example of critique of the homily essay

The Art of Homily and the Conservative Critique

While ushering their congregations through a period of personal reflection and preparation, clergy have in the occasion of the sermon the opportunity to aid in the rediscovery of the church’s language, both as God’s medium of judgment and as his enduring, self-revelatory vehicle to the world…

Assumptions

To begin, as the astute reader has likely detected, ‘sermon’ and ‘homily’ are herein interchangeable. There admittedly exists between the two an argued doctrinal difference, but for the purpose of this presentation no distinction is made. Instead it is assumed that surrounding any event of sacred communication, there looms the damage of a poor philosophy of rhetoric.

Assumed also is that through its language a culture discriminates between artifacts by their value relations to a core ideal of excellence. Over time these discriminations are made implicit, become intrinsically bound to self-ordered behavior, and are a given for one’s inclusion. This quiet truth, once obvious, requires that the custodians of a culture properly exercise the preference of the ideal, either in so grand a manner as to publish edicts of the normative or so subtly as to guard one’s own speech against the pressures and temptations of extraneous trend.

Sentimentality

“Those who based their lives on the unintelligence of sentimentality fight to save themselves with the unintelligence of brutality.” – Richard Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences

Without a conviction for liturgy, the sermon writer looks into a wilderness of preparation, which impresses upon the mind either an imprudent forage for novelty or a retreat to unchecked feeling. The former of the two will be soon discussed. Regarding the latter, the crutch of experience at present is too readily leaned upon where the theology of Scripture’s authority is poor, making the biblical account something like a static screen upon which the reel of our solipsism is projected. Exciting the emotion through language is a consequence of one’s appraisal, and so the role of a disciplined rhetoric in the church is to deliberate between what is good, right, and proper and what is none of those things, in order to affect the object of one’s moral inspiration toward the ought.

As for testimony, while there is space reserved for personal witness within the Western worship framework, its language must not assume that God is the Divine Attendant to very human concerns. It must be stressed instead that our lives as Christians are but transitory entries and exits within the epic of God that is world history, and that the grafting of one into the story is a fortunate aside to the cosmic. The necessary hierarchy of realities is repackaged peer-to-peer, and so the urgency of Kingdom is by and large lost on Christianity in America as it advertises unconditional relationship without an expectation for improvement.

“We must remember that in saying anything about types of consciousness different from our own, we are making statements about worlds which are different from ours, though continuous. Truth on our level is a different thing from truth for the jellyfish, and there must certainly be analogies for truth and error in jellyfish life.” –T.S. Eliot, Knowledge and Experience in the Philosophy of F. H. Bradley

Proclamation is the sole medium of the stubborn: by the faithful and for the faithful. If what inspires a sermon is external inquiry into the divine reality, then the sermon writer has at best forgotten his or her audience and at worst substituted a necessarily inscrutable God with the graven sum of our deductions. No matter how clever, if prepared for the context of an American Sunday morning, an apology convinces only its writer. If prepared as a proclamation event, however, the sermon’s power is borne either out of absolute conviction or of a dogged commitment to great guesses. Its contrast is the tact of apologetics, which in its now commercial form makes Christians appear less willing to take criticism than the martyrs were to take crosses.

Also with respect to the new apologetics craze, there is in addition a forfeiture of identity by means of blunting the controversy of canon through appeals to its essence. By retrograding an artificial bifurcation between the ethical and the cultural, the private and the public, the popularity of faith through another’s definition of reason has made way for one’s participation in the church polity without the consequence of believing the reality of the absurd. The preservation and survival of church culture is not dependent upon the inculcation of convincing or “relevant” speech, but instead of native speech. That is, of speech that is a given, its fluency bound up with the living memory of the Scripture’s inter-contextual conversations.

“A royal road to a reputation for originality is to impugn the verdicts of the past—to whitewash what is traditionally black or blackwash what is traditionally white.” –Irving Babbitt, Literature and the American College

With canon at her rhetorical center, the church has a lexicon by which Christians past speak to the lives of Christians present. The result is timeless community. Without recognizing the authority of canon over her conversations, the Christian adopts too readily a vocabulary with implicit disapproval of tradition where it tyrannizes over the creative impulse. Tradition, Jaroslav Pelikan writes,“is the living faith of the dead.” It is how the church maintains her form, and its aesthetic is a profound remembering of who she is.

The presence of the church is a challenge to the predominant worldview which looks upon the monuments of culture as interruptions to a collectivized schema and which permits holy texts only as lessons for adjusted lives. Within the bounds of crass utility the church’s definitions are circumscribed, and it is for a frivolous “relevance” that the miraculous is made useful for dismissive ends. Christians who intend for themselves a “modern” or any time-bound self-designation risk to abandon the telos of historical witness for the hypocrisy of faith assimilated to the conditions of society’s warm regard.

End Remarks

If sermons are not created to inspire superior lives of superior faith, the sermon writer has tossed a timeless pearl before the pigs of poor expectation. Amidst the deluge of cheap opinion in its various forms, the exercise of a disciplined homiletic anchors the conservative imagination to its ideal. To be sure, the new age of protest stands opposed not to strong convictions, but to unacceptable convictions, of which appeals to the re-ordering of the soul have become primary. The pulpit gives meaning to fact, and its power is kept by refusing a rhetoric forced upon it by its antagonists. While ushering their congregations through a period of personal reflection and preparation, clergy have in the occasion of the sermon the opportunity to aid in the rediscovery of the church’s language, both as God’s medium of judgment and as his enduring, self-revelatory vehicle to the world.

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Critique of the New Homiletic

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The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching

Chapter 125

Examining the link between the New Homiletic and the New Hermeneutic

The new homiletic is new in that it turns away from traditional preaching and the kerygmatic preaching of Karl Barth. The first concentrated on the transmission of an idea, while the second focused on mediation.1

The new homiletic has its roots in the hermeneutical work of Gerhard Ebeling and Ernst Fuchs. For them, the alleged separation between the theology of the pulpit and the people in the pews was a threat to preaching. Both writers insisted on practical relevance in today's world.2 How does language, particularly the language of the Bible, hit home to the modern listener? How may its words reach through the preacher's own understanding so that when they are repeated they will be the listener's words? How may the Word of God become a living word which is heard anew?3

The emphasis on practical application as opposed to a biblical proposition has connection with the work of Rudolf Bultmann, who asserted that the risen Christ comes to listeners in the words of preaching and calls men and women to faith. The desire was for the gospel to speak anew to the listener, to speak a new world into existence. Along with philosopher Martin Heidegger, Bultmann held that language itself is an interpretation and therefore cannot be understood in reference to ancient texts as somehow embodying objective truth. Understanding is existential, involving a "hermeneutical circle" in which the self and the text come together in daily life.4 This means that the preacher does not simply restate the text but says it in a new way for the new situation because the language of the text can at times obscure the meaning of the text. One need not paraphrase the text into the present, but one must interpret the text and the present situation and then attempt to merge these two "horizons" in what Fuchs called a language-event.5 Ebling used the term word-event.6

Both Fuchs and Ebeling had been pastors for several years where relevance and effectiveness in preaching was tested. Fuch's central question was "What do we have to do at our desks, if we want later to set the text in front of us in the pulpit?" Therefore, the key question in the new hermeneutic was, "How does the New Testament speak to us anew?"7

The connection between the new hermeneutic and the New Homiletic cannot be overstated. Ebeling and Fuchs gained inspiration from Rudolf Bultmann's perspective that people today can understand the Bible as a word addressed to them . They were also influenced by the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher and German philosopher Wilhem Dilthey, father of modern hermeneutics. Schleiermacher strove to interpret the Bible and Plato in terms that would be meaningful to modern people.8 As philosopher Heinz Kimmerle observes: "The work of Schleiermacher constitutes a turning in the history of hermeneutics. Till then hermeneutics was supposed to support, secure, and clarify an already classical understanding" [of the Bible as theological hermeneutics; of classical antiquity as philological hermeneutics.] In the thinking of Schleiermacher, hermeneutics achieves the qualitatively different function of first of all making understanding possible , and deliberately initiating understanding in each individual case."9

The new hermeneutic is further expressed in the way reality and language are understood.10 The impact upon homiletics is profound. The New Homiletic introduces a new way of listening to the Bible, a new way of understanding reality and the expression of this new reality in practical situations, and it suggests a new way of understanding preaching. The central concern is not what a sermon is , but what a sermon does .11 There is a shift from traditional homiletics based on determining the original meaning of the text, to the sermon as a speech-event that discloses its meaning through its relationship to its context, to the faith, and to the listener and community. The sermon is seen as an event or experience.

As the new hermeneutic advocates, the New Homiletic has given much attention to the parables. Ebeling was interested in the person of Christ and observed Jesus' ability to arouse in his followers the certainty to meet all of life's situations.

David James Randolph coined the term New Homiletic and formalized the teachings of Ebeling and Fuchs in his 1969 landmark book The Renewal of Preaching .12 He defines the New Homiletic as follows: "Preaching is the event in which the biblical text is interpreted in order that its meaning will come to expression in the concrete situation of the hearers."13 Randolph further remarks:

The sermon is becoming understood as event , and event means encounter, engagement, and dialogue: the end of "monologue" in the pulpit. Preaching as a one-man affair is a thing of the past, to be replaced by that kind of participatory experience in which those present know themselves involved, even though only one man may be vocalizing at the time. The sermon is being understood as event, and the consequences of this are beginning to be understood in a new way.14

Some of the key advocates of the New Homiletic—with similarities and differences—include Fred Craddock, David Buttrick, Eugene Lowry, Charles Rice, Edmund Steimle, Morris Niedenthal, Richard Jensen, Lucy Rose, Thomas Troeger, and Henry Mitchell. A few are highlighted below.

Following Randolph was Fred Craddock, whose 1971 book As One Without Authority further expanded the possibilities of the New Homiletic. Craddock's background in New Testament was influenced by Bultmann.15 On a sabbatical at Tubingen he studied under Ebeling. Later he was put onto the writings of Soren Kierkegaard.16

Like Ebeling and Fuchs, Craddock's concern was "not of understanding language but understanding through language."17 He further states: "In this encounter with the text, the Word of God is not simply the content of the tradition, nor an application of that content to present issues, but rather the Word of God is the address of God to the hearer who sits before the text open to its becoming the Word of God. Most importantly, God's Word is God's Word to the reader/listener, not a word about God gleaned from the documents."18 Preaching is an experienced event.

For Craddock, the preacher and the listeners are co-creators of the sermonic experience. More important than imparting knowledge, the sermon seeks to affect an experience by cultivating the surprise of the gospel through the preacher's ability to embed the experience in the familiar world of the congregation. Craddock's shadow in the field of homiletics runs long. His emphasis on induction, plot, and movement in the sermon has inspired preachers in their conception and practice of sermon structure.

David Buttrick advocates the phenomenological approach.19 Buttrick's concern is what happens when language in a sermon interacts with the consciousness of listeners. Buttrick asserts, "Homiletics can emerge from the objective/subjective split in which it has been trapped—either objectively rational or subjectively romantic—by moving toward the notion of consciousness where objective and subjective meet."20 His sermon style consists of a sequence of five or six plotted ideational units culminating in a conclusion. This sequencing is called movement.

Like other New Homiletics advocates who embrace movement, Eugene Lowry emphasizes what he calls "the homiletical plot."21 Lowry also views the sermon as an experience. He comments, "As evocative event, the sermon's sequence follows the logic of listening, not just the consistency of conceptual categories."22 His intention is the ordering of experience within a narrative plot.

These representative examples of the New Homiletic strategically do not announce a conclusion. Instead, there is an intentional delay of the preacher's meaning. As Randolph underscored, "Preaching is understood not as the packaging of a product but as the evocation of an event."23 These preachers rely on plot, induction, experience, imagination, performative language, metaphor, story, narrative—but evocation of an event or encounter is key.

The influence of the New Homiletic in later twentieth century and early twenty-first century preaching is widespread. Although there are different expressions of the New Homiletic, the common feature is sermon as experience.

Presuppositions of the New Homiletic

1. the interpreter and the text.

The interpreter realizes that he or she comes to the text with presuppositions. The text is not considered to be the object with the interpreter as the subject. Instead, the interpreter is himself the object of interpretation. The text then is spoken into and creates the community of faith. The center of authority does not lie in the text but with the listener or listeners in the context of community. Authority, then, is not located in a particular place but rather in the relationship between the preacher, the text, and the congregation.

Some advocates of the New Homiletic appear to dispense altogether with the use of the biblical text: "We must not say that preaching from Scripture is requisite for sermons to be the Word of God."24 Certainly there are varying views of authority within the New Homiletic. This perspective leads to the second presupposition.

2. The superiority of the self

The emphasis on application has caused a shift from the objective use of the Bible to the subjective. Craddock argues, "It is, therefore, pointless to speak of the gospel as Truth in and of itself; the gospel is Truth for us ."25 As one observer astutely wrote: "The belief that preaching, created by the living Word of Scripture, may itself under God's sovereign grace become God's Word can only be sustained by an existential impression and response which is auto-pistic or self-validating."26 In light of the first two points, the final presupposition is as follows.

3. The authority of experience

Whereas in classical homiletics the preacher brought the meaning and application of the text to the congregation, in the New Homiletic the listeners and preacher together create the experience of meaning. One advocate of the New Homiletic boldly states:

One of the reasons we must alert our eyes to keener sight and feel the bodily weight of truth is that if we do not ground our sermons in the actuality of experience, the authority of what we say will be suspect. Appeals to the Bible or tradition do not carry sufficient weight in themselves.27

Yet, there are those in the movement who are not afraid to critique it. One New Homiletician reflects on the new hermeneutic and observes, "The movement came and went with startling dispatch. Probably the fatal flaw was a lurking assumption—namely, that the gospel addresses human beings in their existential self-awareness."28 Another comments: "The real question comes: Is Word-event really happening? What appeared to be a most promising homiletical theory has not produced, in spite of all the scholarly care that has gone into its formulation, a significant new movement in preaching."29

The emphasis on experience certainly raises questions about the movement's dependence upon the modern liberal paradigm and presuppositions.

What evangelical preachers can gain from the New Homiletic

1. we benefit from an emphasis on language and its evocative nature.

The interest in language prominently featured in the New Homiletic gives rise to the limitations of literary criticism. If one embraces literary criticism's emphasis on the multivalence of texts, preachers may be uncertain about controls in interpretation while one attempts to keep interpretation in line with the text itself. In addition, the new hermeneutic manifests a one-sided view of the nature of language and places emphasis on language that is imperatival, conative, and directive as opposed to the language of description or information.

Evangelicals can benefit from this shift concerning the use of language in the sermon—the language of the biblical text and the language used while preaching the sermon. Being aware of the nature of the language of the text and its mood as reflected in the sermon will enhance one's preaching.

