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English
Quarter 3, Module 3
Writing Independent Critique

Annaliza A. Ngo, Author

Mark John C. Solinap, Co-Author

Minalin S. Valeda, Illustrator

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

Compose an independent critique for a chosen selection.

 A Self-Learning Module in English 10
3rd Quarter, Module 3

WRITING INDEPENDENT CRITIQUE

Annaliza A. Ngo, Author

Mark John C. Solinap, Co-Author
Minalin S. Valeda, Illustrator
MB Asistio Sr. High School Unit I

Most Essential Learning Competency: Compose an independent critique for a chosen selection.

Name of Student: ____________________________Grade & Section:

______________________

To the Learners

Before you begin using this module, I want you to read the following instructions:
1. Read and follow the directions in every part of this module.
2. Take down notes from the selection you are reading using your pen and paper.
3. Do all the activities on this module.
4. Allow your facilitator/guardian to assess your answers using the answer key card.
5. Analyze and answer the given post-test and apply what you have learned.
6. Enjoy using this module! Good luck!

Expectations

This module will help you to attain these objectives:

a. Write an independent critique of a favorite movie.

b. Determine the tone, mood, technique and purpose of the writer.
c. Show the significance of the film to real life situation.
d. evaluate the information contained in the material viewed in terms of accuracy and
effectiveness. And,
e. Discuss the literary devices and techniques used in the text or material viewed.

Now let us begin. You will watch a movie, “Contagion” by Steven Soderbergh, through your
DVD or available link on the internet or have a preview of this clip. (Please click the link)

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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g. After reading a sample critique, you will
perform all the activities that follow.

PRE -TEST

Read the text below and answer the questions that follow. Choose the letter of the correct
answer.

Justin is always prepared. His motto, “Never throw anything out, you never know when it
might come in handy.” His bedroom is full of flat bicycle tires, bent tennis rackets, and deflated
basketballs and toys with missing parts. His parents asked him to clean his room and throw the
broken toys.

What use is a fish tank with a hole in the bottom? His father asked. But Justin simply smiled
and repeated his motto, “Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in
handy.” (Celebrating Diversity Through World Literature, English Learner’s Material for Grade 10,
DepEd: Rex Bookstore, 2015, p.268)

A. 1. What does Justin’s motto mean, “Never throw anything out, you never know when it
might come in handy?”
a. Being organized is a good trait.
b. It is always nice to keep useless things.
c. Keeping old things might help you become rich.
d. Things that you think are useless may be of use again in urgent cases.

2. Justin’s parents are ____________________.

a. happy with Justin’s ingenuity

b. annoyed with Justin’s untidiness
c. proud with what Justin has in his room
d. worried with the junk that Justin stored in the room

B. Identify what is being referred to in the following statements:

3. “The wind was blowing hard, that the sun was so scared to come out.” This is an
example of ____.

a. simile c. oxymoron
b. metaphor d. personification
4. ______________ is a detailed analysis and assessment of a text, creative work, or
images.
a. essay c. critique
b. novel d. research
5. ___________________ is an example of a literary device.
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 a. alliteration c. paragraph

b. narrative d. figure
f of speech

Looking Back

Brief Introduction

Have you watched the movie

“Contagion” by Steven Soderbergh? It is one of the most watched movies during this pandemic.

Unable to comprehend the sudden and untimely demise of his fit-as-a-fiddle wife, Beth, and his
equally healthy son, Clark, suddenly, the grieving
father, Mitch Emhoff, finds himself quarantined and
in shock. In the meantime, as a virulent pathogen is
infecting thousands around the globe, the Center for
Disease Control, and the World Health Organization
struggle to figure out the origin and the rapid
progress of the virus; but, in vain. Now, against the
backdrop of an unprecedented situation and the
hunt for Patient Zero, nothing makes sense, and
what's even more dangerous, self-appointed
prophets manipulate the masses, as riots erupt,
economies collapse, and people perish by the
thousands. But, the invisible adversary is
everywhere, there's still no cure for the lethal
disease, and more or less, the average person
touches his face nearly 3,000 times a day. Is there an escape from the suffocating grip of the
deadly contagion?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598778/

Watch the movie in Netflix or in DVDs. Try to search for movie clips that will give you
the idea of what the movie is all about. Enjoy watching the movie!

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 Activities
Activity 1. My Journey

A. After watching the movie “Contagion,” I want you to read and analyze the sample
critique below.

Remember: A CRITIQUE is a detailed analysis and assessment of a written work,

images, or movies. It allows the writer to evaluate the literary, philosophical, or
political view of the material.

