A critical analysis or critique of something is a careful and thorough examination of it, in order to understand what it is, how it works, or what it means.
In fact, a critique is an attempt to understand an object or system by considering its history and context, its intended and unintended consequences, and its overall significance. A critique may be comparative; that is, it may examine one object (or system) in terms of another object (or system).
A critique need not be negative. It can be positive as well as negative; it can offer praise as well as criticism. And a critique need not focus exclusively on the object being examined; it can also deal with other objects that are related to it in various ways (for example, by sharing essential qualities with the object being examined).
Criticism can be directed at any kind of thing: an idea or belief system, a person or group of people, an organization or institution, social practices or institutions such as racism or sexism — even nature itself must sometimes give way before our desire for control over our environment. Critiques can be written about anything — books, movies, music albums, articles, websites… even people! (The latter is known as a “personality critique.”)