However, the preacher must be aware that behind the emphasis on language in preaching advocated by the New Homiletic is a presupposition about the nature of Scripture. No longer is the Bible considered to be the objective authority. Instead, inspiration is shifted to the actual preaching/hearing of the spoken word. Whereas evangelicals regard the Bible as the revelation from God, the God-inspired Book, advocates of the New Homiletic emphasize the preached word as event/experience with the listener encountering God in the spoken word. This understanding raises serious questions about the nature of inspiration and biblical revelation. In addition, this perspective limits sermonic language as primarily a symbolic expression of experience.

2. We benefit from the conception that a sermon is a movement, a plot, or "plotted."

This way of looking at sermon design allows the preacher flexibility and variety that otherwise might not be considered when constructing a sermon. Related to movement is induction. Induction is arguably the way in which the parables and some sermons chronicled in the New Testament were preached. Keeping inductive sermon structure in mind—especially when the passage selected is inductive—will keep the preacher from the rut of habitually preaching deductively shaped sermons. This insight from the New Homiletic gives preachers the opportunity to explore different sermon shapes that may enhance interest.

Much has been made in the New Homiletic about the narrative or storied nature of the gospel. The difficulty here is that advocates tend to underplay the non-narrative passages of Scripture "to narrow the communicational range of preaching to a single method." The narrative form may not be the best way to preach a given text.

3. We benefit from a concern for how the listener hears a sermon

The experience of the listener is crucial to preaching. The New Homiletic has made preachers aware of the importance of connecting with one's listeners and being aware of the importance of application.

Like the New Homiletic's use of language and the misplaced emphasis on inspiration, however, an undue concern for the listener can cause imbalance and a misdirected focus for the preacher.

4. We benefit from giving attention to the affective experience of the audience

Evangelicals would not disagree that the listener experiences a sermon. The New Homiletic contends that the weight of preaching rests upon the actual, affective experience of the listener. Although the experiential encounter is important, especially since the listener is called upon for a response, the preaching does not become any more or less authoritative.

In addition to the issue of inspiration in the New Homiletic, there are questions about the role and work of the Holy Spirit. Little is mentioned in New Homiletics literature about the Holy Spirit in preaching. The responsibility seems to rest on the preacher to replicate the text or even "regenerate the impact" of a biblical text so it actually becomes the Word of God once again in the new situation.

Of equal concern is the New Homiletic's emphasis on what the sermon may do in the experience of the listening congregation. Instead of the sermon conveying the content of the text, doctrine, or biblical teaching, the emphasis is on experience. For the New Homiletician, what is important is not what a sermon is but what it does.

What we see is a shift away from the truth of the biblical text to the experience of the text—possibly (most likely?) away from the intended idea. The responsibility of the preacher has moved from teacher of truth to director of happenings. One advocate of the New Homiletic has warned, "There is a deep theological danger in measuring preaching by its capacity to generate religious experience."

The difficulty here for evangelicals is the focus of the sermon becomes human experience rather than the God of the authoritative biblical text and what the text teaches. In addition, there is an overconfidence in homiletical method to bring about transforming experiential events, rather than a confidence in the power of Scriptural truth applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit. The new hermeneutic in the New Homiletic has essentially lost biblical meaning because of the overemphasis on the role of the hearer.

Through a complicated theory of language, the New Homiletic has shifted the focus of homiletics from the traditional understanding of the preacher preaching from the authoritative Bible, to the experiential event of hearing the text in the life of the listener. There is much to appreciate from the methodologies and concerns expressed in the New Homiletic. However, preachers should not naively or uncritically accept the New Homiletic—or its practices—at face value.Â

Bibliography

1. Eugene L. Lowry, The Sermon: Dancing the Edge of Mystery (Nashville: Abingdon, 1997), 31.

2. Gehard Ebeling, Theology and Proclamation: A Discussion with Rudolf Bultmann (London: Collins, 1966), 15.

3.Â Anthony C. Thiselton, "The New Hermeneutic," in A Guide to Contemporary Hermeneutics: Major Trends in Biblical Interpretation , ed., Donald K. McKim (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 78.

4. Ibid., 90.

5. Ernst Fuchs, Studies of the Historical Jesus (London: SCM, 1964), 196.

6. Gehard Ebeling, Theology and Proclamation: A Discussion with Rudolf Bultmann (London: Collins, 1966), 28-29.

7. Fuchs, 8;196-206.

8. David James Randolph, The Renewal of Preaching (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 17.

9.Â Thiselton, 82.

10. Gehard Ebeling, The Problem of Historicity (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1967), 15.

11. Randolph, 19.

13. Ibid., 1.

14. Ibid., 14.

15. Fred B. Craddock, As One Without Authority (Nashville: Abingdon, 1979), 42.

16. Fred B. Craddock, "Inductive Preaching, a paper presented by Fred B. Craddock for the Societas Homiletica meeting at Stetson University, August 20-23, 1990," 6-14.

17.Â Craddock, As One Without Authority , 42.

18. Ibid., 114.Â

19. David Buttrick, Homiletic: Moves and Structures (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987).

20. David Buttrick, "On Doing Homiletics Today," in Intersections: Post-Critical Studies in Preaching , ed. Richard L. Eslinger (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994): 88-104.

21. Eugene L. Lowry, The Homiletical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form (Atlanta: John Knox, 1980).

22. Eugene L. Lowry, The Sermon: Dancing the Edge of Mystery (Nashville: Abingdon, 1997), 59.

23.Â Randolph, 19.

24.Â Buttrick, Homiletic , 458.

25.Â Craddock, As One Without Authority , 71.

26. Yandall Woodfin, "The Theology of Preaching: A Search for the Authentic," Scottish Journal of Theology 23 (1970): 411.

27. Thomas H. Troeger, Imagining a Sermon (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990), 122.

28.Â Buttrick, "On Doing Homiletics Today," 101.

29. John E. Skoglund, "Towards a New Homiletic," Princeton Seminary Bulletin 60 (Fall 1967): 57.

Shepherding the Shepherd Vol. 1

In Case You Missed It: The Homily in the Context of Evangelii Gaudium

by Fr. Edward Foley

Introduction

Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) has been widely discussed, analyzed, and alternately embraced or refuted since it first appeared in November of 2013. Even the secular press has given serious attention to this extensive and wide ranging exhortation, especially because of its blunt attention to hot button monetary issues such as trick-down economic theories and the dark side of globalization. Some have employed the document to denounce the Pope as a deluded Marxist (thank you, Rush Limbaugh),[i] others have more graciously considered him a holy simpleton whose dystopian view of the world is out of touch with reality,[ii] while the so called “left” has applauded his unvarnished Vatican II vision of the Church in the world.

The specific request for this contribution to the Pray Tell blog is to examine what Francis says about liturgical preaching in Evangelii Gaudium (hereafter EG ) . The specificity of that invitation could ostensibly absolve us from wandering into issues of social justice, confronting the challenges of contemporary cultures, or pursuing the political. The explicit material on the homily is well circumscribed in EG (nos. 135-144) with another fifteen sections (nos. 145-150) on homiletic preparation. Those twenty-five sections have a wealth of material on liturgical preaching, and could easily generate the prescribed word-count for fulfilling this writing assignment.

Limiting any discussion of the homily to a few of the 288 sections of this exhortation, however, seems both problematic and — even more — contradictory. Divorcing the explicitly homiletic sections of EG from the surrounding material on being a missional church, the crisis of communal commitment, and the social dimensions of evangelization metaphorically cuts the legs out from underneath the homiletic exercise and reduces it to some hermetically sealed ritual enterprise: one too often “obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a multitude of doctrines” ( EG, no. 35). Furthermore, the pope is insistent that evangelization is a contextual event.[iii] Placing his discussion of the homily at the geographic heart of EG not only suggests that the homily is a most honored form of evangelization, but one that must be in dialogue with the wider evangelizing context. For us to ignore that broader context is tantamount to suggesting that homilists can ignore the broader context of their own preaching — something that unfortunately happens much too often.

Taking the rich framework of EG seriously in pondering the homiletic enterprise does not mean we can explore all of it in the depth that it deserves. That will take years. At the same time, it seems possible and more manageable to consider significant threads or flows within the document that position us to be attentive to its key trajectories and yet say something concise about homilizing that respects the spirit of EG . To that end we will begin by considering one key theological current in the exhortation, i.e., its quite positive theological anthropology. Next we will consider the strong ethical perspective of the document and the importance of the “virtues” of mercy and joy, so prominent in this writing. In a penultimate move, we will clarify the “audiences” of evangelization according to Pope Francis. Throughout this essay we will attempt to shape the analysis so that the significance of these elements for preaching and homilizing become clear. In a final brief section, we will attempt to draw some of these strands together to provide broader implications for the homiletic enterprise according to EG

Theological Anthropology

Reminiscent of a theologian such as Karl Rahner (d. 1984), Francis seems to embrace a quite positive theological anthropology as a primary dialogue partner in this exhortation. Even early works of Rahner have him asserting that one can only do theology by engaging in anthropology.[iv] In a parallel way, EG consistently emphasizes the nature, significance and even primacy of humanity (no. 55) for evangelization. While much of the reflection on the human condition here has strong ethical overtones — something we will consider more specifically below — Francis’ consideration of humanity reveals more than just a concern about ethics. Rather it stresses that the evangelizer, and by extension the homilist, must understand and even embrace the gift of humanity if they are to be effective in this mission. This requires a theology that is in dialogue with human experience (no. 133).

One could construe from this exhortation that humanity is the very beginning point for evangelization, and thus for preaching as well. In some ways, I find this beginning point consonant with that of another Holiness: the Dalai Lama. In a recent publication about shaping a world ethic, the Dalai Lama believes that any global ethic must forgo religion as a starting point and, instead, focus on our common humanity: for that is one of the very few things the six billion plus inhabitants of this planet have in common.[v] In a similar vein, speaking of interreligious dialogue, Francis notes that such a dialogue is first of all “a conversation about human existence” (no. 250). Furthermore, in treating the topic of “informal preaching,” the Pope notes that the first step in that venture is personal dialogue. This means listening to the joys, hopes, concerns and needs of the others.[vi] “Only afterward is it possible to bring up God’s word” (no. 128). When considering the homily itself, it is important for the preacher not only to contemplate the word but also “contemplate his people” (no 154). This requires keeping “an ear to the people” and developing the ability to link the “message of a biblical text to a human situation, to an experience which cries out for the light of God’s word” (no. 154). Preacher’s need to adapt their language to that of the people and even share in their lives (no. 158) if the preaching and evangelizing are to be effective and authentic. Moreover, the persistent and pervasive use of “heart” language — which in some form or another appears over 100 times in this document — suggest that the anthropological turn is a fundamental commitment in this evangelizing mission to that most human of sensitivities: empathy, which an honored colleague once defined as “my heart in your chest!”

The reason for this attentive and even reverent view of humanity is because each human being is “God’s handiwork, his creation. God created each person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God’s Glory” (no. 274). The “stranger” or “other” is an encounter with “sacred ground” (no 169). Every human being — each of whom Francis calls our brothers and sisters — are the very “prolongation of the incarnation for each of us” (no. 179). Thus, Francis concludes that “every person is immensely holy and deserves our love” (no 274).

Unlike Rahner’s theological anthropology, however, which was often critiqued as being somewhat individualistic,[vii] the theological anthropology underlying EG should be considered more socio-centric than ego-centric. While there is great attention to the value of the individual in this document, there is — even more — a broad and overriding concern for communities. Such is especially obvious in the titles for chapters two and four, concerning “the crisis of communal commitment” and “the social dimension of evangelization” respectively. More specifically, Francis argues that “at the very heart of the Gospel is life in community and engagement with others” (no. 177). This communal frame provides the very context for preaching, as the homily itself is a dialogue between God and “his people” (no. 137). Thus the homilist needs to know “the heart of his community” (no. 137) and not simply that of some individuals in that community. Evangelization and that specific form of evangelization we call the homily are fundamentally ecclesial acts, and the sure sign of the “authenticity” of the homiletic or any other “charism is its ecclesial character” (no. 130).

The Ethical Turn

As I have publicly acknowledged on more than one occasion,[viii] as a longtime student of liturgy who accumulated well over 70 graduate credit hours in various aspects of the field, I only remember one course — a reconciliation course taught by Nathan Mitchell — in which ethics was a reoccurring theme. While pioneers of the 20 th century liturgical movement in the U.S. such as Virgil Michel OSB were promoting the connection between liturgy and social justice since the 1930’s, this contribution was clearly (in the language of Keith Pecklers) an “unread vision” that virtually never surfaced in my almost two decades of formal liturgical education.[ix] Even though the literature on the connection between liturgy and ethics is growing (both among liturgists and ethicists), ethics is yet a topic that is seldom broached in the formal teaching of liturgics or preaching in seminaries and Roman Catholic graduate programs across the U.S.

Thus, it is both refreshing and inspiring to find Francis’ treatment of preaching in general — and the liturgical act of the homily in particular — embedded in a document with such a compelling ethical vision. Wed to the vision of theological anthropology we noted above, the foundation for the ethics in EG is the “infinite dignity” (no. 178) that God has bestowed upon all women and men, created in the very image of God. That dignity is rooted in the “boundless and unfailing love” (no. 3) that God lavishes upon every human being. This gift of “love” — a word that in various forms appears over 150 times in this document — is the content and practice of the ethical vision put forward in EG. It is not simply respect or honor, tolerance or patience that we are to practice in the evangelizing mission. Rather, it is to be “works of love directed to one’s neighbours” which Francis considers “the most perfect external manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit” (no. 37).[x]

This love of neighbour has a decidedly liberative and justice trajectory in EG , spurred on by a “zeal for living the Gospel of fraternity and justice!” (no. 179). Especially pointed are the concerns expressed for the “vulnerable” (no. 209), the “homeless, addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly …. [and] migrants” (no. 210), “women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence” (no 212) and the “Unborn” (no. 213). While there is a specific and appropriate lament “at the lot of those who are victims of various kinds of human trafficking” (no. 211), there is an even broader and overarching concern about human beings who “are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded” (no. 53).

While few of these ethical reflections make explicit connections to the homiletic enterprise, the implications are legion. We will further echo some of these in the final section of this essay, yet one seems particularly important to note here, i.e., the homily as a potentially oppressive, even abuse act. As emerging ritual theories have stressed, especially the work of Catherine Bell, ritual by its very nature is an exercise of power.[xi] Some preachers wield that power with gentleness and respect, but others do not. Francis’ comment that the “confessional must not be a torture chamber” (no. 44) has homiletic analogues. Preaching in the vision of EG is not to be a “burden” on the people of God, but an encounter with beauty: “the church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the Liturgy” (no 24). “In the homily, truth goes hand in hand with beauty and goodness” (no. 142).