A Critique on the Film “Contagion”

By Roger Ebert

A black screen. The sound of a harsh cough. "Contagion" is a realistic, unsensational

film about a global epidemic. It is being marketed as a thriller, a frightening speculation about
how a new airborne virus could enter the human species and spread relentlessly in very little
time.

This scenario is already familiar to us through the apparently annual outbreaks of

influenza. Not many of them cause as much alarm as swine flu did. The news chronology is
always the same: alarmist maps, global roundups, the struggle to produce a vaccine at the
Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the manufacture and distribution of supplies of this year's
"flu shot".

The virus in "Contagion" is a baffling one, defying isolation and rejecting cure. This film
by Steven Soderbergh is skillful at telling the story through the lives of several key characters
and the casual interactions of many others. It makes it clear that people do not "give" one
another a virus; a virus is a life form evolved to seek out new hosts—as it must to survive,
because its carriers die, and it must always stay one jump ahead of death. In a sense, it is an
alien species, and this is a movie about an invasion from inner space.

The cough we hear at the outset is from Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), a Minneapolis
woman traveling home from Hong Kong. Soon her son dies. She follows. Her husband, Mitch
(Matt Damon), apparently immune, is incredulous that death could so suddenly devastate his
family. An investigation uncovers a secret visit that Beth made during a stopover in Chicago—
but no, she did not contract the virus through sexual contact, the way AIDS seemed to spread.

At the very end of the film, Soderbergh adds a brief scenario explaining where the virus
may have come from in the first place, and how very few degrees of separation there were
between its origin and a woman from Minneapolis. Whether this could happen in the way

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Soderbergh illustrates is beside the point; all viruses originate somewhere, and in an age of air
travel, they can reach a new continent in a day.

The movie follows the protocols of techno-thrillers, with subtitles keeping count: Day 1,
Day 3, Minneapolis, Geneva … We meet such key players as Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence
Fishburne) of the CDC in Atlanta; Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) of the Epidemic Intelligence
Service, who tries to track the spread with on-the-spot visits; Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion
Cotillard), an investigator from the World Health Organization in Geneva. They have worked
together before, are skilled, operate urgently. And in a laboratory, there is Dr. Ally Hextall
(Jennifer Ehle), trying to perfect a vaccine and impatient with the time being lost before she can
test it on humans.

It might have been useful if Soderbergh had explained viruses more clearly as a life form
that is not hostile to us, but concerned with other life forms only as its means of survival.
Richard Dawkins outlined this process in his remorseless. The Selfish Gene: from the viewpoint
of a gene, bodies are merely steppingstones on their journey through time. Still, "Contagion"
deserves praise for taking the scientific method seriously when so much hogwash is floated
about regarding vaccines.

One aspect of the film is befuddling. Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) is a popular blogger
with conspiracy theories about the government's ties with drug companies. His concerns are
ominous but unfocused. Does he think drug companies encourage viruses? The blogger subplot
does not interact clearly with the main story lines and functions mostly as an alarming but vague
distraction.

Yes, we must often wash our hands. Yes, "hand sanitizers" are all over the place these
days. Yes, shaking hands with strangers can be annoying—although they are no more likely to
carry viruses than we are. Yes, there is not much we can do. You might be surprised by how
many hospital patients die because of viruses they did not walk in with.
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/contagion-2011

B. Let us unlock! Identify the meaning of the underlined word in each sentence
through context clues. Write the letter of the correct answer.

1. The contagion spread around Metro Manila.

a. virus c. catastrophe
b. antidote d. pandemic
2. He walked through the halls quickly, the emerging thoughts in his head baffling him.
a. easing c. cultivating
b. confusing d. infecting
3. He was at first incredulous, when he learned the truth.
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 a. incredible c. suspicious
b. plausible d. conspicuous
4. His plan is vague, that no one knows what to do.
a. clear c. uncertain
b. precise d. unidentified
5. The statements he said in the court befuddled the judge.
a. disoriented c. clearheaded
b. disgusted d. bewildered

C. Answer the following questions below.

1. What is the purpose of the writer?

a. To argue c. To critic
b. To persuade d. To narrate
2. The first paragraph is developed through __________.
a. narrative c. expository
b. descriptive d. analysis
3.-5. Enumerate parts of the movie that are associated with our present situation.
a. _________________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________________________
c. _________________________________________________________
6. What is the theme of the movie?
7. What part of the movie do you like most? Why?

