A book review and an article critique are probably the best proof of how well you read and write, considering that you will have to be able to read critically for understanding before you can evaluate a text fairly through writing.
In writing either a book review or article critique, you will have to demonstrate your understanding of the text by first summarizing the content of the article or of the book. Then you will need to interpret the ideas which you will have to argue about by making assertions and supporting your assertions. Sometimes, you will need also to state the relevance of the book to its subject area and include endorsement.
Your main purpose in writing a book review or article critique is to argue for or against the ideas presented by the author.
Consideration in Writing Book Review and an Article Critique
There are some factors to consider in writing a book review or an article critique. These factors include the following: (1) unique features of the text; (2) purpose and audience; and (3) pattern of development.
Unique Features of a Book Review and Article Critique
A review or a critique intends to provide critical evaluation of a piece of writing. The writer of a book review or an article critique writes a summary of the content of a book, including pertinent details about the book/article such as the title and author. You, as the writer, should also state your general evaluation of the book/article which will be the main idea of your review/critique. The main idea or the general evaluation must be supported specific points that you want to make about the writing which you could further support by including sample lines from the book/article.
Purpose and Audience
The main purpose of a book review or an article critique is to persuade book readers of a particular genre or researchers in a specific field to either read or not read the book or article. To a certain extent, the review/critique tells how useful and credible a piece of writing is.
Pattern of Development
Having said that the purpose of a review/critique is to persuade, the pattern of development to use in writing is the persuasion pattern. You have already learned that when using this pattern, you are to first state a general argument as your main idea. Then you must support that main idea with specific points which need to be backed up by relevant details such as quotations from the book/article or notes from other sources.
Writing the Review/Critique
Prewriting
Organize your ideas by completing the outline below with your thesis statement and the topic sentence for each paragraph in the body of your persuasive text.
Note: Make sure you use appropriate transition words to link your ideas together and to transition from one idea to the next.
Drafting
Begin writing your article critique.
________________________________
(Title)
Beginning the Text
| (Write a good lead-in here.) |
| (Write a transition sentence leading to your thesis statement here.) |
| (Write your thesis statement here.) |
Adding details to support ideas
| (Write your first supporting point here.) |
| (Add specific details here.) |
| (Write your second supporting point here.) |
| (Add specific details here.) |
| (Write your third supporting point here.) |
| (Add specific details here.) |
Ending the Text
| (Write a short summary of your points here.) |
| (Write a memorable statement here or repeat a keyword from the introduction.) |
Revising
- Do necessary revisions on your draft if you answered “no” to any of the questions in the revision checklist below. Add more or eliminate details, if necessary.
Revision Checklist- Does my thesis statement introduce the purpose of my piece?
- Are the supporting points arranged logically?
- Does each topic sentence in the body of my essay support my thesis statement?
- Are appropriate transitions used in the text?
- Is the arrangement of the specific details logical?
- Proofread your draft if you think that your essay needs no further revision; that is, if you have conformed to the persuasion pattern’s specific features and had it peer-edited. Do this by checking for spelling, punctuation, format, and grammar errors.