The beauty that Francis espouses is well served by his heartfelt emphasis on mercy throughout this exhortation. The language of mercy appears dozens of times in EG, initially as an approach to those who have “fallen away” from the community of faith (no. 24)but more compellingly as the “greatest of all the virtues” (no. 37) for the Christian life, and thus critical for the mission we call evangelization. It is a virtue that is overlooked “when we speak more about law than about grace, more about the Church than about Christ, more about the Pope than about God’s word” (no. 38). Just as the confessional is to be “an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best” (no. 44), one could imagine the pulpit as a kind of “mercy seat,”[xii] where we encounter God’s own Spirit, “transforming us and enabling us to respond to his love by our lives” (no. 112).

It is not often that one reads a papal document such as EG that is brimming with such a spirit of delight, even exuberance. On the other hand, what else might you expect of such an exhortation so clearly focused on Gaudium! Not only does the language of “joy” permeate this document — the word in various forms appearing over 100 times through the exhortation — but what could be considered a spirituality of Christian gladness is foundational for this evangelizing vision. The Church has traditionally understood joy to be one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, a perfection “that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.”[xiii] Francis seems to further suggest that this is a spirit that evangelizers must embrace and nurture.

The source of this joy is the gospel itself (no. 1). It is the promise of salvation, foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures (no. 4), and fulfilled in the redeeming cross of Christ (no. 5). The gift of joy for Christians is rooted in the dynamics of “encounter” — an encounter with the love of God in Jesus Christ (nos. 7-8). This joy is not a gift that is only or essentially imparted through the Church or its liturgy, but is experienced “daily, amid the little things of life” (no. 4). This parallels what Rahner calls the “liturgy of the world,” in which the paschal mystery is experienced in the mysticism of daily living.[xiv] For the evangelizer, nurturing such joyfulness requires a “deuteronomic” memory, a kind of living anamnesis of Christ’s dying and rising, which is the deep well of “grateful remembrance” from which “the joy of evangelizing always rises” (no. 13).

Unfortunately, many today no longer experience “the quiet joy of [God’s] love” (no. 2). This is prone to happen we are caught up in our own interests that can lead into a downward spiral of resentfulness, anger and listlessness (no. 2). Christians are not immune to this spiral, and in vivid language Francis admits that some Christians pursue lives that “seem like Lent without Easter” (no. 6). A lack of joy is also predicated of the Church and its ministers, as implied in Francis’ memorable lines that “an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral” (no. 10), nor contribute to transforming “Christians into mummies in a museum” (no. 83). The reality is that sometimes we do. More explicitly, he notes that pastoral workers are often prone to a kind of “defeatism which turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists [and] ‘sourpusses’” (no. 85). In a memorial passage specifically related to catechesis, the pope notes “Rather than experts in dire predictions, dour judges bent on rooting out every threat and deviation, we should appear as joyful messengers of challenging proposals, guardians of the goodness and beauty which shine forth in a life of fidelity to the Gospel” (no. 167). With particular reference to the homily, Francis notes that it must be positive, offering hope for the future, and cannot leave us “trapped in negativity” (no. 159).

There seems to be an intrinsic relationship between the underlying theological anthropology of this exhortation and its parallel stress on joy. The image of humanity in this text is very much that of a people embrace by Eternal love. Individuals and communities, in turn, are empowered and emboldened by that love and sent in mission to announce it to others. This process is not the imposing of “new obligations” (no. 15), but a liberating gift and an invitation into the “beauty of the gospel” (no. 195), the “beauty of the saving love of God” (no. 36). Evangelizers are graced individuals bearing gifts to people who at their core are not only good but “immensely holy” (no. 274). The evangelizing exchange between evangelizers and hearers is itself to be a thing of beauty, and consequently not only requires joy but itself must be a source of true joy.

Whose listening?

In some ways a papal exhortation such as EG could be considered an “in-house” communiqué, designed to inform and inspire Roman Catholic leadership, particularly those charged with the task of evangelization. To that end, there are multiple passages in this document that are directed toward church leadership. The official title of EG clearly notesthat it is directed to “bishops, clergy, consecrated persons and the lay faithful.” Besides generously quoting from conferences of bishops from around the world,[xv] Francis affirms the leadership role of bishops in the evangelizing mission (e.g., nos. 30 & 31). More broadly, in a rich gesture of collegiality, he notes that it is “not advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the discernment of every issue which arises in their territory” in service of a needed and “sound ‘decentralization’” (no. 16). There is also support of the other ordained ministers, i.e., priests and deacons.

At the same time — especially regarding priests — there is no dearth of critique of ecclesial leadership that too often waits “passively and calmly … in our church buildings,” exercising a “ministry of mere conservation” (no. 15). While not the norm, the Pope also recognizes “the occasionally unwelcoming atmosphere of some of our parishes” (no. 63). In a spirit of “decentralization” the Pope urges evangelizers to “take on the smell of the sheep” (no. 24) and even get “bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets” (no. 49). This centrifugal instinct is matched with a strong vision of collegiality, as Francis readily acknowledges “that many women share pastoral responsibilities with priests” (no. 103); specific to the homiletic act he affirms the value of priests, deacons and the laity working together “to discover resources which can make preaching more attractive” (no. 159). The theological basis of such collaboration, according to Francis, is that the dignity of the ministerial priesthood “derives from baptism, which is accessible to all” (no. 104). Bishops are reminded that “a woman, Mary, is more important than” they are (no. 104), and that ministerial priesthood is not about more dignity or holiness, but “one means employed by Jesus for the service of his people (no. 104).

The implications for preaching in light of these assertions are multiple. One is the metaphorical displacement of the pulpit and homiletic act as an event from on high hovering over the people, and the replanting of that pulpit and the homiletic event in the midst of the assembly. An explicit strategy for this shift is the abandonment by the homilist of “his own language that he thinks everyone naturally understands” and, instead, taking up the language of the people (no. 158). The more daunting political-theological move is recognizing that it is not the preacher but God and the people who are at the heart of the proclamation of the word (no. 137). While important, the preacher is not the “subject” of the preaching but the “mediator” or “intermediary” (no. 143) who serves the dialogue between God and God’s people.

What I have characterized as a “centrifugal” vision, not only of evangelization but also of liturgical preaching, picks up momentum when the reader of EG perceives the many audiences outside of the Roman Catholic church who seem to be invited to “overhear” this apparently internal conversation. In narrative theory there is a distinction between the explicit and the “implied” hearer. For example, Roman Catholic Eucharistic prayers are directed toward God the Father, who according to literary analysis is the explicit addressee in those prayers. Yet, such prayers are translated into the vernacular and proclaimed aloud because the Eucharistic assembly is understood to be an implied “hearer” and even “enactor” of those texts. In a similar vein, one could argue credibly that Jews are an important and implicit audience for this document (nos. 247-49). The same is true for the “followers of Islam” (nos. 252-53). There are also gestures to “non-Christians … faithful to their own consciences” (no. 254) and even an admittal of “the respect due to the agnostic or non-believing minority” (nos. 255). Finally there is a quite gracious outreach to believers “who do not consider themselves part of any religious tradition” whom the Pope considers “precious allies” in multiple social endeavors (no. 257).

These particular groups positioned around religion outside the Roman Catholic Church are not the only — what we might characterizes as — “ over-hearers of the word” in this document. Recall the Pope’s concern for the poor, the marginalized, and the unemployed noted above. More generally, Francis understands that evangelization is to and for the world as stressed in his direct concern “for the soundness of civil institutions …. [and] for the building of a better world” (no. 183). Evangelization, as a “path of dialogue” in pursuit of “the common good” is a “dialogue with states, [a] dialogue with society … [a] dialogue with cultures and the sciences” (no. 238). In a word, it is a definition of evangelization in general and the homily in particular as an act of public theology.

Weaving threads for preaching

Now that we have identified some key threads in EG that provide a wider context for preaching and homilizing, it is time for us to extract from these a few broader methodological learnings, performative presumptions and practical implications for the homiletic task and those who undertake it. In this modest conclusion I would like to suggest a quartet of such overarching learnings, presumptions and implications.

Pope Francis is clear that preaching is not just an exercise of office but an ecclesial mission (no. 15). He is amazingly brave and somewhat encyclopedic about what preaching and the homily is and is not to be , i.e., it is not: dull (no. 11), doctrinal (no. 35), confined (no. 49), abstract (nos. 142 & 157), ugly (cf. nos. 36 and 142), obsessive (no. 49), out of contact with the local context (nos. 29, 45 &143), heartless (no. 139), essentially entertaining (no. 138), judgmental (no. 172), tortured (cf. no. 44), bureaucratic and inhospitable (no. 63), pessimistic (cf. no. 85), ostentatious (no. 95), rigid (no. 45), avuncular (cf. no. 139), self-centered (cf. no. 158), monologic (no. 137), long (no. 138), heartless (no 138), disconnected from God’s Word (no. 146), inauthentic (no. 150), negative (no. 159), oppressive (nos. 187ff), and disengaged from society (nos. 238ff).

On the other hand, while Francis does provide a somewhat practical process for homily preparation, he does not explicate a theological frame for homily preparation and delivery. His emphasis on missiology is well taken, but as I have learned from my colleagues: missiology does not have a single methodology. Nor does contextual theology,[xvi] despite Francis’ clear emphasis on preaching as a contextual act. Acknowledging my own biases in this endeavor, I believe EG allows one to fruitfully consider the homiletic event and its preparation as framed by EG as an act of practical theology .

Practical theology, as it has emerged at the end of the twentieth century, is a style of doing theology (with multiple methods) that takes both theory and practice seriously. In many forms of practical theology priority is given to human experience — especially shared human experience — that needs to be put in dialogue with the tenets of one’s religion and the realities of the wider cultural context.[xvii] Francis’ emphasis on our shared humanity, the importance of human experience, and particularly the need for preachers to keep their ear to the people (no. 154) is analogous to the practical theologians “empirical” task[xviii] of attending to some slice of shared experience. This means, to use Francis’ language, that the homily must have the aroma of the sheep (no. 24) and reflect a honed engagement with “the streets” (no. 49). I have often suggested that if a preacher is truly attentive to the context of his people, he should be able to give six months of his homilies to a sociologist, from which the sociologists should be able to construct a credible overview of the demographics, economic, and social profile of that community.

There are many other analogues between Francis’ view of preaching and practical theology. These include the need to put people’s experience in dialogue with the Word of God (no. 166): what practical theology would consider a critical correlation between experience and religious tradition. Francis also views evangelizing in general — and thus the homily by implication — as contributing to the liberation of people (e.g., nos. 24 & 178), a quite strong theme throughout much of contemporary practical theology.[xix] There is also the explicit concern to stress the “ideal of a life of wisdom” (no. 168) and “practical wisdom” (no. 254). Practical wisdom or phronesis is a defining tenet of practical theology as it reemerged in the 20 th century, especially as explicated in the writings of Don Browning, whom many consider the contemporary father of practical theology.[xx] Finally, practical theology is a theology for and in action,[xxi] not some speculative or theoretical musing. Similarly, the homily itself is theology in action, as is the whole of the liturgy — our enacted theologia prima .

In terms of defining the preacher, EG offers the important practical redefinition of the preacher as mediator rather than as the instigator or guardian of the word. Often preachers imagine themselves as the “subject” of the preaching event, and the assembly as the “object” of that event. On the other hand, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy notes that all liturgy is an action of Christ: head and members (no. 7). Since the homily is not simply “in” the liturgy but is itself a liturgical event and integral to Sunday Eucharist, it follows that the homily is also an action of Christ: head and members.

Francis’s words well reflects this inversion, and EG disables homilists from holding evangelical court over some captive audience. Recalling his many exhortations to keep clergy focused on service and not on any high honor they think their ordination bestows, Francis defines the preacher as a mediator (no. 143). He invokes the language of John Paul II that the liturgical proclamation of the word is “a dialogue between God and his people” (no. 137; cf. no. 140).[xxii] As a catalyst for this dialogue, the preacher is expected to be in touch with the language, concerns and contexts of the people and not simply be caught up in his own little world. Rather he has been on the street with the baptized and in their homes, not barricaded in church or rectory and thus immune to picking up the smell of the sheep. It is only in such a way that this mediator can “properly accompany [not lead!] the poor on their path to liberation” (no. 199).

Francis’ image of the homily, as noted above, also emphasis preaching and the liturgy as exercises in beauty . In the incredibly diverse US context, the nature of the beautiful is highly contested. Is it defined by the elite who throng to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and Symphony Hall in Chicago, or is it what garners the broadest hip-hop audience as charted by billboard.com? There was a highly controversial document on the liturgy issued by a small think-tank entitled the “Snowbird Statement on Catholic Liturgical Music” (1995).[xxiii] That statement rightly insistently argued for the importance of “beauty” in liturgical music, yet its circuitous discussions of beauty were markedly non-contextual, universalist, and arguable anchored in western musical conservatory definitions of beauty that took Bach, Beethoven and Brahms as the universal litmus tests of the beautiful. On the other hand, it seemed to overlook and implicitly reject any standard of “beauty” enacted by the masses. In that vein, I am always reminded of the poignant reflection by mentor Nathan Mitchell, who suggested that “Secretly we believe that God loves the poor, but hates their music; surely God loves Mozart more than Randy Travis.”[xxiv]

Francis writings seem to embrace what could be considered a Marian aesthetic , or beauty as refracted through the anawim hymn Mary voices in Luke 1:45-66. In his exploration of theological aesthetics, Alejandro García-Rivera argues that a true aesthetic — even a liturgical aesthetic — must embrace the lowly. This lifting up the lowly, according to García-Rivera, takes place “in the biblical heart” where good and evil must be discerned.[xxv] Francis’ continued emphasis heart, but one that is tuned to the poor and marginalized, seems to cry out for a very particular aesthetic: one not defined by some music conservatory or philosopher, but in the heart of Mary the very “Mother of Evangelization” (no. 284).

Finally I believe that Francis’ vision of the homily and preaching in general is well served by the framework of public theology . The brilliant Lutheran theologian Martin Marty is often cited as the term’s progenitor. Already in 1974 he was speaking about “public theologians.”[xxvi] Later, Marty turned to the writings of the US statesman Benjamin Franklin (d. 1790) who in 1749 anonymously penned a pamphlet in which he argued for the necessary of “public religion” in education and its usefulness to society.”[xxvii] Marty borrowed and adapted Franklin’s term, suggesting that it was more helpful in the current discussion to speak about public church than civil religion.[xxviii] Marty defines “the public church” as “a family of apostolic churches with Jesus Christ at the center … that are especially sensitive to the res publica , the public order that surrounds and includes people of faith.”[xxix] According to Marty, this public church engages in “public theology” which he defines as an effort “to interpret the life of a people in the light of a transcendent reference.”[xxx] Thus, for Marty, the public church is not so much concerned with “ ’saving faith ,’ which refers to the ways in which a person is finally grounded in or reconciled to God … [but] focuses on ‘ ordering faith ,’ which helps constitute civil, social and political life from a theological point of view.”