ACTIVITY 2. My Understanding

Watch/recall your favorite movie, then write a simple critique paragraph with 6-8 sentences,
following the guide questions below.

A Short Critique on _____________________

(Title of the Movie)

What genre is it? Adventure?

1. Setting and Situation of story Fantasy? Science?

What is the writer’s/ director‘s

2. Writer/Director’s purpose purpose in writing the story? Was
he/she able to pull it off?

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What part of the movie you enjoy
most? Why?
 3. Your comments

4. Literary device used Figures of speech used in the story

and their meaning/purpose.

Do the literary techniques made

5. Literary techniques
the story more interesting? What is
the weakness of the plot? Does it
meet your expectations?

How did the ending affect you?

6. Ending of the story Did it resolve the conflict and bring
closure to the crisis of the
and its theme characters?

Activity 3. My Task
Identifying Accuracy and Effectiveness. Identify whether the following statements from the
movie “Contagion” are accurate or effective. Shade the thumbs-up image if the statement is
accurate/ effective. Explain why you think so. Shade the thumbs-down image if it is the other
way around.

STATEMENTS EVALUATION EXPLANATION

EFFECTIVITY

“Yes, shaking hands with

strangers can be annoying—
although they are no more
likely to carry viruses than
we are.”

“In order to get scared, all

you have to do is to come in
contact with a rumor, a
television, or the internet.”

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“We just need to make sure
that nobody knows until
everybody knows.”

ACCURACY

“Godzilla, King Kong,

Frankenstein all in one.”

“Blogging is not writing, it’s

graffiti with punctuation.”

“It’s figuring us out faster

than we’re figuring it out.”

Remember

Contagion has
movie’s realism is most impactful in the way it shows the perseverance of the human spirit in the
face of a powerful, albeit microscopic, adversary. The movie teaches you to be very cautious in
using media platforms. It also opens your eyes and makes you ponder when the unbelievable

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happens and it helps you internalize what you would do if you were part of the movie. Lastly,
you must remember that fear and paranoia spread faster than any disease. Keep safe and be
obedient all the time.

Check Your Understanding

Share your opinion about the following issues in the country.

1. Education through online learning
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. ABS-CBN Shutdown: a press freedom issue
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. The DOH has its best decisions in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

POST-TEST

Read the lyrics of the song below and answer the questions that follow.

PARAISO
by Smokey Mountain

Return to a land called paraiso I never fight to take someone

A place where a dying river ends Else's coins and live with fear
No birds there fly over paraiso Like the rest of the boys
No space allows them to endure
Paraiso, help me make a stand
The smoke that screens the air Paraiso, take me by the hand
The grass that's never there Paraiso, make the world understand
And if I could see a single bird, what a joy
That if I could see a single bird, what a joy
I try to write some words and create This tired and hungry land could expect
A simple song to be heard Some truth and hope and respect
By the rest of the world From the rest of the world

I live in this land called paraiso And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy
In a house made of cardboard floors and I never fight to take someone
walls Else's coins and live with fear
I learned to be free in paraiso Like the rest of the boys
Free to claim anything I see
Paraiso, help me make a stand
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Matching rags for my clothes Paraiso, take me by the hand
Plastic bags for the cold Paraiso, make the world understand
And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy
*Visit: https://youtu.be/6ttsyqaeTFA for the
audio of the song.
1. What is the song about?
a. degrading environment c. reminiscing childhood
b. growing children d. renewal of nature

2. What does paragraph 2, line 1 refer to?

a. garbage c. humans
b. pollution d. nature

3. What figurative language is used in the statement: “Paraiso makes the world understand”?
a. simile c. metaphor
b. irony d. personification

4. Is the song successful in bringing its message to you? Why did you say so?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.

5. In your own simple way, how can you take good care of the environment?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.

Reflection

Answer the following questions. Write your answers on the stair steps.

Go! HOW WILL I ILLUSTRATE

IT? Draw your ideal Philippine
environment in the space
provided below.

PLAN: HOW DO I GET THERE? What

would be your share in resolving the
problem you encounter within the lesson?

EXPLORE: WHAT DO I WANT? Which

learning
10 will you share to your friends?
 KNOW: WHO AM I? Which part of the lesson interests you most?

References:
Celebrating Diversity Through World Literature, English Learner’s Material for Grade 10,
DepEd: Rex Bookstore, 2015.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598778/
https://youtu.be/6ttsyqaeTFA

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