Unit 3: Overview

You are already an art critic. Every time you switch channels, skip a song, or stop scrolling because an image catches your attention, you are making a critical judgment. What you may not have is a method for doing it well. That is what this unit provides.

Unit 3 introduces three types of criticism: descriptive (what do you see?), interpretive (what does it mean?), and evaluative (how good is it?). Each type requires a different kind of attention and produces a different kind of understanding. Together, they give you a systematic way to analyze any work of art in any medium. This is the toolkit you will use for the rest of the course, and it is also the framework for the Critic's Practice exercise in this unit and for the Final Paper.

The most important lesson of this unit is that good criticism starts with good description. You cannot interpret what you have not first observed carefully, and you cannot evaluate what you have not first interpreted. The three types of criticism build on each other in that order.

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you should be able to:

  • Define descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative criticism
  • Distinguish between detail, regional, and structural relationships in a work of art
  • Explain how descriptive criticism lays the foundation for interpretive and evaluative criticism
  • Apply the three types of criticism to a specific work of art
  • Explain the evaluative standards of perfection, insight, and inexhaustibility

What you'll do in this unit

  • Explore the Gallery at the top of the lesson, taking your time with each work
  • Work through the lesson and open each numbered section
  • Try the Experience It activity at the end of the lesson
  • Work through the Critic's Practice exercise
  • Write your reflection, then take the quiz

In This Unit

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