WHAT IS A REVIEW?
A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can
consider books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion,
restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms. Above all, a review
makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not a
summary of the work. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion with the work's
creator and with other audiences. You can offer agreement or disagreement and identify
where you find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or organization.
You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will
probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body
paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Typically, reviews are brief. In newspapers and academic journals, they rarely exceed 1000
words, although you may encounter lengthier assignments and extended commentaries. In
either case, reviews need to be succinct. While they vary in tone, subject, and style, they
share some common features:
• (Content) First, a review gives the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a
relevant description of the topic as well as its overall perspective, argument, or purpose.
• (Style) Second, a review offers a brief overview of the style or things are said in the work.
• (Assessment) Third, and more importantly, a review offers a critical assessment of the
content. This involves your reactions to the work under review: what strikes you as
noteworthy, whether or not it was effective or persuasive, and how it enhanced your
understanding of the issues at hand.
• (Conclusion) finally, in addition to analysing the work, a review often suggests whether or
not the audience would appreciate it.
Planning the review:
Let’s say you want to write a review of a book. For this you need to collect the following
information:
• Bibliographical Data
• Classification
• Author and Author Purpose
• Subject Matter (theme)
• Contents (development of the theme)
• Style (the style is effective in conveying content, and pleasing to the reader?)
• View of Life (author’s stance, practical or impractical , realistic, idealistic,
• Value and Significance
• Format
WRITING THE REVIEW:
Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully
survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe
the purpose or thesis of your review. Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.
INTRODUCTION:
• The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
• Relevant details about who the author is and where he/she stands in the genre or field of
inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject
matter.
• The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes
sense to your audience alerts readers to your "take" on the book. Perhaps you want to situate
a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United
States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the
framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your
argument.
• The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays,
and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book's particular novelty,
angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to
make.
• Your thesis about the book.
SUMMARY OF CONTENT:
• This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment,
you'll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some
summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE BOOK:
• Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single
aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to
consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and
pair assertions with evidence more clearly.
• You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it.
Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by
themes, methods, or other elements of the book.
• If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book
under review remains in the spotlight
• Try using a few short quotes from the book to illustrate your points. This is not absolutely
necessary, but it's a good way to give your reader a sense of the author's writing style. Give a
specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote.
CONCLUSION:
• Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should
not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however,
introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis.
• This paragraph needs to balance the book's strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your
evaluation. Did the body of your review have three negative paragraphs and one favourable
one? What do they all add up to? The Writing Centre’s handout on Conclusions can help you
make a final assessment.
REVIEWING SPECIFIC TYPES OF BOOKS:
The type of book being reviewed raises special considerations as to how to approach the
review. Information specific to the categories of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry can be found
under the "Form and Technique" heading of this guide. Below are further questions to
consider, based on a book's category:
• Biography/Autobiography
o Does the book give a full-length picture of the subject? Focus on only a portion of life?
o What phases of the subject's life receive greatest space? Is there justification for this?
o What is the point of view of the author?
o Are idiosyncrasies and weaknesses omitted? Treated adequately? Overplayed?
o Does the author endeavour to get at hidden motives?
o What important new facts about the subject's life are revealed in the book?
o Is the subject of the biography still living?
o What source materials were used in the preparation of the book?
• History
o What training has the author had for this kind of work?
o What particular historical period does the book address?
o Is the account given in broad outline, or in detail?
o Is the style that of reportorial writing, or is there an effort at interpretation?
o Is emphasis on traditional matter, like wars, kings, etc.? Or is it a social history?
o Are dates used extensively and/or intelligently?
o Is the book likely to be out of date soon? Or is it intended to stand the test of time?
o Are maps, illustrations, charts, etc., helpful to the reader?
• Contemporary Thought
o Who is the author, and what right does he/she have to be writing on the subject? o What
contributions to knowledge and understanding are made by the book?
