how to word a critique???????????????

Question

i have to write a critique on a psychology article.

which person do i write it in?

if i am critical about something and give my reasons for it do i need to balance it up with something good?

also

are there any good sentance starters for critiques?

so far mine has the flow of a conversation sort of in the third person. and each paragraph is a new point of critique.

thanks

Answer 1

As much as is possible, critiques should be written in third person but without reference to yourself at all (even in the third person).
Never use "I thought", "this critic believes", or "the author of this critique belives", etc.
Write the critique from the perspective that none of it is opinion and all of it is absolute truth, without referencing yourself.

For instance:
Instead of writing, "I don't think the author truly understands the Oedipus complex." you should write
"It is clear that the author of the article has very little understanding of the Oedipus complex."

Leave yourself out of it as much as possible. This creates much stronger statements.

Answer 2

You don't have to be "fair and balanced" in writing a critique. A first sentence would state the author's name, title of work, and theme. For example: Charles Darwin, in his article, "The Evolution of the Beast," analyzes the environment which caused evolution of the squid from three million years ago to the present day. (Charles Darwin never wrote this, I made it up as an example).