While Francis does not use the language of public theology, his own language about preaching and evangelizing sounds very much like Marty, i.e., disallowing one to claim “that religion … exists only to prepare souls for heaven” (no. 182). Rather, religion — and the preaching and homilizing that marks the Roman Catholic religion — needs to be concerned about “the soundness of civil institutions … [and] events affecting society” (no. 183). Evangelizing, and by definition homilizing, needs to show concern for the “building of a better world” (no. 182). Francis wants — actually seems to demand — a “dialogue with society” (no. 238). One could interpret all of his language about dialogue with Jews, Muslims, people from other religious traditions, the “nones”[xxxi] and even agnostics as predicated upon a believe that evangelizing in all of its forms has something significant to say to the billions of human beings outside the Roman Catholic Church or even Christianity. This vision shatters the myopia of homilists who believe their primary job is speak about church law, focus on the church and quote the pope (cf. no. 38). Rather preaching, and even the homily, is to be a centrifugal act that resounds — like God’s word itself — through the whole of creation. Yet, that centrifugal act is not an exercise in correcting or “finger wagging,” but must proclaim the hope, mercy and joy that permeate this document.

There are undoubtedly other threads and weavings around preaching and the homiletic enterprise that one could discern from this amazing exhortation. I have only touched upon a few from my own perspective as a dominant culture cleric and academic, who self-identifies as a practical theologian. My hope is these musings send you back to this life-giving document, so that your own context can unearth others and that you are your communities are enriched in the process.

Edward Foley is the Duns Scotus Professor of Spirituality and Professor of Liturgy and Music at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. A member of the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order since 1966 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1975. He holds multiple graduate degrees in music, ministry and theology including the Ph.D. in Theology (1987) from the University of Notre Dame.

An award winning author, he currently has 21 published books to his credit; his most recent work is A Commentary on the Order of Mass: A New English Translation , for which he serves as general editor, published in October 2011 by the Liturgical Press.

Foley has also authored over 300 chapters in books, scholarly and pastoral articles, and reviews. His current research projects include an exploration of interfaith theological reflection for which he received a Lilly Faculty Fellowship for the academic year 2012-13; his forthcoming book on this topic is entitled Reflective Believing .

[i] Rush Limbaugh, “It’s Sad how wrong Pope Francis is,” The Rush Limbaugh Show (27 November 2013), online at www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/11/27/it_s_sad_how_wrong_pope_francis_is_unless_it_s_a_deliberate_mistranslation_by_leftists

[ii] Marian Tupy, “Is the Pope Right about the World?”, Atlantic Monthly (December, 2013), online at http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/is-the-pope-right-about-the-world/282276/

[iii] The language of “context” occurs 15 times in the document. Notable is the Pope’s emphasis that evangelization “constantly seeks to communicate more effectively the truth of the Gospel in a specific context ” (no. 45, emphasis added).

[iv] See, for example, his “Dignity and Freedom of Man,” originally presented in 1952 and included in Theological Investigations II , trans. Karl-H. Kruger (Baltimore: Helicon Press, 1963), 235-63, specifically p. 241.

[v] Dalai Lama, Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World (Boston-New York: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt, 2011). In particular, see Part I:2 “Our Common Humanity”, pp. 21-29.

[vi] Notice the strong resonance in these words with the opening lines of Gaudium et Spes.

[vii] See, for example, Johannes Metz, Faith in History and Society: Toward a Practical Fundamental theology , trans. David Smith (New York: Crossroad, 1980), esp. pp. 161-68.

[viii] See, for example, my “Practical Liturgics: a ‘fusionary’ tale, Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy (2013) 25-33.

[ix] Keith Pecklers does a masterful job of “uncovering” this buried treasure in his The Unread Vision: The Liturgical Movement in the United States of America: 1926-1955 (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998), especially “The Liturgical Movement and Social Justice,” pp. 81-149.

[x] No. 161 is an especially rich discussion of the “love of neighbour.”

[xi] Catherine Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (New York — Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), esp. chapter 9, “The Power of Ritualization,” pp. 197-223.

[xii] The mercy seat was the lid of the ark of the covenant, which resided in the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon. The presence of God hovered over the mercy seat, and when the blood of atonement on Yom Kippur was sprinkled on that place, God’s mercy was dispensed to the Jews. See Heb. 9:3-5 for the early Christian community’s appropriation of this metaphor.

[xiii] Catechism of the Catholic Church , no. 1832. The complete list of the fruits of the spirit are: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self control and chastity (cf. CCC, no. 1832).

[xiv] For an introduction to Rahner’s distinction between the liturgy of the church and the liturgy of the world, see Michael Skelley, The Liturgy of the World: Karl Rahner’s Theology of Worship (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991), especially chapter 4, pp. 85-105.

[xv] Especially the Latin American and Caribbean bishops in notes 4, 17, 21, 63, 84, 98, 103, 106, 147, 165; also the 2012 synod of bishops in no. 14; African bishops in no. 62; bishops of Asia in nos. 62 and 110; bishops of the US in no. 64 and 180; French bishops in no. 66; bishops of Oceania in no. 118; bishops of Brazil in no. 191; Bishops of the Philippines in no. 215; bishops of the Congo in no. 230; and the bishops of India in no. 250.

[xvi] See Stephen Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology , rev. ed. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,

[xvii] See, for example, the highly influential Method in Ministry by James and Evelyn Whitehead, rev., ed. (Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1995).

[xviii] The best introduction to the empirical task of practical theology continues to be Johannes van der Van, Practical Theology: An Empirical Approach (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1993).

[xix] See the wonderful summary by Nancy Ramsay, “Emancipatory Theory and Method,” in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology , ed. Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012), pp. 183-192.

[xx] See his magisterial A Fundamental Practical Theology: Descriptive and Strategic Proposals (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), especially chp. 2 on “Exploring Practical Wisdom and Understanding,” pp. 34-54.

[xxi] See Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, “Participatory Action Research, in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology , ed. Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2012), pp. 234-43.

[xxii] In this vein, I previously redefined the homily as “a ritual conversation between God and the liturgical assembly which announces God’s reign through the mediation of a preacher, who offers a credible and imaginative interpretation drawing on the whole of the liturgical bible in the context of a particular liturgy and community.” See my “The Homily beyond Scripture,” Worship 73:4 (1999) 351-58.

[xxiii] The text of the document was published in Pastoral Music 20:3 (February-March 1996) 13-19 and is available on-line at http://www.canticanova.com/articles/liturgy/art9o1.htm (accessed 21.vii.14).

[xxiv]Nathan Mitchell, “Amen Corner,” Worship 70:3 (1996) 258.

[xxv] Alejandro García-Rivera, The Community of the Beautiful (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1999), p. 181.

[xxvi] Martin Marty, “Two Kinds of Civil Religion,” in American Civil Religion , ed. Russell E. Richey and Donald G. Jones (New York: Harper & Row, 1974), 155.

[xxvii] See his Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania (1749), on line at http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/biography/app03.htm (21.vii.14).

[xxviii]Martin Marty, The Public Church (New York: Crossroad Press, 1981), p. 16; also, see his earlier “Two Kinds of Civil Religion,” in American Civil Religion , ed. Russell E. Richy and Donald C. Jones (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1974), pp. 139-160.

[xxix] Ibid., p. 3.

[xxx] Ibid., p. 16.

[xxxi] This is language that the Pew Research on Religion and Public Life has popularized, designating those who do not identify with any religion, even though they may engage in religious practices or believe in God. See “’Nones’ on the Rise,” from Pew’s Religion & Public Life project (9 October 2013), online at http://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/ (accessed 21.vii.14).

5 responses to “ In Case You Missed It: The Homily in the Context of Evangelii Gaudium ”

Excellent article -well written and thought provoking

Thank you Fr. Foley for this timely reflection on EG. I was thinking just the other day that I needed to do some reading to improve my homilies and this treasure arrived via Pray Tell.

What a marvelous essay – well worth being billed as a “feature article” on PrayTell.

Regarding this snippet: “the reader of EG perceives the many audiences outside of the Roman Catholic church who seem to be invited to “overhear” this apparently internal conversation.”

… This “overhearing” takes place quite literally, in my experience. I’ve learned at some point that it is a mistake to assume that Catholic churches are filled exclusively with Catholics. For many reasons, non-Catholics attend Catholic liturgies.

I confess that these two paragraphs from Fr. Foley puzzle me. I’ll say more in the next comment.

“Francis’ image of the homily, as noted above, also emphasis preaching and the liturgy as exercises in beauty. In the incredibly diverse US context, the nature of the beautiful is highly contested. Is it defined by the elite who throng to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and Symphony Hall in Chicago, or is it what garners the broadest hip-hop audience as charted by billboard.com? There was a highly controversial document on the liturgy issued by a small think-tank entitled the “Snowbird Statement on Catholic Liturgical Music” (1995).[xxiii] That statement rightly insistently argued for the importance of “beauty” in liturgical music, yet its circuitous discussions of beauty were markedly non-contextual, universalist, and arguable anchored in western musical conservatory definitions of beauty that took Bach, Beethoven and Brahms as the universal litmus tests of the beautiful. On the other hand, it seemed to overlook and implicitly reject any standard of “beauty” enacted by the masses. In that vein, I am always reminded of the poignant reflection by mentor Nathan Mitchell, who suggested that “Secretly we believe that God loves the poor, but hates their music; surely God loves Mozart more than Randy Travis.”[xxiv]

“Francis writings seem to embrace what could be considered a Marian aesthetic, or beauty as refracted through the anawim hymn Mary voices in Luke 1:45-66. In his exploration of theological aesthetics, Alejandro García-Rivera argues that a true aesthetic — even a liturgical aesthetic — must embrace the lowly. This lifting up the lowly, according to García-Rivera, takes place “in the biblical heart” where good and evil must be discerned.[xxv] Francis’ continued emphasis heart, but one that is tuned to the poor and marginalized, seems to cry out for a very particular aesthetic: one not defined by some music conservatory or philosopher, but in the heart of Mary the very “Mother of Evangelization” (no. 284).”

Hmm, well, I was going to write about my puzzlements in this comment. But in searching for a particular quote to refer to, I came across this passage by Robert Waznak, which may be one take on the question of beauty in homilies:

“Laurence Perrine warned his students not to read poetry while lying in a hammock because poetry’s ‘purpose is not to soothe and relax, but to arouse and awake, to shock into life, to make one more alive’ … Karl Rahner chided his fellow theologians because they had lost the imagination of the poet and had become hopelessly prosaic: ‘Where are those ages when the great theologians wrote hymns as well? When they could write like Ignatius of Antioch, versify like Methodius of Olympus, when they lived in the ecstacy of hymns like Adam of St. Victor, Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas?’ Please note that Rahner did not chide his fellow theologians because they were expressing theology but because they did not express their theology with the vision and imaginative language of the poet … The title Walter Brueggemann gave to his 1989 Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale Divinity School is telling: _Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech for Proclamation_. Brueggemann proposes that contemporary preaching should be a ‘poetic construal of an alternative world.’ His choice of the image of the preacher as poet is based on a conviction that ‘preaching is an event in transformed imagination. Poets, in the moment of preaching, are permitted to perceive and voice the world differently, to dare a new phrase, a new picture, a fresh juxtaposition of matters long known.’

What Is a Homily?

In the realm of Christian ministry, the term “homily” often surfaces, especially within liturgical traditions.

But what exactly is a homily, and how does it differ from other forms of Christian discourse?

At its core, a homily serves as a bridge, connecting scriptural readings to the everyday lives of the congregation.

This article seeks to explore the essence of the homily, tracing its origins and understanding its significance in modern Christian worship.

Through this exploration, we’ll gain a clearer picture of the homily’s role in enhancing the understanding and application of scripture.

Characteristics of a Homily

A homily possesses distinct features that set it apart from other forms of Christian discourse. Here are some of its defining characteristics:

Scriptural Interpretation : Central to a homily is its focus on interpreting a specific scripture reading. Unlike broader sermons, a homily hones in on texts read during a particular worship service, offering insights and reflections.

Application to Daily Life : A hallmark of the homily is its practical approach. It seeks to connect scriptural teachings with everyday experiences, making the Word relevant and accessible to the congregation.

Brevity : Typically, homilies are concise. They aim to provide a clear and focused reflection without becoming lengthy orations.

Liturgical Context : Homilies are often integrated into liturgical worship services, especially in traditions like Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican practices. They follow scripture readings and aim to enhance the liturgical experience.

Personal and Reflective : While homilies are rooted in scripture, they often carry a personal touch. The one delivering the homily might share personal reflections or experiences, making the message more relatable and heartfelt.

In essence, a homily serves as a bridge, a conduit that brings ancient scriptures to life in the modern world, ensuring that the Word remains a guiding light for believers in their daily lives.

The Role of a Homily in Modern Christian Worship

In today’s Christian landscape, the homily continues to hold a pivotal role, especially within liturgical traditions. Its presence in modern worship serves several key purposes:

Enhancing Scriptural Understanding : As scriptures are read during worship, the homily offers a lens through which congregants can gain deeper insights. It breaks down complex passages, making them more digestible and relevant.

Connecting with Contemporary Issues : Modern homilies often touch upon current events, societal challenges, or prevalent themes. By doing so, they provide a scriptural perspective on issues that resonate with today’s congregants.

Fostering Reflection and Meditation : The reflective nature of a homily encourages listeners to ponder their personal relationship with the teachings, fostering a deeper spiritual connection.

Strengthening Community Bonds : By addressing shared experiences and challenges, homilies can foster a sense of unity and community among congregants. They serve as a reminder of shared values and beliefs.

Adapting to Digital Platforms : With the rise of technology, many homilies are now available online, reaching a wider audience. This digital shift ensures that the insights and reflections offered are accessible to a global Christian community.

In today’s Christian worship, the homily is like a strong thread that ties old Bible stories to our current lives. It makes sure the main message of the gospel keeps making sense and helping people everywhere.

Crafting an Effective Homily

Creating a homily that resonates with a congregation requires thoughtful preparation and a deep understanding of both scripture and the audience.

Start with Scripture : Begin by thoroughly studying the chosen scripture passage. Understand its historical context, its main message, and its relevance to today’s world.

Know Your Audience : Consider the specific needs, challenges, and experiences of your congregation. An effective homily speaks to the heart of the listeners, addressing their current life situations.

Maintain Clarity : While it’s tempting to cover multiple points, focus on a central theme or message. A clear, singular focus ensures that the message is easily understood and remembered.

Incorporate Personal Reflections : Sharing personal stories or experiences can make the homily more relatable. It bridges the gap between the preacher and the congregation, fostering a deeper connection.

Engage with Real-Life Applications : Highlight practical ways the scripture can be applied in daily life. Offer actionable steps or reflections that listeners can take away and implement.

Practice and Refine : Before delivering, practice the homily multiple times. This helps in refining the flow, ensuring clarity, and building confidence.

