Review Writing

The first thing I want you

to do is watch a TV
Episode, documentary
or film.

Preferable one that you

have not seen before. It
might be worth taking
notes of key features as
you do it to help you to
write your review
afterwards.
Please watch this video on writing reviews.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oyDV5YF0
Sw
 Present
What is a
review???

• Reviews give an opinion on anything from a

restaurant to a concert – or in our case a TV show.
• The most common types of published reviews are
films and books, but people also review music,
theatre performances, computers games, apps…
• The people who write reviews for a living are
called ‘critics’. They are knowledgeable about the
topic that they are writing about. We trust their
judgement and may decide to read a book or
watch a film based on their opinion of it.
 Present
What is the purpose of a
review??
• To inform: a review needs to tell its audience who is
in the film, who is in it and when and where people
can see it.
• To describe: a review should describe the story,
characters and some of the action – without spoiling
the plot or giving too much away.
• To entertain: to provide the reader with an opinion
in a way that readers will enjoy , eg in a lively or
witty tone.
• To analyse: a good review weighs up whether the
film is good or not, giving opinions that are backed
up by evidence and reasons.
• To advise: the review should recommend to the
reader whether or not they should go and see the
film.
 Present
Audience!!

• It’s vital that the author of a review knows

who they are writing it for. That way they
can make sure the language, tone and ideas
are accessible.
• For example, if the review of a computer
game is in a specialist gaming magazine,
then the author will assume that the reader
has knowledge of certain things to do with
games and might use specialist
terminology. If the review is for a national
newspaper, this would have a much wider
audience and so the language would need
to be changed so everyone could
understand the review.
 Apply
Now please write your review
using this structure below. Aim Sentence Starters
 I believe that . . .
for 300-400 words.  If . . .
 In addition . . .
REVIEW TASK STRUCTURE:  In conclusion . . .
1) Catchy title, intro and star rating.  In general . . .
(Alliteration can be useful)  In my view . . .
2) Plot- What is it about?  In spite of . . .
 I would like to . . .
3) Good Points
 Meanwhile . . .
4) Good Points
 Moreover . . .
5) A Bad point  Nevertheless . . .
6) Conclusion/summary/  So . . .
recommendation.  Subsequently

Inform Describe Analyse