CS-EN11/12A-EAPP-Id-f-18)

Leaning Objectives:
Here are the things that you are expected to learn at the end of this module:
1. identify the contents of a reaction paper, review or critique,
2. express ideas objectively, and
3. write a balanced reaction paper/ review/ critique.

LESSON 1: Writing the Reaction Paper/ Review / Critique

WHAT’S IN
Take a look at this text. Is this a GOOD reaction paper?

1. Is this how one should write a reaction paper? Why?

2. What is a GOOD reaction paper?

Try to ponder!
The text above is not the appropriate way of writing a reaction paper/critique/review. As what you have learned in Module 3, your
views must be based on facts and written in an appropriate language and approach.

WHAT IS IT
REACTION PAPER
Reaction paper is a form of paper writing in which the writer expresses his ideas and opinions about what has been read or seen.
Reaction paper is evaluated due to the writer's communication skills and only then due the unique ideas and the content. This
paper writing may be informal, two pages long. As all essays, a reaction paper comprises introduction, body, and conclusion. In
introduction the writers states the main premise, in a body he expresses his ideas and in conclusion summarizes the results. The
reaction paper is not a summary of the article although information should be included.

Parts of a Reaction Paper

• INTRODUCTION
• BODY
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES

You may be asked to write a reaction paper indirectly, and you have to get the intention of the examiner fast. A good example is
that you may be asked to give a critique about a certain subject, and this would constitute a reaction paper, or to write a review
about a literature book; it also falls into the same group.

Despite the fact that you are writing about your reactions, thoughts and impressions, you still need to follow an appropriate
structure. So make sure to:
• Read the material carefully
Whether it is a book, article, or a film, make sure to read or watch it very carefully. Sometimes, you will need to repeat this
procedure for a couple of times.
• Mark interesting places while reading/watching
This will help you focus on the aspects that impressed you the most and come back to them after you are done with reading or
watching.
• Write down your thought while reading/watching
Doing so, you won’t forget any important ideas that came to your head.
• Come up with a thesis statement
Use your notes to formulate a central idea you will develop in your further work. Then put it in one sentence and make it your thesis
statement.
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• Compose an outline
Every time you write an academic paper, you need to make an outline. Try at least once and you will see how helpful an outline
could be!
• Construct your paper
Only when all the preparations are done, start writing a paper itself.

The first part of your paper should contain information on the author and the topic. You need to write down the main ideas and
highlight the main points of the paper. You can use direct quotations if needed. Avoid your personal opinion in this section. The
second part should contain your personal thoughts on the subject. Focus on a main problem or address all of them and describe
your opinion. Explain how the material can relate to the modern world, to the society or separate individuals. Back your statements
with sources if needed and make conclusions whether you support the author or not.

Writing a reaction paper can be quite a challenging task, so many students use examples to learn more about its structure and key
features. Here are a few recommendations, which will help you complete an outstanding reaction paper:
• Read the original article carefully and highlight the main ideas and points you want to discuss;
• Describe your point of view and back it with additional information if needed. Use vivid examples;
• Use various sources to make your statement more argumentative.

There are also a few tips, which will help you to avoid common mistakes. First, don’t give a summary of an article. You should
perform your personal opinion, not an overview. You should always back your ideas with examples. However, avoid using
examples, which are difficult to relate to the topic. With the help of these simple rules, you will learn how to write a reaction paper
and will be able to create an outstanding work!

CRITIQUE PAPER
What is a critique?
A critique is a genre of academic writing that briefly summarizes and critically evaluates a work or concept. Critiques can be used to
carefully analyse a variety of works such as:
1. Creative works – novels, exhibits, film, images, poetry
2. Research – monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories
3. Media – news reports, feature articles

Like an essay, a critique uses a formal, academic writing style and has a clear structure, that is, an introduction, body and
conclusion (IBC format). However, the body of a critique includes a summary of the work and a detailed evaluation. The purpose
of an evaluation is to gauge the usefulness or impact of a work in a particular field.

Parts of a Critique
• INTRODUCTION
• BODY
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES

Checklist for a critique paper

Have I:
• mentioned the name of the work, the date of its creation and the name of the creator?
• accurately summarised the work being critiqued?
• mainly focused on the critical evaluation of the work?
• systematically outlined an evaluation of each element of the work to achieve the overall purpose?
• used evidence, from the work itself as well as other sources, to back and illustrate my assessment of elements of of the
work?
• formed an overall evaluation of the work, based on critical reading?
• used a well-structured introduction, body and conclusion?
• used correct grammar, spelling and punctuation; clear presentation; and appropriate referencing style?

*SAMPLE OF A CRITIQUE PAPER WILL BE SENT BY YOUR EAPP TEACHER VIA GROUP CHAT AND/OR GOOGLE
CLASSROOM.

WHAT’S MORE
Directions: Summarize your
understanding of what you have read by
filling in the blanks. You can use
additional sheet if necessary.

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 ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES (Q1-WEEKS 1- 4)

WHAT I CAN DO
Now that you have learned how to write a reaction paper/critique paper, you are ready to write your own!

Directions: Write your own review or critique about any book or movie that you have read or watched. You may also recall a
particular literary work that you encountered or studied in 21st Century Literature. Write a critique/review/reaction paper about it
and follow the guidelines below:

1. Choose a book or a movie that you find interesting and easy to understand.
2. Be sure to use appropriate language, manner and critical approach. You may use the reader-response criticism, structuralism or
formalism as an approach in writing the review.
3. The language should be formal and easily understood by the general public. Use everything that you have learned in this
module.
4. You can also refer to the texts you have read. Those were very good examples and you can use them as guide as you develop
your own book or movie review.
5. Write the references by using APA format/style (recall and apply what you have learned in PR1 and PR2 about citation and
referencing)
6. Format: Arial 12 font, short bond paper size, and double spacing.

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