Seek Feedback : After delivering the homily, be open to feedback. This can provide valuable insights for future homilies, ensuring continuous growth and effectiveness.

In essence, crafting an effective homily is an art that blends deep scriptural understanding with a keen awareness of the audience’s needs. When done right, it becomes a powerful tool in guiding and inspiring the Christian life.

Historical Origins of the Homily

The homily, as a form of Christian discourse, has deep historical roots.

Emerging in the early Christian traditions, it became a platform for church leaders to interpret and apply scriptural readings to the lives of their congregations.

Notable early church fathers, such as St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine, were renowned for their homiletic contributions, offering insights that resonated with believers of their time.

The primary aim of these early homilies was to provide clarity.

As scriptures were read during worship, the homily served to illuminate their meaning, ensuring that the gathered community could relate the teachings to their personal experiences and challenges.

Over time, as Christianity spread and diversified, the homily evolved, adapting to various cultural and liturgical contexts.

Yet, its central purpose remained consistent: to bridge the gap between ancient scriptures and contemporary life, guiding believers in their spiritual journey.

Daniel Isaiah Joseph

Daniel's seminary degree is in Exegetical Theology. He was a pastor for 10 years. As a professor, he has taught Bible and theology courses at two Christian universities. Please see his About page for details.

The Ladder of Homiletics: 7 Steps to Effective Preaching, Part 1

by Guerric DeBona, OSB June 21, 2017

V eteran homiletics teachers are asked a perennial question: what qualities make for great preaching? In 2016, the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary took a survey on the dimensions of effective preaching. The usual suspects were mostly all there: make the sermon biblical, relevant, authentic, theological, and effectively communicated in delivery and form.

But what about the sequence of these qualities? Are there aspects of effective preaching which build one upon the other, something like St. Benedict’s famous Ladder of Humility? Configuring dimensions of effective preaching like steps one after the other asks homilists to get a sure footing in one of these preaching steps before moving on to another. Here is what seven of these stages might look like.

1. Claiming a Personal Theology of Preaching

2. preaching from the table of the word and sacrament, 3. crafting a unified homily, 4. finding a homiletic method.

Featured Image: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (17th c); courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Guerric DeBona, OSB

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Letters from Seminary: Burmester

How to write a homily in six long, challenging steps

Published: October 15, 2016

“(Jesus) said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.’” (Mark 16:15)

Preaching. One of the most difficult and vulnerable things I have ever done. The common known statistic that more people have a fear of public speaking than they do of their own death comes to mind when I prepare to preach.

Preaching is difficult for me not so much because it is public speaking but more so because I am expressing my spirituality in a very public way. In preaching my prayer life, discernment and relationship with God are expressed in words.

It is deeply vulnerable because I preach to inspire and share Christ with others, but I am also left open to critique, criticism or boredom. And sometimes it is hard to hear critique or see boredom without feeling like it is a direct attack on my spiritual life.

Preaching is a unique experience for me (I am now on the “giving” side of the homily experience) and a humbling and powerful experience at that. Here is an insider look on the Sunday homily process according to a young transitional deacon.

The best way to describe my process is six-fold: read, pray, plan, write, preach and reflect.

Read — Preaching begins a week before giving a homily when I plan time to sit down with the Sunday readings. I must begin by the basic act of reading the Scriptures to be preached.

Pray — I spend time to let the readings become the center of my prayer. How does God speak to me through these readings? If I have not let the readings touch me personally, I will be ineffective in sharing Christ with others.

Plan — This means reading ideas and perspectives from Church Fathers and theologians about the weekend readings in order to see the readings in a new way. I am also in a special position in the seminary to brainstorm with fellow deacons on their approach to the readings. As I plan, I get an idea or image of God that will impact the people to whom I preach.

Write — For me, one of the most difficult steps in the process. My emotions range from excitement (How awesome is it that I preach God to others?) to doubt and fear (I can’t do this … I have writer’s block). Then, somehow by the grace of God I finish writing the homily.

Preach — Now I get to share my work and prayer with the community. I preach and talk to people after Mass and adjust a phrase or paragraph to enhance my homily.

Reflect — After the last homily and for a few days afterward, I reflect on the experience of giving a homily. How was the homily received? How did I feel giving the homily? Where was Jesus during the homily process? The process takes time and intentionality but also a reliance on God’s guidance.

This is my experience of giving a homily, and I know each priest and deacon has a unique process. It has been difficult at times, but I have seen much personal fruit in my ministry of preaching. I am excited to improve and mature in my homiletic process as a priest in the Diocese of Little Rock.

Deacon William Burmester, a member of St. Joseph Church in Conway, is a diocesan seminarian attending St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. He is scheduled to be ordained a priest on May 27, 2017. This article was originally published in Arkansas Catholic. Copyright Diocese of Little Rock. All rights reserved. This article may be copied or redistributed with acknowledgement and permission of the publisher.

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Writing well

How to write a critique

Starting well
How to write an annotated bibliography
How to write a case study response
How to write an empirical article
How to write an essay
How to write a literature review
How to write a reflective task
How to write a report
Finishing well

Before you start writing, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the work that will be critiqued.

Study the work under discussion.
Make notes on key parts of the work.
Develop an understanding of the main argument or purpose being expressed in the work.
Consider how the work relates to a broader issue or context.

Example template

There are a variety of ways to structure a critique. You should always check your unit materials or Canvas site for guidance from your lecturer. The following template, which showcases the main features of a critique, is provided as one example.

Introduction

Typically, the introduction is short (less than 10% of the word length) and you should:

name the work being reviewed as well as the date it was created and the name of the author/creator
describe the main argument or purpose of the work
explain the context in which the work was created - this could include the social or political context, the place of the work in a creative or academic tradition, or the relationship between the work and the creator’s life experience
have a concluding sentence that signposts what your evaluation of the work will be - for instance, it may indicate whether it is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation.

Briefly summarise the main points and objectively describe how the creator portrays these by using techniques, styles, media, characters or symbols. This summary should not be the focus of the critique and is usually shorter than the critical evaluation.

Critical evaluation

This section should give a systematic and detailed assessment of the different elements of the work, evaluating how well the creator was able to achieve the purpose through these. For example: you would assess the plot structure, characterisation and setting of a novel; an assessment of a painting would look at composition, brush strokes, colour and light; a critique of a research project would look at subject selection, design of the experiment, analysis of data and conclusions.

A critical evaluation does not simply highlight negative impressions. It should deconstruct the work and identify both strengths and weaknesses. It should examine the work and evaluate its success, in light of its purpose.

Examples of key critical questions that could help your assessment include:

Who is the creator? Is the work presented objectively or subjectively?
What are the aims of the work? Were the aims achieved?
What techniques, styles, media were used in the work? Are they effective in portraying the purpose?
What assumptions underlie the work? Do they affect its validity?
What types of evidence or persuasion are used? Has evidence been interpreted fairly?
How is the work structured? Does it favour a particular interpretation or point of view? Is it effective?
Does the work enhance understanding of key ideas or theories? Does the work engage (or fail to engage) with key concepts or other works in its discipline?

This evaluation is written in formal academic style and logically presented. Group and order your ideas into paragraphs. Start with the broad impressions first and then move into the details of the technical elements. For shorter critiques, you may discuss the strengths of the works, and then the weaknesses. In longer critiques, you may wish to discuss the positive and negative of each key critical question in individual paragraphs.

To support the evaluation, provide evidence from the work itself, such as a quote or example, and you should also cite evidence from related sources. Explain how this evidence supports your evaluation of the work.

This is usually a very brief paragraph, which includes:

a statement indicating the overall evaluation of the work
a summary of the key reasons, identified during the critical evaluation, why this evaluation was formed
in some circumstances, recommendations for improvement on the work may be appropriate.

Reference list

Include all resources cited in your critique. Check with your lecturer/tutor for which referencing style to use.

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 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?

Further information

University of New South Wales: Writing a Critical Review
University of Toronto: The Book Review or Article Critique

Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners

QUT acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands where QUT now stands.

Writing a Critique

About this Guide
What Is a Critique?
Getting Started
Components of a Critique Essay

Parts of a Critique Essay

There are 4 distinct components to a critique, and those are the:

Introduction

Each of these components is described in further detail in the boxes on this page of the guide.

An effective introduction:

Provides a quick snapshot of background information readers may need in order to follow along with the argument
Defines key terminology as needed
Ends with a strong argument (thesis)

For additional guidance on writing introduction paragraphs, librarians recommend:

Need some extra help on thesis statements? Check out our Writing Effective Thesis Statements guide .

A summary is a broad overview of what is discussed in a source. In a critique essay, writers should always assume that those reading the essay may be unfamiliar with the work being examined. For that reason, the following should be included early in the paper:

The name of the author(s) of the work
The title of the work
Main ideas presented in the work
Arguments presented in the work
Any conclusions presented in the work

Depending on the requirements of your particular assignment, the summary may appear as part of the introduction, or it may be a separate paragraph. The summary should always be included before the analysis, as readers need a base-level familiarity of the resource before you can effectively present an argument about what the source does well and where improvements are needed.

More information about summaries can be found on our Writing an Effective Summary guide .

The critique is your evaluation of the resource. A strong critique:

Discusses the strengths of the resource
Discusses the weaknesses of the resource
Provides specific examples (direct quotes, with proper citation) as needed to support your evaluation
The accuracy of the resource
Any bias found within the resource
The relevance of the resource
The clarity of the resource

A critique is your opinion of the text, supported by evidence from the text.

If you need further guidance on how to evaluate your source, you can also consult our Evaluating Your Sources guide .

Need help with citation?

Compose papers in pre-formatted APA templates. Manage references in forms that help craft APA citations. Learn the rules of APA style through tutorials and practice quizzes.

Academic Writer will continue to use the 6th edition guidelines until August 2020. A preview of the 7th edition is available in the footer of the resource's site. Previously known as APA Style Central.

APA Style Help Learn more about APA style through our research guide.

A conclusion has three main functions in an essay. A conclusion will:

Summarize the main ideas presented in the essay
Remind readers of the thesis (argument)
Draw the paper to a close

For additional guidance, the library recommends:

<< Previous: Getting Started
Next: Examples >>
Last Updated: May 22, 2023 10:46 AM
URL: https://library.tiffin.edu/critique

Definition of Homily

Homily is a sermon or speech that a religious person or priest delivers before a group of people to offer them moral correction. The primary purpose of this speech is not doctrinal instruction, but spiritual edification. Simply, homily is a public discourse on a moral or religious subject . Priests read it from the Bible, or other religious text, to give an insight into the exact meanings of the scriptures. Afterward, they relate it to the lives of followers .

Examples of Homily in Literature

Example #1: sinners in the hands of an angry god (by jonathan edwards).

“He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel that has found means to fortify himself … So ’tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that anything hangs by; thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down.”

This is a popular American sermon in which Edwards has emphasized the idea of a Great Awakening. The underlying idea is that God has given a chance to humanity to rectify their sins, as the will of God has kept them away from the depths of hell.

Example #2: Al-Bukhari, Hadith 1623, 1626, 6361 (By Muhammad)

“O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY. Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion…All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety (taqwa) and good action …”

This is the most famous and last sermon or Khutba of the prophet (P.B.U.H), which he delivered on Friday, ninth Dhul Hijjah (12th month of Islamic year), in mount Arafat’s Uranah Valley. He directed this message to all of humanity, that they are accountable to God for their deeds.

Example #3: Message to California’s Proposition 41 in Los Angeles in 1984 (By Father Bill Messenger)

“Perhaps many of you grew up during the depression. If so, you know what it means to be poor. I did not grow up during the depression, but I grew up in a poor family. I can remember one Christmas when both of my parents were out of work, and we had no money. Concerned parishioners brought Christmas baskets to our house. It was a humbling and difficult experience for my parents. The year before, my father had helped to distribute baskets to other poor people. Now it was our turn.”

In this homily, the priest is sharing his personal experience, to allow the readers understand the meanings of his homily and scripture.

Example #4: Holy Bible, Matthew 24:42-51 (By Deacon Winton DeRosia)

“There is a fable that tells of three apprentice devils who were coming to earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking with Satan, the chief of the devils, about their plans to tempt and to ruin humanity. The first said, “I will tell them there is no God.” But Satan said, “That will not delude many, for they know there is a God … The most dangerous of all delusions is that there is plenty of time.”

Deacon Winton DeRosia delivers this homily on a website “First Sunday in Advent.” This sermon is about the temptations of Satan, and how he uses human beings for his purpose.

Function of Homily

Usually, religious figures deliver homilies in churches, mosques, temples, at mass gatherings, at funerals, and at baptisms and wedding ceremonies. Its main purpose is to convey a moral lesson to the people. Besides teaching moral education, it awakens people’s conscience, calls them to repentance, and nourishes their faith. Another purpose is to interpret the lives of the people in such a way that they could reconcile with God Almighty and with one another. Besides this, priests use different persuasive techniques to appeal to the listening congregation.

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12.14: Sample Student Literary Analysis Essays

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Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap
City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

The following examples are essays where student writers focused on close-reading a literary work.

While reading these examples, ask yourself the following questions:

What is the essay's thesis statement, and how do you know it is the thesis statement?
What is the main idea or topic sentence of each body paragraph, and how does it relate back to the thesis statement?
Where and how does each essay use evidence (quotes or paraphrase from the literature)?
What are some of the literary devices or structures the essays analyze or discuss?
How does each author structure their conclusion, and how does their conclusion differ from their introduction?

Example 1: Poetry

Victoria Morillo

Instructor Heather Ringo

3 August 2022

How Nguyen’s Structure Solidifies the Impact of Sexual Violence in “The Study”

Stripped of innocence, your body taken from you. No matter how much you try to block out the instance in which these two things occurred, memories surface and come back to haunt you. How does a person, a young boy , cope with an event that forever changes his life? Hieu Minh Nguyen deconstructs this very way in which an act of sexual violence affects a survivor. In his poem, “The Study,” the poem's speaker recounts the year in which his molestation took place, describing how his memory filters in and out. Throughout the poem, Nguyen writes in free verse, permitting a structural liberation to become the foundation for his message to shine through. While he moves the readers with this poignant narrative, Nguyen effectively conveys the resulting internal struggles of feeling alone and unseen.

The speaker recalls his experience with such painful memory through the use of specific punctuation choices. Just by looking at the poem, we see that the first period doesn’t appear until line 14. It finally comes after the speaker reveals to his readers the possible, central purpose for writing this poem: the speaker's molestation. In the first half, the poem makes use of commas, em dashes, and colons, which lends itself to the idea of the speaker stringing along all of these details to make sense of this time in his life. If reading the poem following the conventions of punctuation, a sense of urgency is present here, as well. This is exemplified by the lack of periods to finalize a thought; and instead, Nguyen uses other punctuation marks to connect them. Serving as another connector of thoughts, the two em dashes give emphasis to the role memory plays when the speaker discusses how “no one [had] a face” during that time (Nguyen 9-11). He speaks in this urgent manner until the 14th line, and when he finally gets it off his chest, the pace of the poem changes, as does the more frequent use of the period. This stream-of-consciousness-like section when juxtaposed with the latter half of the poem, causes readers to slow down and pay attention to the details. It also splits the poem in two: a section that talks of the fogginess of memory then transitions into one that remembers it all.