• Travel and Adventure
o Is the author credible? What is the author's purpose for writing the book?
o Does the book contribute to knowledge of geography, government, folklore, etc.? o Does
the book have news value?
• Mystery
o How effective are plot, pace, style, and characterization? Strengths? Weaknesses?
o Is the ending worthwhile? Predictable?
o Children's Literature
o What is the age/interest group for which the book is intended?
o What is the overall experience/feeling of reading the book? o Is the book illustrated? How?
By whom?
Becoming an expert reviewer: Three short examples
Reviewing can be a daunting task. Someone has asked for your opinion about something that
you may feel unqualified to evaluate. Who are you to criticize Toni Morrison's new book if
you've never written a novel yourself, much less won a Nobel Prize? The point is that
someone-a professor, a journal editor, peers in a study group-wants to know what you think
about a particular work. You may not be (or feel like) an expert, but you need to pretend to be
one for your particular audience. Nobody expects you to be the intellectual equal of the
work's creator, but your careful observations can provide you with the raw material to make
reasoned judgments. Tactfully voicing agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism, is a
valuable, challenging skill, and like many forms of writing, reviews require you to provide
concrete evidence for your assertions. Take a look of a review of a book To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You can use it as a model as you begin thinking about your own
book review.
To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Review by Rodman Phil brick
I've never been to Alabama, but novelist Harper Lee made me feel as if I had been there in
the long, hot summer of 1935, when a lawyer named Atticus Finch decided to defend an
innocent black man accused of a horrible crime. The story of how the whole town reacted to
the trial is told by the lawyer's daughter, Scout, who remembers exactly what it was like to be
eight years old in 1935, in Maycomb, Alabama.
Scout is the reason I loved this book, because her voice rings so clear and true. Not only does
she make me see the things she sees, she makes me feel the things she feels. There's a lot
more going on than just the trial, and Scout tells you all about it.
A man called Boo Radley lives next door. Very few people have ever seen Boo, and Scout
and her friends have a lot of fun telling scary stories about him. The mystery about Boo
Radley is just one of the reasons you want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens
in To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout and her big brother, Jem, run wild and play games and have
a great time while their father is busy with the trial. One of their friends is a strange boy
called Dill. Actually Dill isn't really so strange once you get to know him. He says things like
"I'm little but I'm old," which is funny but also pretty sad, because some of the time Dill acts
more like a little old man than a seven–year–old boy.
To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with interesting characters like Dill, and Scout makes them all
seem just as real as the people in your own hometown. Here's how Scout describes Miss
Caroline, who wore a red–striped dress: "She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop."
Dill and Boo and Jem are all fascinating, but the most important character in the book is
Scout's father, Atticus Finch. You get the idea that Scout is writing the story down because
she wants the world to know what a good man her dad was, and how hard he tried to do the
right thing, even though the deck was stacked against him. "Lesson," it's simply part of the
world she describes. That's why To Kill a Mockingbird rings true, and why it all seems so
real.
The trial of the wrongly accused Tom Robinson takes place during the time of segregation,
when black people were not allowed to socialize with white people. In that era, when a white
man said a black man committed a crime, the black man was presumed to be guilty. The law
required that they have a trial, but everybody knew the defendant was going to be convicted.
Atticus Finch, the quiet hero of the book, tries to persuade the jury that bigotry is wrong. His
words are eloquent and heartfelt. He demonstrates that Tom Robinson couldn't possibly have
assaulted the victim. Atticus even reveals the identity of the real villain, which enrages a very
dangerous enemy. This act of courage endangers not only Atticus Finch but his family as
well. They become the target of hate mongers and bigots. Even though the story took place
many years ago, you get the idea that parts of it could happen today, in any town where
people distrust and fear each other's differences. In a just world an innocent man should be
found not guilty. But if you want to know what this particular jury finally decides and what
happens to Scout and Jem and Dill and Boo Radley and the rest of the people who live and
breathe in To Kill a Mockingbird, you'll have to read the book!
