Purposeful Writing in the Disciplines and for Professions, Reading and Writing Skills

Writing a Book Review or an Article Critique

Objective
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to identify the unique features of a book review or an
article critique and the various disciplines that typically require it.

What is the book or article that you have read most recently?

How did you find it?

What subjects in school usually require you to read a book or an article and then write an essay
about it?

One of the basic school requirements is writing a book review or an article critique. A book review
or an article critique gives essential information about a book (fiction or nonfiction) or an article
(e.g., from newspaper, magazines, academic journals) and provides an evaluation or a critical
analysis of it. This type of academic writing is usually required in courses in the Humanities such
as literature, history, and philosophy, and in the Social Sciences such as sociology, psychology,
and political science.

Read the Material

Before you can begin writing a book review or an article critique, you have to read and understand
the material first. Academic materials demand a different way of reading from those which require
mere pleasure reading. The material that you will review or critique would require you to read
actively, intelligently, and critically. You have to go beyond the content of the material.

As you read, take down notes. Write down the following elements which will be useful in your
review or critique: title; genre; for a book: theme(s), characters, mood, and tone; for an article:
main ideas or arguments, and presentation of ideas; author’s writing style and language; and
author’s purpose.

Formulate questions about the content. These questions may be about concepts that you do not
fully understand or you want to elaborate later on in your analysis.

Read the material more than once for an in-depth understanding of what the author is trying to
convey.

Write the Review or Critique Paper

Your paper should give an informed analysis of the material. It should be more than just a
summary of the book or article.

Be mindful of the structure of your review or critique. Like all essays, a book review or an article
critique has an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction
As a starting point for your book review or article critique, use the notes that you have taken down
while you were critically reading the material. Be guided by the following when writing the
introduction:

Know the context or information in which the material was written—author’s background (i.e.,
life, culture, and beliefs); and social, economic, or political conditions in which the material was
produced.

Mention the title of the material, year or date of publication, and author’s name.

If writing an article critique, state the main argument or author’s purpose of the material.

Come up with a thesis statement which will indicate what your evaluation of the material will be.
If you are doing a book review, is it a positive, negative, or mixed review? If you are writing an
article critique, are you for or against the main argument?

Briefly summarize the book or the main points of the article

Body
This is the analysis and evaluation part of the review or critique paper. Here are some questions
that can help in your critical evaluation of the material.

When writing a book review:

What are the setting, theme(s), plot, characterization, and other significant literary devices used by
the author?

How do these elements contribute to the overall meaning of the book?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the book?

What significant human experience and relationships can you relate with in light of your personal
experience?

How is the book similar to and/or different from other books in the same genre?

Is the book informative, entertaining, or meaningful? Would you recommend it to others? Why or
why not?

When writing an article critique:

Are the ideas presented clear and convincing? What pieces of evidence are used to support the
author’s ideas? Are they valid or accurate?

Is the purpose of the paper achieved? If yes, how? If no, why not?

What is the overall structure of the article? Are the ideas logically organized and adequately
developed?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article?

What further issues does the article raise?

Does the article contribute to your knowledge or understanding of a particular concept or topic?
How is it helpful to other works in its discipline or to works of related topic?

Conclusion
This is a brief summary of your overall evaluation of the material. You may include here the main
reasons, stated in the body paragraphs, why you agree or disagree with the author.
After writing the review or critique, do not forget to cite the references you used for your paper.
Ask your teacher which style guide or citation format to use.

Example 1:
Book Review: The Devil's Company by David Liss
"The Devil's Company," a treat for lovers of historical fiction, sees the return of Benjamin Weaver
in his third exciting romp through the varied and sometimes surreal landscape of 18th-century
London. Weaver is an endearing protagonist, a former pugilist and investigator for hire whom we
first met in David Liss's "A Conspiracy of Paper" (1999). His underlying humanity saves him from
the macho posturing that ultimately undermines the moral authority of most action-adventure
heroes. And he is a Jew, which imbues him with the romance of an outsider and permits Liss to
show us how anti-Semitism was expressed in the relatively unfamiliar context of Hanoverian
England.

Reference: Frank Tallis. "A Bridge to 18th Century London." The Washington Post. 2009.
Accessed March 30, 2016. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070804089.html.

Explanation:
The sample paragraph is an excerpt of Frank Tallis’s book review of The Devil’s Company. It can
be observed that he included important elements such as the setting, theme(s), and characterization
in his introduction of his book review.

Example 2:
Article Critique
Article Critique: Pesch, Udo, “Administrators and Accountability: The Plurality of Value Systems
in the Public Domain,” Public Integrity 10, Fall, no. 4 (2008): 335-343.
The article, “Administrators and Accountability: The Plurality of Value Systems in the Public
Domain,” by Udo Pesch seeks to address how accountability and value systems interact in the
decisions made by public administrators. The research problem being addressed is whether public
administrators are free from accountability for their decisions and what are the different influences
that can affect their decisions. It is clear from the abstract of the article that this is no simple issue.
In fact the article is fairly confusing for the first couple paragraphs. The author starts by saying
that explicit ethics codes of reference systems make it easier to hold individuals accountable for
their actions, however a conflict emerges when an individual’s moral values are different from
such accountability policies. What can make accountability more complicated are the motivations
of the administrator and also the individual’s inability to perceive future consequences of their
decisions.

Reference: Retrieved from University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. Accessed March 30, 2016.
http://www.uwlax.edu/uploadedFiles/Academics/Departments/Political_Science_and_Public_Ad
min/journal_article_critique_example.pdf

Explanation:
This sample paragraph is an excerpt of a critique of the article “Administrators and
Accountability: The Plurality of Value Systems in the Public Domain” by Udo Pesch. The writer’s
evaluation and analysis of the article are supported with details which can be found in the entire
article critique

Summary
A book review or an article critique is more than just a summary of a book or an article. It gives
essential information about a book (fiction or nonfiction) or an article (e.g., from a newspaper,
magazine, academic journal) and provides an evaluation or critical analysis of the book or article.
Like other essays, it has an introduction, body, and conclusion.