In tandem with the fluctuating nature of memory, the utilization of line breaks and word choice help reflect the damage the molestation has had. Within the first couple of lines of the poem, the poem demands the readers’ attention when the line breaks from “floating” to “dead” as the speaker describes his memory of Little Billy (Nguyen 1-4). This line break averts the readers’ expectation of the direction of the narrative and immediately shifts the tone of the poem. The break also speaks to the effect his trauma has ingrained in him and how “[f]or the longest time,” his only memory of that year revolves around an image of a boy’s death. In a way, the speaker sees himself in Little Billy; or perhaps, he’s representative of the tragic death of his boyhood, how the speaker felt so “dead” after enduring such a traumatic experience, even referring to himself as a “ghost” that he tries to evict from his conscience (Nguyen 24). The feeling that a part of him has died is solidified at the very end of the poem when the speaker describes himself as a nine-year-old boy who’s been “fossilized,” forever changed by this act (Nguyen 29). By choosing words associated with permanence and death, the speaker tries to recreate the atmosphere (for which he felt trapped in) in order for readers to understand the loneliness that came as a result of his trauma. With the assistance of line breaks, more attention is drawn to the speaker's words, intensifying their importance, and demanding to be felt by the readers.

Most importantly, the speaker expresses eloquently, and so heartbreakingly, about the effect sexual violence has on a person. Perhaps what seems to be the most frustrating are the people who fail to believe survivors of these types of crimes. This is evident when he describes “how angry” the tenants were when they filled the pool with cement (Nguyen 4). They seem to represent how people in the speaker's life were dismissive of his assault and who viewed his tragedy as a nuisance of some sorts. This sentiment is bookended when he says, “They say, give us details , so I give them my body. / They say, give us proof , so I give them my body,” (Nguyen 25-26). The repetition of these two lines reinforces the feeling many feel in these scenarios, as they’re often left to deal with trying to make people believe them, or to even see them.

It’s important to recognize how the structure of this poem gives the speaker space to express the pain he’s had to carry for so long. As a characteristic of free verse, the poem doesn’t follow any structured rhyme scheme or meter; which in turn, allows him to not have any constraints in telling his story the way he wants to. The speaker has the freedom to display his experience in a way that evades predictability and engenders authenticity of a story very personal to him. As readers, we abandon anticipating the next rhyme, and instead focus our attention to the other ways, like his punctuation or word choice, in which he effectively tells his story. The speaker recognizes that some part of him no longer belongs to himself, but by writing “The Study,” he shows other survivors that they’re not alone and encourages hope that eventually, they will be freed from the shackles of sexual violence.

Works Cited

Nguyen, Hieu Minh. “The Study” Poets.Org. Academy of American Poets, Coffee House Press, 2018, https://poets.org/poem/study-0 .

Example 2: Fiction

Todd Goodwin

Professor Stan Matyshak

Advanced Expository Writing

Sept. 17, 20—

Poe’s “Usher”: A Mirror of the Fall of the House of Humanity

Right from the outset of the grim story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar Allan Poe enmeshes us in a dark, gloomy, hopeless world, alienating his characters and the reader from any sort of physical or psychological norm where such values as hope and happiness could possibly exist. He fatalistically tells the story of how a man (the narrator) comes from the outside world of hope, religion, and everyday society and tries to bring some kind of redeeming happiness to his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, who not only has physically and psychologically wasted away but is entrapped in a dilapidated house of ever-looming terror with an emaciated and deranged twin sister. Roderick Usher embodies the wasting away of what once was vibrant and alive, and his house of “insufferable gloom” (273), which contains his morbid sister, seems to mirror or reflect this fear of death and annihilation that he most horribly endures. A close reading of the story reveals that Poe uses mirror images, or reflections, to contribute to the fatalistic theme of “Usher”: each reflection serves to intensify an already prevalent tone of hopelessness, darkness, and fatalism.

It could be argued that the house of Roderick Usher is a “house of mirrors,” whose unpleasant and grim reflections create a dark and hopeless setting. For example, the narrator first approaches “the melancholy house of Usher on a dark and soundless day,” and finds a building which causes him a “sense of insufferable gloom,” which “pervades his spirit and causes an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart, an undiscerned dreariness of thought” (273). The narrator then optimistically states: “I reflected that a mere different arrangement of the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify, or perhaps annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression” (274). But the narrator then sees the reflection of the house in the tarn and experiences a “shudder even more thrilling than before” (274). Thus the reader begins to realize that the narrator cannot change or stop the impending doom that will befall the house of Usher, and maybe humanity. The story cleverly plays with the word reflection : the narrator sees a physical reflection that leads him to a mental reflection about Usher’s surroundings.

The narrator’s disillusionment by such grim reflection continues in the story. For example, he describes Roderick Usher’s face as distinct with signs of old strength but lost vigor: the remains of what used to be. He describes the house as a once happy and vibrant place, which, like Roderick, lost its vitality. Also, the narrator describes Usher’s hair as growing wild on his rather obtrusive head, which directly mirrors the eerie moss and straw covering the outside of the house. The narrator continually longs to see these bleak reflections as a dream, for he states: “Shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream, I scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building” (276). He does not want to face the reality that Usher and his home are doomed to fall, regardless of what he does.

Although there are almost countless examples of these mirror images, two others stand out as important. First, Roderick and his sister, Madeline, are twins. The narrator aptly states just as he and Roderick are entombing Madeline that there is “a striking similitude between brother and sister” (288). Indeed, they are mirror images of each other. Madeline is fading away psychologically and physically, and Roderick is not too far behind! The reflection of “doom” that these two share helps intensify and symbolize the hopelessness of the entire situation; thus, they further develop the fatalistic theme. Second, in the climactic scene where Madeline has been mistakenly entombed alive, there is a pairing of images and sounds as the narrator tries to calm Roderick by reading him a romance story. Events in the story simultaneously unfold with events of the sister escaping her tomb. In the story, the hero breaks out of the coffin. Then, in the story, the dragon’s shriek as he is slain parallels Madeline’s shriek. Finally, the story tells of the clangor of a shield, matched by the sister’s clanging along a metal passageway. As the suspense reaches its climax, Roderick shrieks his last words to his “friend,” the narrator: “Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door” (296).

Roderick, who slowly falls into insanity, ironically calls the narrator the “Madman.” We are left to reflect on what Poe means by this ironic twist. Poe’s bleak and dark imagery, and his use of mirror reflections, seem only to intensify the hopelessness of “Usher.” We can plausibly conclude that, indeed, the narrator is the “Madman,” for he comes from everyday society, which is a place where hope and faith exist. Poe would probably argue that such a place is opposite to the world of Usher because a world where death is inevitable could not possibly hold such positive values. Therefore, just as Roderick mirrors his sister, the reflection in the tarn mirrors the dilapidation of the house, and the story mirrors the final actions before the death of Usher. “The Fall of the House of Usher” reflects Poe’s view that humanity is hopelessly doomed.

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Fall of the House of Usher.” 1839. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library . 1995. Web. 1 July 2012. < http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/PoeFall.html >.

Example 3: Poetry

Amy Chisnell

Professor Laura Neary

Writing and Literature

April 17, 20—

Don’t Listen to the Egg!: A Close Reading of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”

“You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir,” said Alice. “Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called ‘Jabberwocky’?”

“Let’s hear it,” said Humpty Dumpty. “I can explain all the poems that ever were invented—and a good many that haven’t been invented just yet.” (Carroll 164)

In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass , Humpty Dumpty confidently translates (to a not so confident Alice) the complicated language of the poem “Jabberwocky.” The words of the poem, though nonsense, aptly tell the story of the slaying of the Jabberwock. Upon finding “Jabberwocky” on a table in the looking-glass room, Alice is confused by the strange words. She is quite certain that “ somebody killed something ,” but she does not understand much more than that. When later she encounters Humpty Dumpty, she seizes the opportunity at having the knowledgeable egg interpret—or translate—the poem. Since Humpty Dumpty professes to be able to “make a word work” for him, he is quick to agree. Thus he acts like a New Critic who interprets the poem by performing a close reading of it. Through Humpty’s interpretation of the first stanza, however, we see the poem’s deeper comment concerning the practice of interpreting poetry and literature in general—that strict analytical translation destroys the beauty of a poem. In fact, Humpty Dumpty commits the “heresy of paraphrase,” for he fails to understand that meaning cannot be separated from the form or structure of the literary work.

Of the 71 words found in “Jabberwocky,” 43 have no known meaning. They are simply nonsense. Yet through this nonsensical language, the poem manages not only to tell a story but also gives the reader a sense of setting and characterization. One feels, rather than concretely knows, that the setting is dark, wooded, and frightening. The characters, such as the Jubjub bird, the Bandersnatch, and the doomed Jabberwock, also appear in the reader’s head, even though they will not be found in the local zoo. Even though most of the words are not real, the reader is able to understand what goes on because he or she is given free license to imagine what the words denote and connote. Simply, the poem’s nonsense words are the meaning.

Therefore, when Humpty interprets “Jabberwocky” for Alice, he is not doing her any favors, for he actually misreads the poem. Although the poem in its original is constructed from nonsense words, by the time Humpty is done interpreting it, it truly does not make any sense. The first stanza of the original poem is as follows:

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves,

An the mome raths outgrabe. (Carroll 164)

If we replace, however, the nonsense words of “Jabberwocky” with Humpty’s translated words, the effect would be something like this:

’Twas four o’clock in the afternoon, and the lithe and slimy badger-lizard-corkscrew creatures

Did go round and round and make holes in the grass-plot round the sun-dial:

All flimsy and miserable were the shabby-looking birds

with mop feathers,

And the lost green pigs bellowed-sneezed-whistled.

By translating the poem in such a way, Humpty removes the charm or essence—and the beauty, grace, and rhythm—from the poem. The poetry is sacrificed for meaning. Humpty Dumpty commits the heresy of paraphrase. As Cleanth Brooks argues, “The structure of a poem resembles that of a ballet or musical composition. It is a pattern of resolutions and balances and harmonizations” (203). When the poem is left as nonsense, the reader can easily imagine what a “slithy tove” might be, but when Humpty tells us what it is, he takes that imaginative license away from the reader. The beauty (if that is the proper word) of “Jabberwocky” is in not knowing what the words mean, and yet understanding. By translating the poem, Humpty takes that privilege from the reader. In addition, Humpty fails to recognize that meaning cannot be separated from the structure itself: the nonsense poem reflects this literally—it means “nothing” and achieves this meaning by using “nonsense” words.

Furthermore, the nonsense words Carroll chooses to use in “Jabberwocky” have a magical effect upon the reader; the shadowy sound of the words create the atmosphere, which may be described as a trance-like mood. When Alice first reads the poem, she says it seems to fill her head “with ideas.” The strange-sounding words in the original poem do give one ideas. Why is this? Even though the reader has never heard these words before, he or she is instantly aware of the murky, mysterious mood they set. In other words, diction operates not on the denotative level (the dictionary meaning) but on the connotative level (the emotion(s) they evoke). Thus “Jabberwocky” creates a shadowy mood, and the nonsense words are instrumental in creating this mood. Carroll could not have simply used any nonsense words.

For example, let us change the “dark,” “ominous” words of the first stanza to “lighter,” more “comic” words:

’Twas mearly, and the churly pells

Did bimble and ringle in the tink;

All timpy were the brimbledimps,

And the bip plips outlink.

Shifting the sounds of the words from dark to light merely takes a shift in thought. To create a specific mood using nonsense words, one must create new words from old words that convey the desired mood. In “Jabberwocky,” Carroll mixes “slimy,” a grim idea, “lithe,” a pliable image, to get a new adjective: “slithy” (a portmanteau word). In this translation, brighter words were used to get a lighter effect. “Mearly” is a combination of “morning” and “early,” and “ringle” is a blend of “ring” and "dingle.” The point is that “Jabberwocky’s” nonsense words are created specifically to convey this shadowy or mysterious mood and are integral to the “meaning.”

Consequently, Humpty’s rendering of the poem leaves the reader with a completely different feeling than does the original poem, which provided us with a sense of ethereal mystery, of a dark and foreign land with exotic creatures and fantastic settings. The mysteriousness is destroyed by Humpty’s literal paraphrase of the creatures and the setting; by doing so, he has taken the beauty away from the poem in his attempt to understand it. He has committed the heresy of paraphrase: “If we allow ourselves to be misled by it [this heresy], we distort the relation of the poem to its ‘truth’… we split the poem between its ‘form’ and its ‘content’” (Brooks 201). Humpty Dumpty’s ultimate demise might be seen to symbolize the heretical split between form and content: as a literary creation, Humpty Dumpty is an egg, a well-wrought urn of nonsense. His fall from the wall cracks him and separates the contents from the container, and not even all the King’s men can put the scrambled egg back together again!

Through the odd characters of a little girl and a foolish egg, “Jabberwocky” suggests a bit of sage advice about reading poetry, advice that the New Critics built their theories on. The importance lies not solely within strict analytical translation or interpretation, but in the overall effect of the imagery and word choice that evokes a meaning inseparable from those literary devices. As Archibald MacLeish so aptly writes: “A poem should not mean / But be.” Sometimes it takes a little nonsense to show us the sense in something.

Brooks, Cleanth. The Well-Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry . 1942. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1956. Print.

Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass. Alice in Wonderland . 2nd ed. Ed. Donald J. Gray. New York: Norton, 1992. Print.

MacLeish, Archibald. “Ars Poetica.” The Oxford Book of American Poetry . Ed. David Lehman. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. 385–86. Print.

Attribution

Sample Essay 1 received permission from Victoria Morillo to publish, licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International ( CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 )
Sample Essays 2 and 3 adapted from Cordell, Ryan and John Pennington. "2.5: Student Sample Papers" from Creating Literary Analysis. 2012. Licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported ( CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 )

Critical Reflection

A Critical Reflection (also called a reflective essay) is a process of identifying, questioning, and assessing our deeply-held assumptions – about our knowledge, the way we perceive events and issues, our beliefs, feelings, and actions. When you reflect critically, you use course material (lectures, readings, discussions, etc.) to examine our biases, compare theories with current actions, search for causes and triggers, and identify problems at their core. Critical reflection is not a reading assignment, a summary of an activity, or an emotional outlet. Rather, the goal is to change your thinking about a subject, and thus change your behaviour.

Tip: Critical reflections are common in coursework across all disciplines, but they can take very different forms. Your instructor may ask you to develop a formal essay, produce weekly blog entries, or provide short paragraph answers to a set of questions. Read the assignment guidelines before you begin.

