When you are asked to write a critical review of an article, you will need to identify, summarize, and evaluate the ideas and information the author has presented. In other words, you will be examining another person’s thoughts on a topic from your point of view.
The critical review is a writing task requiring you to summarize and evaluate a piece of writing, in this case a journal article. Writing the critical review requires you to read the selected article in detail. Being critical does not mean to criticize in a negative sense, but to question the information and opinions of the author and present your assessment and judgment of the piece. In our case the central question is: How good and reliable is the history presented in the article?
You will need to identify, summarize, and evaluate the ideas and information the author has presented. In other words, you will be examining another person’s thoughts on a topic from your point of view. Make your stand clear at the beginning of your review, in your evaluations of specific parts, and in your concluding commentary. A critical review has three parts. The overall length of your review should be five to seven good paragraphs with five or more well constructed sentences making a paragraph. Do the job required and length will take care of itself. This is a fifty-point assignment.
Introduction: The introduction is usually one or two paragraphs. Your introduction will focus on identifying the author, the title, the main topic or issue presented in the article, and the author’s purpose in writing the article.
Critique: . This is the main section of your review with the majority of your space dedicated to it. The critique should be a balanced evaluation of the strengths and weakness of the article. Your goal should be to make a few key points about article (at least three or four), not to discuss everything the author writes. Remember, as you discuss the author’s major points, be sure to distinguish consistently between the author’s opinions and your own. Keep the summary portions of your discussion concise, remembering that your task as a reviewer is to re-see the author’s work, not to re-tell it. And, importantly, if you refer to ideas from other books and articles or from lecture and course materials, always document your sources, or else you might wander into the realm of plagiarism. Include only that material which has relevance for your review.
Conclusion: You will want to use the conclusion to state your overall critical evaluation. You have already discussed the major points the author makes, examined how the author supports arguments, and evaluated the quality or effectiveness of specific aspects of the book or article. Now you must make an evaluation of the work as a whole, determining such things as whether or not the author achieves the stated or implied purpose and if the work makes a significant contribution to an existing body of knowledge.
Mechanics: . Proper length, spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, proper bibliography with references cited in the MLA style of referencing.
Your review must go beyond your “gut reaction” to the work and be based on your knowledge (readings, experience, etc.) of the topic.
Make your stand clear at the beginning of your review, in your evaluations of specific parts, and in your concluding commentary.
Remember that your goal should be to make a few key points about the book or article, not to discuss everything the author writes.
Begin your review with an introduction appropriate to your assignment. This assignment asks you to review only one article. Your introduction will focus on identifying the author, the title, the main topic or issue presented in the article, and the author’s purpose in writing the article.
The body is the center of your paper, where you draw out your main arguements. Below are some guidelines to help you write it.
Remember, as you discuss the author’s major points, be sure to distinguish consistently between the author’s opinions and your own. Keep the summary portions of your discussion concise, remembering that your task as a reviewer is to re-see the author’s work, not to re-tell it. And, importantly, if you refer to ideas from other books and articles or from lecture and course materials, always document your sources, or else you might wander into the realm of plagiarism. Include only that material which has relevance for your review and use direct quotations sparingly.
You will want to use the conclusion to state your overall critical evaluation. You have already discussed the major points the author makes, examined how the author supports arguments, and evaluated the quality or effectiveness of specific aspects of the book or article. Now you must make an evaluation of the work as a whole, determining such things as whether or not the author achieves the stated or implied purpose and if the work makes a significant contribution to an existing body of knowledge. MLA citation style is required for these reviews.
