HFCC Learning Lab Special Writing Forms How to Write a Review of a Book or Article

Transcription

1 HFCC Learning Lab Special Writing Forms 8.92 Introduction: How to Write a Review of a Book or Article During your college education, you often will be required to read a book or essay and write an evaluation of what you have read. Depending upon the instructor, this evaluation might be called a book report, or a critical review. However, there is a significant difference between college reviews and the book reports of high school. High school reports are usually summaries, summaries that demonstrate that you read the assigned material. In contrast, the primary purpose of the college review is to recommend or not to recommend a particular work, based on your informed opinion of the work. Thus, a review should contain only one-third summary, but twothirds evaluation, and it should display your ability to critically examine and evaluate the assigned material Errors To Avoid in Reviews: A) summarizing contents without thinking B) presenting unsupported gut reactions C) organizing your review chronologically according to the chapters of the book D) using superlatives, such as best, worst, most The review process can be divided into three distinct stages: previewing, outline overview, and written version. Prewriting: This stage of the initial review process prior to/or during your initial reading of the book or article. A) Examine the title and/or the preface closely to gain insight into the author s stance on his/her designated topic. Determine whether the work is fiction or non-fiction, autobiography, political treatise or sociological study. B) Review the table of contents to obtain a sense of the book s organization. C) Read the introduction/conclusion of the book or article and write down the thesis or main idea of the author. The thesis should help you determine the author s purpose. D) Determine the author s audience. Is his/her book aimed towards professionals in his/her field or towards the general reader?

2 E) Read the work with pencil in hand, underlining significant portions, making marginal notes, questioning statements made by the author or agreeing with him. If you are using a library book, you should use note cards to jot down crucial pages and significant points. Outline Overview: Now that you are convinced that a review is not simply a summary of an assigned work, you might legitimately ask: How do I analyze or evaluate the material? To help you create a stimulating analysis, consider the following checklist questions: A) What are the strengths of the book or article? B) Does the book or article present new ways of thinking about the subject? C) Are sufficient statistics or examples used to support the author s thesis? D) Does all the information support the author s thesis? E) How well is the work organized? F) Are there any problems the author overlooked? For instance, if he/she argues that drugs should be legalized, does he offer a system for implementing his proposal? G) Does the author acknowledge the source(s) for his information? H) Is the author s style suitable for his/her intended audience? I) Is the book well-written? J) If illustrations and graphs are used, do they add anything to the work or are they simply fillers? K) What is the author s expertise in this particular area? For instance, is the author of a wellknown best seller on psychology a psychiatrist, psychologist, or interested layman? L) How would you rate this article/book compared to other works on this topic? Written Version: After you have answered the previous questions, you will have sufficient material to form the basis of your review. Here is one method of organization for your critical essay. Introduction: The introduction is an important part of your review because it will determine whether your audience will continue reading. Your introduction should identify the title of the book and the authors name. avoid the dull opening, such as, In this review I will discuss a book entitled

3 Instead quote some significant passage from the book, comment on the book s subject matter, or relate some relevant biographical information on the author. The most significant part of your introduction is your thesis. It is important that the thesis state your evaluation of the work not present a restatement of the book/essay s main point. The thesis should be a statement not a question, and it should be placed in your introduction, probably as the last sentence of the introduction. Note the difference between the following theses: A) In the article I Know it s Only Rock N Roll, But I Hate It, Caskie Stinnett criticizes rock music, rock musicians, and rock fans. B) Although written in an arresting and organized fashion, the article, I Know it s Only Rock N Roll, But I Hate It contains an unsubstantiated and illogical attack on rock n roll. A) Our National Science, by Dr. John Weber, is a book about the science of politics. B) In Our National Science, Dr. John Weber successfully defines the scientific principles behind political studies; however, he pays too little attention to such variables as unpredictable events and social movements. In both cases B is a more effective and appropriate thesis. Summary: The summary paragraph(s) should follow immediately after your introduction to familiarize the reader with the work. an essay can usually be summarized in one paragraph; a book might require two or three paragraphs. The purpose of the summary is to allow the reader objectively to determine if he or she might be interested in the work s subject matter. An effective summary paragraph should contain the following: 1) A restatement of the book s thesis in the first sentence of the summary paragraph. 2) The major points or arguments of the original author. 3) An objective and unbiased tone that conveys the facts of the article without commentary. 4) The same proportion and emphasis of the original author, so that the reader is not misled as to the author s primary concerns. 5) Some quotes to support the validity of your analysis. Body of the Review:

4 The rest of your paragraphs will supply the evidence to support your evaluation of the book or article. You have much freedom as to the arrangement and content of these paragraphs. If you were favorably impressed with the work and wish to recommend it, you would devote most of your essay to noting the positive features, setting aside only one minor paragraph for any drawbacks you noted. If you felt that the work was poorly constructed, you would devote most of your essay to revealing the flaws of the book or article. Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that supports your judgment of the work as expressed in your thesis. Your paragraphs might focus on the following aspects of the original article or book: method of development, suitability to intended audience, organization, style, logical fallacies, etc. The following are some sample topic sentences for body paragraphs: A) The author uses case studies and random samplings effectively in his argument for nuclear disarmament. B) The essay adheres to a clear cause-and-effect order. C) The author s argument for investigation in Nicaragua is based on a fallacious comparison of Vietnam and Nicaragua. D) The style of the article is clear, understandable, and suitable to the intended audience. Conclusion: Your conclusion should not introduce a new idea or contradict your thesis. If your entire review is favorable, you should not highlight the drawbacks of the work in your conclusion. You should restate your dominant impression, either recommending or not recommending the work to future readers. Conventions: Use of quotes: Quotations are important in a review because they show that you have actually read the book or essay. However, they must be used sparingly and carefully. Avoid quoting portions out of context so that the author s meaning is distorted. Do not quote a minor or trivial point. In quoting, quote accurately, and be sure to punctuate the quotation correctly. Note that commas and periods are placed inside quotation marks; semicolons and colons go outside the marks. Beware of using too many quotes. Avoid lengthy quoted passages or block quotations. On the average, you should probably only use one or two block quotations (longer than forty words) and two/three quoted sentences/phrases in a review. You can use an ellipsis to indicate the omission of any material in the middle of a quote. The three dots ( ) indicate that the original material has been left out.

5 Documentation: If you are quoting from the work being reviewed, all you need to do is place the page number in parentheses following the quotation, e.g. Stinnett describes rock music as the most monumental of miscalculations (10).