How to Critically Reflect

Writing a critical reflection happens in two phases.

Analyze: In the first phase, analyze the issue and your role by asking critical questions. Use free writing as a way to develop good ideas. Don’t worry about organized paragraphs or good grammar at this stage.
Articulate: In the second phase, use your analysis to develop a clear argument about what you learned. Organize your ideas so they are clear for your reader.

First phase: Analyze

A popular method for analyzing is the three stage model: What? So What? Now what?

In the What? stage, describe the issue, including your role, observations, and reactions. The what? stage helps you make initial observations about what you feel and think. At this point, there’s no need to look at your course notes or readings.

Use the questions below to guide your writing during this stage.

What happened?
What did you do?
What did you expect?
What was different?
What was your reaction?
What did you learn?

In the second So What? stage, try to understand on a deeper level why the issue is significant or relevant. Use information from your first stage, your course materials (readings, lectures, discussions) -- as well as previous experience and knowledge to help you think through the issue from a variety of perspectives.

Tip: Since you’ll be using more course resources in this step, review your readings and course notes before you begin writing.

Below are three perspectives you can consider:

Academic perspective: How did the experience enhance your understanding of a concept/theory/skill? Did the experience confirm your understanding or challenge it? Did you identify strengths or gaps in your knowledge?
Personal perspective: Why does the experience matter? What are the consequences? Were your previous expectations/assumptions confirmed or refuted? What surprised you and why?
Systems perspective: What were the sources of power and who benefited/who was harmed? What changes would you suggest? How does this experience help you understand the organization or system?

In the third Now what? stage, explore how the experience will shape your future thinking and behaviour.

Use the following questions to guide your thinking and writing:

What are you going to do as a result of your experiences?
What will you do differently?
How will you apply what you learned?

Second phase: Articulate

After completing the analysis stage, you probably have a lot of writing, but it is not yet organized into a coherent story. You need to build an organized and clear argument about what you learned and how you changed. To do so, develop a thesis statement , make an outline , write , and revise.

Develop a thesis statement

Develop a clear argument to help your reader understand what you learned. This argument should pull together different themes from your analysis into a main idea. You can see an example of a thesis statement in the sample reflection essay at the end of this resource.

Tip: For more help on developing thesis statements, see our Thesis statements resource

Make an outline

Once you have a clear thesis statement for your essay, build an outline. Below is a straightforward method to organize your essay.

Background/Context of reflection
Thesis statement
Introduce theme A
Writer's past position/thinking
Moment of learning/change
Writer's current/new position
Introduce theme B
Introduce theme C
Summarize learning
Discuss significance of learning for self and others
Discuss future actions/behaviour

Write and revise

Time to get writing! Work from your outline and give yourself enough time for a first draft and revisions.

Even though you are writing about your personal experience and learning, your audience may still be an academic one. Consult the assignment guidelines or ask your instructor to find out whether your writing should be formal or informal.

Sample Critical Reflection

Below are sample annotated paragraphs from one student’s critical reflection for a course on society and privilege.

Introduction

Background/context of reflection : I became aware of privileged positions in society only in recent years. I was lucky enough, privileged enough, to be ignorant of such phenomena, but for some, privilege is a daily lesson of how they do not fit into mainstream culture. In the past, I defined oppression as only that which is obvious and intentional. I never realized the part I played. However, during a class field study to investigate privileged positions in everyday environments, I learned otherwise. Thesis: Without meaning to, I caused harm by participating in a system where I gained from others’ subtle oppression. In one of these spaces, the local mall, everything from advertisements to food to products, to the locations of doorways, bathrooms and other public necessities, made clear my privilege as a white, heterosexual male.

Body paragraph

Topic sentence : Peggy McIntosh describes privilege as an invisible knapsack of tools and advantages. This description crystalized for me when I shopped for a greeting card at the stationary store. There, as a white, heterosexual male, I felt comfortable and empowered to roam about the store as I pleased. I freely asked the clerk about a mother’s day card. Writer’s past position: Previously, I never considered that a store did anything but sell products. However, when I asked the sales clerk for same sex greeting cards, she paused for a few seconds and gave me a look that made me feel instantly uncomfortable. Some customers stopped to look at me. I felt a heat move over my face. I felt, for a moment, wrong for being in that store. I quickly clarified that I was only doing a report for school, implying that I was not in fact homosexual. Writer’s current position: The clerk’s demeanor changed. I was free to check, she said. It was the only time during the field study that I had felt the need to explain what I was doing to anyone. I could get out of the situation with a simple clarification. But what if I really was a member of the homosexual community? The looks and the silence taught me that I should be feared. I realized that, along with its products, the store was selling an image of normal. But my “normality” was another person’s “abnormality.” After I walked out of the store I felt guilty for having denied being homosexual.

Summary of learning: At the mall I realized how much we indirectly shame nonprivileged groups, even in seemingly welcoming spaces. That shame is supported every time I or any other privileged individual fails to question our advantage. And it leads to a different kind of shame carried by privileged individuals, too. Value for self and others: All of this, as Brown (2003) documents, is exacerbated by silence. Thus, the next step for me is to not only question privilege internally, but to publicly question covert bias and oppression. If I do, I may very well be shamed for speaking out. But my actions might just encourage other people to speak up as well.

Sample paragraphs adapted from James C. Olsen's Teaching Portfolio from Georgetown University .

How to Write a Critique Paper: Format, Tips, & Critique Essay Examples

A critique paper is an academic writing genre that summarizes and gives a critical evaluation of a concept or work. Or, to put it simply, it is no more than a summary and a critical analysis of a specific issue. This type of writing aims to evaluate the impact of the given work or concept in its field.

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Want to learn more? Continue reading this article written by Custom-writing experts! It contains:

best tips on how to critique an article or a literary work,
a critique paper example with introduction, body, and conclusion.

💁 What Is a Critique Paper?

👣 Critical Writing Steps

👀 Critical Essay Types

📝 critique paper format, 📑 critique paper outline, 🔗 references.

A critique is a particular academic writing genre that requires you to carefully study, summarize, and critically analyze a study or a concept. In other words, it is nothing more than a critical analysis. That is all you are doing when writing a critical essay: trying to understand the work and present an evaluation. Critical essays can be either positive or negative, as the work deserves.

👣 How to Write a Critique Essay: Main Steps

Starting critique essays is the most challenging part. You are supposed to substantiate your opinion with quotes and paraphrases, avoiding retelling the entire text. A critical analysis aims to find out whether an article or another piece of writing is compelling. First, you need to formulate the author’s thesis: what was the literary work supposed to convey? Then, explore the text on how this main idea was elaborated. Finally, draft your critique according to the structure given below.

Critical Writing Steps Include: Critical Reading, Analyzing the Text, and Making the Draft.

Step 1: Critical Reading

1.1. Attentively read the literary work. While reading, make notes and underline the essentials.

Try to come into the author’s world and think why they wrote such a piece.
Point out which literary devices are successful. Some research in literary theory may be required.
Find out what you dislike about the text, i.e., controversies, gaps, inconsistency, or incompleteness.

1.2. Find or formulate the author’s thesis.

What is the principal argument? In an article, it can be found in the first paragraph.
In a literary work, formulate one of the principal themes, as the thesis is not explicit.
If you write a critique of painting, find out what feelings, emotions, or ideas, the artist attempted to project.

1.3. Make a summary or synopsis of the analyzed text.

One paragraph will suffice. You can use it in your critique essay, if necessary.
The point is to explore the gist.

Step 2: Analyzing the Text

After the reading phase, ask yourself the following questions :

What was your emotional response to the text? Which techniques, images, or ideas made you feel so?
Find out the author’s background. Which experiences made them raise such a thesis? What other significant works have they written that demonstrate the general direction of thought of this person?
Are the concepts used correctly in the text? Are the references reliable, and do they sufficiently substantiate the author’s opinion?

Step 3: Drafting the Essay

Finally, it is time to draft your essay. First of all, you’ll need to write a brief overview of the text you’re analyzing. Then, formulate a thesis statement – one sentence that will contain your opinion of the work under scrutiny. After that, make a one-paragraph summary of the text.

You can use this simple template for the draft version of your analysis. Another thing that can help you at this step is a summary creator to make the creative process more efficient.

Critique Paper Template

Start with an introductory phrase about the domain of the work in question.
Tell which work you are going to analyze, its author, and year of publication.
Specify the principal argument of the work under study.
In the third sentence, clearly state your thesis.
Here you can insert the summary you wrote before.
This is the only place where you can use it. No summary can be written in the main body!
Use one paragraph for every separate analyzed aspect of the text (style, organization, fairness/bias, etc.).
Each paragraph should confirm your thesis (e.g., whether the text is effective or ineffective).
Each paragraph shall start with a topic sentence, followed by evidence, and concluded with a statement referring to the thesis.
Provide a final judgment on the effectiveness of the piece of writing.
Summarize your main points and restate the thesis, indicating that everything you said above confirms it.

You can evaluate the chosen work or concept in several ways. Pick the one you feel more comfortable with from the following:

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Descriptive critical essays examine texts or other works. Their primary focus is usually on certain features of a work, and it is common to compare and contrast the subject of your analysis to a classic example of the genre to which it belongs.
Evaluative critical essays provide an estimate of the value of the work. Was it as good as you expected based on the recommendations, or do you feel your time would have been better spent on something else?
Interpretive essays provide your readers with answers that relate to the meaning of the work in question. To do this, you must select a method of determining the meaning, read/watch/observe your analysis subject using this method, and put forth an argument.

There are also different types of critiques. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, in the article “ Writing critiques ,” discusses them as well as the appropriate critique language.

Critique Paper Topics

Critique of the article Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr .
Interpret the symbolism of Edgar Alan Poe’s The Black Cat .
Examine the topicality of the article Impact of Racial/Ethnic Differences on Child Mental Health Care .
Critical essay on Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use .
Discuss the value of the essay The Hanging by George Orwell .
A critique on the article Stocks Versus Bonds : Explaining the Equity Risk Premium .
Explore the themes Tennessee Williams reveals in The Glass Menagerie.
Analyze the relevance of the article Leadership Characteristics and Digital Transformation .
Critical evaluation of Jonathan Harvey’s play Beautiful Thing .
Analyze and critique Derek Raymond’s story He Died with His Eyes Open .
Discuss the techniques author uses to present the problem of choice in The Plague .
Examine and evaluate the research article Using Evidence-Based Practice to Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia .
Explore the scientific value of the article Our Future: A Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing .
Describe the ideas E. Hemingway put into his A Clean, Well-Lighted Place .
Analyze the literary qualities of Always Running La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L. A .
Critical writing on The Incarnation of Power by Wright Mills.
Explain the strengths and shortcomings of Tim Kreider’s article The Busy Trap .
Critical response to Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway .
Examine the main idea of Richard Godbeer’s book Escaping Salem .
The strong and weak points of the article The Confusion of Tongues by William G. Bellshaw .
Critical review of Gulliver’s Travels .
Analyze the stylistic devices Anthony Lewis uses in Gideon’s Trumpet.
Examine the techniques Elie Wiesel uses to show relationship transformation in the book Night .
Critique of the play Fences by August Wilson .
The role of exposition in Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart.
The main themes John Maxwell discusses in his book Disgrace .
Critical evaluation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 .
The ideas and concept of the book The Vegetarian Imperative .
Different points of view on one historical figure in the book Two Lives of Charlemagne .

Since the APA critique paper format is one of the most common, let’s discuss it in more detail. Check out the information below to learn more:

The APA Manual recommends using the following fonts:

11-point Calibri,
11-point Arial,
10-point Lucida Sans Unicode,
12-point Times New Roman,
11-point Georgia,
10-point Computer Modern.

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Add 1-inch margins on all sides.

📌 Page numbers

Page numbers should appear at the top right-hand corner, starting with the title page.

📌 Line spacing

The entire document, including the title page and reference list, should be double-spaced.

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📌 Title page

The title page should include the following information:

page number 1 in the top right-hand corner of the page header,
paper title,
the student’s name,
the name of the department and the college or university,
course number and name,
the instructor’s name,
due date (the date format used in your country).

📌 Critique paper title

The title of your critique paper should be no more than 12 words. In addition, it should be centered and typed in bold using title case.

📌 In-text citations

For the in-text citation, provide the author’s last name and publication year in brackets. If you are using direct citation, add the page number after the year.

📌 References

The last page of your paper should include a list of all sources cited in your essay. Here’s a general format of book and journal article citations you should use:

Book: Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle . Publisher.

Journal article: Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title, volume (issue number), start page–end page.

The main parts of good critical response essays are:

Introduction. The introduction is the most essential part of the critical response. It should be concise and include the author and title of the work being analyzed, its main idea, and a strong thesis statement.
Summary. This should be brief and to the point. Only the author’s/creator’s main ideas and arguments should be included.
Analysis/interpretation. Discuss what the author’s/creator’s primary goal was and determine whether this goal was reached successfully. Use the evidence you have gathered to argue whether or not the author/creator achieved was adequately convincing (remember there should be no personal bias in this discussion).
Evaluation/response. At this point, your readers are ready to learn your objective response to the work. It should be professional yet entertaining to read. Do not hesitate to use strong language. You can say that the work you analyzed was weak and poorly-structured if that is the case, but keep in mind that you have to have evidence to back up your claim.
Conclusion. The last paragraph of your work should restate the thesis statement, summarize the key points, and create a sense of closure for the readers.

Critique Paper Introduction

The introduction is setting the stage for your analysis. Here are some tips to follow when working on it:

Provide the reader with a brief synopsis of the main points of the work you are critiquing .
State your general opinion of the work , using it as your thesis statement. The ideal situation is that you identify and use a controversial thesis.
Remember that you will uncover a lot of necessary information about the work you are critiquing. You mustn’t make use of all of it, providing the reader with information that is unnecessary in your critique. If you are writing about Shakespeare, you don’t have to waste your or your reader’s time going through all of his works.

Critique Paper Body

The body of the critique contains the supporting paragraphs. This is where you will provide the facts that prove your main idea and support your thesis. Follow the tips below when writing the body of your critique.

Every paragraph must focus on a precise concept from the paper under your scrutiny , and your job is to include arguments to support or disprove that concept. Concrete evidence is required.
A critical essay is written in the third-person and ensures the reader is presented with an objective analysis.
Discuss whether the author was able to achieve their goals and adequately get their point across.
It is important not to confuse facts and opinions . An opinion is a personal thought and requires confirmation, whereas a fact is supported by reliable data and requires no further proof. Do not back up one idea with another one.
Remember that your purpose is to provide the reader with an understanding of a particular piece of literature or other work from your perspective. Be as specific as possible.

Critique Paper Conclusion

Finally, you will need to write a conclusion for your critique. The conclusion reasserts your overall general opinion of the ideas presented in the text and ensures there is no doubt in the reader’s mind about what you believe and why. Follow these tips when writing your conclusion:

Summarize the analysis you provided in the body of the critique.
Summarize the primary reasons why you made your analysis .
Where appropriate, provide recommendations on how the work you critiqued can be improved.

