In Chapter 3 of the text, Being A Critic of the Arts, three types of criticism are discussed (more detailed
definitions can be found in the text and PowerPoint slides posted on Blackboard):
Descriptive Criticism aims at a careful accounting of the formal elements in the work. As its name implies,
this stage of criticism is marked by an examination of the large formal elements as well as the details of
the composition.
Interpretive Criticism focuses on the content of the work, the discovery of which requires reflection on
how the formal elements transform the subject matter.
Evaluative Criticism, on the other hand, is an effort to qualify the relative merits of the work.
Given these critical approaches, your paper can be structured one of two ways:
1) Critique three different pieces of art using each type of criticism. In other words, select a work of art
(painting, sculpture, theatre, music, dance, or photography), critique the artwork using one form of
criticism, then select two other works of art, and critique each of them using each of the other two forms
of criticism. An example of this option might look like this:
a) Descriptive Criticism of The Flame by Jackson Pollock
b) Interpretive Criticism of Guernica by Pablo Picasso
c) Evaluative Criticism of The Scream by Edvard Munch
2) Select one work of art (painting, sculpture, theatre, music, dance, or photography), and critique it,
using all three forms of criticism. For example, you might elect to do a Descriptive Criticism, Interpretive
Criticism, and Evaluative Criticism of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Sample Solution