A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can
consider books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion,
restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms. Above all, a review
makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not a
summary of the work. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion with the work's
creator and with other audiences. You can offer agreement or disagreement and identify
where you find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or organization.
You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will
probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body
paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Typically, reviews are brief. In newspapers and academic journals, they rarely exceed 1000
words, although you may encounter lengthier assignments and extended commentaries. In
either case, reviews need to be succinct. While they vary in tone, subject, and style, they
share some common features:
• (Content) First, a review gives the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a
relevant description of the topic as well as its overall perspective, argument, or purpose.
• (Style) Second, a review offers a brief overview of the style or things are said in the work.
• (Assessment) Third, and more importantly, a review offers a critical assessment of the
content. This involves your reactions to the work under review: what strikes you as
noteworthy, whether or not it was effective or persuasive, and how it enhanced your
understanding of the issues at hand.
• (Conclusion) finally, in addition to analysing the work, a review often suggests whether or
not the audience would appreciate it.
Planning the review:
Let’s say you want to write a review of a book. For this you need to collect the following
information:
• Bibliographical Data
• Classification
• Author and Author Purpose
• Subject Matter (theme)
• Contents (development of the theme)
• Style (the style is effective in conveying content, and pleasing to the reader?)
• View of Life (author’s stance, practical or impractical , realistic, idealistic,
• Value and Significance
• Format
WRITING THE REVIEW:
Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully
survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe
the purpose or thesis of your review. Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.
INTRODUCTION:
• The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
• Relevant details about who the author is and where he/she stands in the genre or field of
inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject
matter.
• The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes
sense to your audience alerts readers to your "take" on the book. Perhaps you want to situate
a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United
States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the
framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your
argument.
• The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays,
and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book's particular novelty,
angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to
make.
• Your thesis about the book.
SUMMARY OF CONTENT:
• This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment,
you'll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some
summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE BOOK:
• Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single
aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to
consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and
pair assertions with evidence more clearly.
• You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it.
Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by
themes, methods, or other elements of the book.
• If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book
under review remains in the spotlight
• Try using a few short quotes from the book to illustrate your points. This is not absolutely
necessary, but it's a good way to give your reader a sense of the author's writing style. Give a
specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote.
CONCLUSION:
• Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should
not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however,
introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis.
• This paragraph needs to balance the book's strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your
evaluation. Did the body of your review have three negative paragraphs and one favourable
one? What do they all add up to? The Writing Centre’s handout on Conclusions can help you
make a final assessment.
REVIEWING SPECIFIC TYPES OF BOOKS:
The type of book being reviewed raises special considerations as to how to approach the
review. Information specific to the categories of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry can be found
under the "Form and Technique" heading of this guide. Below are further questions to
consider, based on a book's category:
• Biography/Autobiography
o Does the book give a full-length picture of the subject? Focus on only a portion of life?
o What phases of the subject's life receive greatest space? Is there justification for this?
o What is the point of view of the author?
o Are idiosyncrasies and weaknesses omitted? Treated adequately? Overplayed?
o Does the author endeavour to get at hidden motives?
o What important new facts about the subject's life are revealed in the book?
o Is the subject of the biography still living?
o What source materials were used in the preparation of the book?
• History
o What training has the author had for this kind of work?
o What particular historical period does the book address?
o Is the account given in broad outline, or in detail?
o Is the style that of reportorial writing, or is there an effort at interpretation?
o Is emphasis on traditional matter, like wars, kings, etc.? Or is it a social history?
o Are dates used extensively and/or intelligently?
o Is the book likely to be out of date soon? Or is it intended to stand the test of time?
o Are maps, illustrations, charts, etc., helpful to the reader?
• Contemporary Thought
o Who is the author, and what right does he/she have to be writing on the subject? o What
contributions to knowledge and understanding are made by the book?