For more details on how to write a critique, check out the great critique analysis template provided by Thompson Rivers University.

If you want more information on essay writing in general, look at the Secrets of Essay Writing .

Example of Critique Paper with Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

Check out this critical response example to “The Last Inch” by James Aldridge to show how everything works in practice:

Introduction

In his story “The Last Inch,” James Aldridge addresses the issue of the relationship between parents and children. The author captured the young boy’s coming into maturity coinciding with a challenging trial. He also demonstrated how the twelve-year-old boy obtained his father’s character traits. Aldridge’s prose is both brutal and poetic, expressing his characters’ genuine emotions and the sad truths of their situations.

Body: Summary

The story is about Ben Ensley, an unemployed professional pilot, who decides to capture underwater shots for money. He travels to Shark Bay with his son, Davy. Ben is severely injured after being attacked by a shark while photographing. His last hope of survival is to fly back to the little African hamlet from where they took off.

Body: Analysis

The story effectively uses the themes of survival and fatherhood and has an intriguing and captivating plot. In addition, Ben’s metamorphosis from a failing pilot to a determined survivor is effectively presented. His bond with his son, Davy, adds depth and emotional importance to the story. At the same time, the background information about Ben’s past and his life before the shark attack could be more effectively integrated into the main story rather than being presented as separate blocks of text.

Body: Evaluation

I find “The Last Inch” by James Aldridge a very engaging and emotional story since it highlights the idea of a father’s unconditional love and determination in the face of adversity. I was also impressed by the vivid descriptions and strong character development of the father and son.

Conclusion

“The Last Inch” by James Aldridge is an engaging and emotional narrative that will appeal to readers of all ages. It is a story of strength, dedication, and the unbreakable link between father and son. Though some backstory could be integrated more smoothly, “The Last Inch” impresses with its emotional punch. It leaves the readers touched by the raw power of fatherly love and human will.

📚 Critique Essay Examples

With all of the information and tips provided above, your way will become clearer when you have a solid example of a critique essay.

Below is a critical response to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

When speaking of feminist literature that is prominent and manages to touch on incredibly controversial issues, The Yellow Wallpaper is the first book that comes to mind. Written from a first-person perspective, magnifying the effect of the narrative, the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces the reader to the problem of the physical and mental health of the women of the 19th century. However, the message that is intended to concern feminist ideas is rather subtle. Written in the form of several diary entries, the novel offers a mysterious plot, and at the same time, shockingly realistic details.

What really stands out about the novel is the fact that the reader is never really sure how much of the story takes place in reality and how much of it happens in the psychotic mind of the protagonist. In addition, the novel contains a plethora of description that contributes to the strain and enhances the correlation between the atmosphere and the protagonist’s fears: “The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight” (Gilman).

Despite Gilman’s obvious intent to make the novel a feminist story with a dash of thriller thrown in, the result is instead a thriller with a dash of feminism, as Allen (2009) explains. However, there is no doubt that the novel is a renowned classic. Offering a perfect portrayal of the 19th-century stereotypes, it is a treasure that is certainly worth the read.

If you need another critique essay example, take a look at our sample on “ The Importance of Being Earnest ” by Oscar Wilde.

And here are some more critique paper examples for you check out:

A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Critique Paper
Critique on “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“When the Five Rights Go Wrong” Article Critique
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey — Comparison & Critique
“The TrueBlue Study”: Qualitative Article Critique
Ethical Conflict Associated With Managed Care: Views of Nurse Practitioners’: Article Critique
Benefits and Disadvantages of Prone Positioning in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress: Article Critique
Reducing Stress in Student Nurses: Article Critique
Management of Change and Professional Safety – Article Critique
“Views of Young People Towards Physical Activity”: Article Critique

Seeing an example of a critique is so helpful. You can find many other examples of a critique paper at the University of Minnesota and John Hopkins University. Plus, you can check out this video for a great explanation of how to write a critique.

Critical Analysis
Writing an Article Critique
The Critique Essay
Critique Essay
Writing a Critique
Writing A Book Critique
Media Critique
Tips for an Effective Creative Writing Critique
How to Write an Article Critique
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IMAGES

🌈 How to write a good critique essay. Writing a Critique Paper: 7 Easy
Critique Paper Example
What Is a Critical Analysis Essay? Simple Guide With Examples
(DOC) Critique of Origen Homily 27 on Numbers
How To Write A Critique Essay Example
Literary Critique Paper Example

VIDEO

ARGUING IS DIFFERENT FROM COMMUNICATING... /mr example /@KATOLIKOSAGAWA
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Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King (A)
Eucharistic Love: Embracing Maundy Thursday's Message
Jesus is reluctant to take up the sword of justice |Be merciful & God will be merciful to you
Family Involvement in Juvenile Justice: Article Critique

COMMENTS

The Art of Homily and the Conservative Critique
This critique is 'conservative' both by its appeal to orthodoxy and by its prescriptions for yielding the whim of self-expression to the authority of tradition and to the representative. Assumptions. To begin, as the astute reader has likely detected, 'sermon' and 'homily' are herein interchangeable. There admittedly exists between ...
PDF WRITING THE THEOLGICAL ESSAY WELL
WRITING THE THEOLOGICAL ESSAY: CONCLUDING CHECKPOINTS (I) Write about what matters to you, or it won't matter to your readers. Write from the strengths of your own style and voice. Provide a preliminary "map" of your essay to make it reader-friendly. Write simply, for "the essay . . . least calls for . . .long words" (Woolf).
8 Elements of a Phenomenal Homily
As Cardinal Ratziner wrote to the bishops of the world: "The Church, expert in humanity, has a perennial interest in whatever concerns men and women.". People want shepherds who, like Jesus, know their people "by name.". Fourth, I learned that people want preachers to take them seriously by addressing them thoughtfully, by digging deep ...
Critique of the New Homiletic
Critique of the New Homiletic. The new homiletic is new in that it turns away from traditional preaching and the kerygmatic preaching of Karl Barth. The first concentrated on the transmission of an idea, while the second focused on mediation.1. The new homiletic has its roots in the hermeneutical work of Gerhard Ebeling and Ernst Fuchs.
In Case You Missed It: The Homily in the Context of ...
by Fr. Edward Foley . Introduction. Francis' apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) has been widely discussed, analyzed, and alternately embraced or refuted since it first appeared in November of 2013.Even the secular press has given serious attention to this extensive and wide ranging exhortation, especially because of its blunt attention to hot button monetary ...
What Is a Homily?
Brevity: Typically, homilies are concise. They aim to provide a clear and focused reflection without becoming lengthy orations. Liturgical Context: Homilies are often integrated into liturgical worship services, especially in traditions like Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican practices. They follow scripture readings and aim to enhance the ...
The Ladder of Homiletics: 7 Steps to Effective Preaching, Part 1
And as FIYH reminds us, the purpose of the Sunday homily is to "deepen the faith of the baptized," not to dole out scattered observations. 4. Finding a Homiletic Method Creating unity comes from finding a kind of armature on which to hang the homiletic text. Too many unarranged ideas without a focus yield confusion and frustration in the ...
How to write a homily in six long, challenging steps
The best way to describe my process is six-fold: read, pray, plan, write, preach and reflect. Read — Preaching begins a week before giving a homily when I plan time to sit down with the Sunday readings. I must begin by the basic act of reading the Scriptures to be preached. Pray — I spend time to let the readings become the center of my prayer.
The Liturgy of the Word: The Homily
It involves a study of literary critique and history. This is the work of exegesis. The homily encapsulates some exegesis in order to better understand the message the author, both Divine and human, is trying to get across. Some situations, attitudes, and circumstances are universal to human experience; others need to be translated into today.
QUT cite|write
How to write a critique. Before you start writing, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the work that will be critiqued. Study the work under discussion. Make notes on key parts of the work. Develop an understanding of the main argument or purpose being expressed in the work. Consider how the work relates to a broader issue or ...
PDF Homiletics A Very Short Introduction
Coherence: Foremost, a sermon emerges from a biblical text and follows the text's lead theologically and functionally. From the text, the idea of the sermon emerges.2 The preacher will want to say that one thing only, and say it well. Therefore, the focus and function of the sermon must internally cohere as it leads to the climax. The ...
Components of a Critique Essay
The critique is your evaluation of the resource. A strong critique: Discusses the strengths of the resource. Discusses the weaknesses of the resource. Provides specific examples (direct quotes, with proper citation) as needed to support your evaluation. Discusses anything else pertinent to your evaluation, including.
Writing an Article Critique
After summarizing the article, critique the article by doing the following: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the article that you noted while critically reading the article. State your informed opinions about the clarity, relevancy, and accuracy of the article, using specific examples from the article to support your statements. 4.
Homily
Homily is a sermon or speech that a religious person or priest delivers before a group of people to offer them moral correction. The primary purpose of this speech is not doctrinal instruction, but spiritual edification. Simply, homily is a public discourse on a moral or religious subject. Priests read it from the Bible, or other religious text ...
PDF The Critique Essay
The critique essay is not about concerned with the content of the article - but whether or not the AUTHOR of the article presented an effective (or ineffective) argument. EXAMPLE - Dr. John Stamos writes an article about polka music (he's in favor of more polka music on the radio). Do not focus on polka music - you can love it or hate ...
PDF The Critical Essay
Examines how a director has put together a movie about a particular subject. Analyzes what works and what doesn't. Offers an opinion as to whether or not the movie is successful/valuable/worth seeing. Critiques not the topic of the movie, but how the director treats that topic.
How To Write a Critique (With Types and an Example)
How to write a critique. When you're ready to begin writing your critique, follow these steps: 1. Determine the criteria. Before you write your critique, it's helpful to first determine the criteria for the critique. If it's an assignment, your professor may include a rubric for you to follow. Examine the assignment and ask questions to verify ...
12.14: Sample Student Literary Analysis Essays
Page ID. Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap. City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative. Table of contents. Example 1: Poetry. Example 2: Fiction. Example 3: Poetry. Attribution. The following examples are essays where student writers focused on close-reading a literary work.
Critical Reflection
Critical Reflection. A Critical Reflection (also called a reflective essay) is a process of identifying, questioning, and assessing our deeply-held assumptions - about our knowledge, the way we perceive events and issues, our beliefs, feelings, and actions. When you reflect critically, you use course material (lectures, readings, discussions ...
How to Write a Critique Paper: Format, Tips, & Critique Essay Examples
Step 3: Drafting the Essay. Finally, it is time to draft your essay. First of all, you'll need to write a brief overview of the text you're analyzing. Then, formulate a thesis statement - one sentence that will contain your opinion of the work under scrutiny. After that, make a one-paragraph summary of the text.
Homily Examples and Common Topics They Cover
A homily can be insightful and relatable no matter the topic. Browse through some and learn how to successfully identify or present a homily with our list.
Writing, reading, and critiquing reviews
First, start with a clear question: focused or more general depending on the type of review you are conducting. Systematic reviews tend to address very focused questions often summarizing the evidence of your topic. Other types of reviews tend to have broader questions and are more exploratory in nature.
PDF Writing a Critique or Review of a Research Article
Agreeing with, defending or confirming a particular point of view. Proposing a new point of view. Conceding to an existing point of view, but qualifying certain points. Reformulating an existing idea for a better explanation. Dismissing a point of view through an evaluation of its criteria. Reconciling two seemingly different points of view.
Forth: the Definition of a Tragic Hero
Essay Example: The notion of a tragic hero stands as a cornerstone of literary critique, notably within the realm of classical Greek tragedy. ... In each tragic hero's descent, there exists a reflection of the potential for downfall within each individual, molded by their imperfections and the choices they make. By engaging with tragic heroes ...
Law of Reflection
The Law of Reflection is a fundamental principle in physics that states that when a light ray reflects off a surface, the angle of incidence (the angle at which the incoming ray hits the surface) is equal to the angle of reflection (the angle at which the reflected ray leaves the surface). This law applies to both smooth and rough surfaces and is essential for understanding how mirrors and ...
The Importance Of Realism In Literature
Essay Example: Realism in literature is like a magnifying glass held up to everyday life, intensifying the ordinary details that we might overlook and presenting them to us in a new light. ... It emphasizes relatable characters, social critique, and an objective portrayal of reality. ... But realism is not merely a passive reflection of reality ...
Two-dimensional imaging of elastic properties of rock core samples from
Continuous sample measurements can mitigate this problem but are not widely used by the industry. We build upon our previous work and apply laboratory angle-dependent ultrasonic reflection coefficient (ADURC) measurements to achieve detailed two-dimensional descriptions of the elastic properties of complex rock samples.

The Art of Homily and the Conservative Critique

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Presuppositions of the New Homiletic

2. The superiority of the self

3. The authority of experience

What evangelical preachers can gain from the New Homiletic

2. We benefit from the conception that a sermon is a movement, a plot, or "plotted."

3. We benefit from a concern for how the listener hears a sermon

4. We benefit from giving attention to the affective experience of the audience

Bibliography

Shepherding the Shepherd Vol. 1

In Case You Missed It: The Homily in the Context of Evangelii Gaudium

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What Is a Homily?

Characteristics of a Homily

The Role of a Homily in Modern Christian Worship

Crafting an Effective Homily

Historical Origins of the Homily

Related Questions

The Ladder of Homiletics: 7 Steps to Effective Preaching, Part 1

1. Claiming a Personal Theology of Preaching

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Letters from Seminary: Burmester

How to write a critique

Example template

Introduction

Critical evaluation

Reference list

Further information

Global links and information

Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners

Writing a Critique

Further Reading

Parts of a Critique Essay

Introduction

Definition of Homily

Examples of Homily in Literature

Example #2: Al-Bukhari, Hadith 1623, 1626, 6361 (By Muhammad)

Example #3: Message to California’s Proposition 41 in Los Angeles in 1984 (By Father Bill Messenger)

Example #4: Holy Bible, Matthew 24:42-51 (By Deacon Winton DeRosia)

Function of Homily

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12.14: Sample Student Literary Analysis Essays

Example 1: Poetry

Example 2: Fiction

Example 3: Poetry

Attribution

Critical Reflection

How to Critically Reflect

First phase: Analyze

Second phase: Articulate

Develop a thesis statement

Make an outline

Write and revise

Sample Critical Reflection

Introduction

Body paragraph

How to Write a Critique Paper: Format, Tips, & Critique Essay Examples

💁 What Is a Critique Paper?

👀 Critical Essay Types

👣 How to Write a Critique Essay: Main Steps

Step 1: Critical Reading

Step 2: Analyzing the Text

Step 3: Drafting the Essay

Critique Paper Template

Critique Paper Topics

Critique Paper Introduction

Critique Paper Body

Critique Paper Conclusion

Example of Critique Paper with Introduction, Body, and Conclusion