READING & WRITING SKILLS

BOOK REVIEW &

ARTICLE CRITIQUE
JC NARAG/SMSAT 2020
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
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.
 TAKE DOWN NOTES
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

·        
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.
 ·        

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

1. 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.
2. Mention the title of the material, year or date of
publication, and author’s name.
 INTRODUCTION

3. 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?
4. 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 for
1. What are the setting, theme(s),plot,characterization,
and other significant literary devices used by the
author? B
2. How do these elements contribute to the overall
meaning of the book? O
3.What are the strengths and weaknesses of the book?
4.What significant human experience and relationships O
can you relate with in light of your personal
experience?
K
5.How is the book similar to and/or different from other
books in the same genre? review
6. Is the book informative, entertaining, or meaningful?
Would you recommend it to others? Why or why
not?
 BODY

for
1.Are the ideas presented clear and convincing?
A

2. What pieces of evidence are used to support the

author’s ideas? Are they valid or accurate? R

T
3. Is the purpose of the paper achieved? If yes,
how? If no, why not? I

4. What is the overall structure of the article? Are C

the ideas logically organized and adequately
developed? L

5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the E

article? review
 BODY

for

6. What further issues does the article

raise? A

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

topic? C

E
review
 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.