• Travel and Adventure
o Is the author credible? What is the author's purpose for writing the book?
o Does the book contribute to knowledge of geography, government, folklore, etc.? o Does
the book have news value?
• Mystery
o How effective are plot, pace, style, and characterization? Strengths? Weaknesses?
o Is the ending worthwhile? Predictable?
o Children's Literature
o What is the age/interest group for which the book is intended?
o What is the overall experience/feeling of reading the book? o Is the book illustrated? How?
By whom?
Becoming an expert reviewer: Three short examples
Reviewing can be a daunting task. Someone has asked for your opinion about something that
you may feel unqualified to evaluate. Who are you to criticize Toni Morrison's new book if
you've never written a novel yourself, much less won a Nobel Prize? The point is that
someone-a professor, a journal editor, peers in a study group-wants to know what you think
about a particular work. You may not be (or feel like) an expert, but you need to pretend to be
one for your particular audience. Nobody expects you to be the intellectual equal of the
work's creator, but your careful observations can provide you with the raw material to make
reasoned judgments. Tactfully voicing agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism, is a
valuable, challenging skill, and like many forms of writing, reviews require you to provide
concrete evidence for your assertions. Take a look of a review of a book To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You can use it as a model as you begin thinking about your own
book review.
To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Review by Rodman Phil brick
I've never been to Alabama, but novelist Harper Lee made me feel as if I had been there in
the long, hot summer of 1935, when a lawyer named Atticus Finch decided to defend an
innocent black man accused of a horrible crime. The story of how the whole town reacted to
the trial is told by the lawyer's daughter, Scout, who remembers exactly what it was like to be
eight years old in 1935, in Maycomb, Alabama.
Scout is the reason I loved this book, because her voice rings so clear and true. Not only does
she make me see the things she sees, she makes me feel the things she feels. There's a lot
more going on than just the trial, and Scout tells you all about it.
A man called Boo Radley lives next door. Very few people have ever seen Boo, and Scout
and her friends have a lot of fun telling scary stories about him. The mystery about Boo
Radley is just one of the reasons you want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens
in To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout and her big brother, Jem, run wild and play games and have
a great time while their father is busy with the trial. One of their friends is a strange boy
called Dill. Actually Dill isn't really so strange once you get to know him. He says things like
"I'm little but I'm old," which is funny but also pretty sad, because some of the time Dill acts
more like a little old man than a seven–year–old boy.
To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with interesting characters like Dill, and Scout makes them all
seem just as real as the people in your own hometown. Here's how Scout describes Miss
Caroline, who wore a red–striped dress: "She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop."
Dill and Boo and Jem are all fascinating, but the most important character in the book is
Scout's father, Atticus Finch. You get the idea that Scout is writing the story down because
she wants the world to know what a good man her dad was, and how hard he tried to do the
right thing, even though the deck was stacked against him. "Lesson," it's simply part of the
world she describes. That's why To Kill a Mockingbird rings true, and why it all seems so
real.
The trial of the wrongly accused Tom Robinson takes place during the time of segregation,
when black people were not allowed to socialize with white people. In that era, when a white
man said a black man committed a crime, the black man was presumed to be guilty. The law
required that they have a trial, but everybody knew the defendant was going to be convicted.
Atticus Finch, the quiet hero of the book, tries to persuade the jury that bigotry is wrong. His
words are eloquent and heartfelt. He demonstrates that Tom Robinson couldn't possibly have
assaulted the victim. Atticus even reveals the identity of the real villain, which enrages a very
dangerous enemy. This act of courage endangers not only Atticus Finch but his family as
well. They become the target of hate mongers and bigots. Even though the story took place
many years ago, you get the idea that parts of it could happen today, in any town where
people distrust and fear each other's differences. In a just world an innocent man should be
found not guilty. But if you want to know what this particular jury finally decides and what
happens to Scout and Jem and Dill and Boo Radley and the rest of the people who live and
breathe in To Kill a Mockingbird, you'll have to read the book!
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