BOOK REVIEW

OR
ARTICLE
CRITIQUE
WHAT IS AN ARTICLE CRITIQUE?
• A critique is a paper that gives a critical assessment
of a book or article
• A critique is a systematic analysis of a piece of
literature that discusses its validity and evaluates its
worth
• Its main purpose is not informational, but analytic
and persuasive
PURPOSE
• The critical review is a writing task that asks you
to summarize and evaluate a text.
• Writing the critical review usually requires you
to read the selected text in detail and to also
read other related texts so that you can present
a fair and reasonable evaluation of the selected
text.
WHAT IS MEANT BY CRITICAL?
• To be critical does not mean to criticize in a negative
manner. It requires you to question the information
and opinions in a text and present your evaluation or
judgement of the text.
• To do this well, you should attempt to understand the
topic from different perspectives (i.e. read related
texts)
WHAT IS MEANT BY EVALUATION
OR JUDGEMENT?

• Here you decide the strengths and weaknesses

of a text.
STRUCTURE OF A REVIEW

•Introduction
•Summary
•Content (your review)
•Conclusion.
INTRODUCTION

• Include a few opening sentences that announce

the author(s) and the title, and briefly explain the
topic of the text. Present the aim of the text
1. Name(s) of the author(s)
2. Title of article
3. Title of journal, volume number, date, month and
page numbers
4. Statement of the problem or issue discussed
5. The author’s purpose, approach or methods,
hypothesis, and major conclusions.
SUMMARY
• Present a summary of the key points along with a
limited number of examples.
• You can also briefly explain the author’s
purpose/intentions throughout the text and you may
briefly describe how the text is organized.
REVIEW
• The REVIEW should be a balanced discussion and
evaluation of the strengths, weakness and notable
features of the text.
• Remember to base your discussion on specific
criteria.
• Good reviews also include other sources to support
your evaluation (remember to reference).
1. Is the title of the article appropriate and clear?
2. Is the abstract specific, representative of the
article, and in the correct form?
3. Is the purpose of the article made clear in the
introduction?
4. Do you find errors of fact and interpretation?
5. Is all of the discussion relevant?
6. Has the author cited the pertinent, and only the pertinent, literature? If the author
has included inconsequential references, or references that are not pertinent, suggest
deleting them.
7. Have any ideas been overemphasized or underemphasized? Suggest specific
revisions.
8. Should some sections of the manuscript be expanded, condensed or omitted?
9. Are the author’s statements clear? Challenge ambiguous statements. Suggest by
examples how
clarity can be achieved, but do not merely substitute your style for the author’s.
10. What underlying assumptions does the author have?
11. Has the author been objective in his or her discussion of the topic?
CONCLUSION
• In this section, revisit the key points of the article review,
your findings of the article, and your critique.
• Also write about the accuracy, validity, and relevance of the
results of the article review. Give the way forward for future
research in the field of study.
 GUIDELINES IN
WRITING A BOOK
REVIEW OR
ARTICLE
CRITIQUE
1. Read the article or book to be reviewed carefully to get its main
concept.
2. Reread it to get the arguments being presented.
3. Relate the content of the article or book to what you already know
about the topic.
4. Focus on discussing how the book treats the topic and not the topic
itself. Start your sentences with phrases such as “This book presents…”
and “The author argues…”
5. Situate your review. This means that your analysis should be anchored
on the theories presented by the book or article review.
6. Examine whether the findings are adequately supported or not.
7. Analyze the type of analysis the writer used and how it supports the
arguments and claims.
8. Suggest some ways on how the writer can improve his/her reasoning
or explanation.
9. Discuss how the same topic is explained from another perspective.
10. Point out other conclusions or interpretations that the writer missed
out. Present other ideas that need to be examined.
11. Examine the connections between the ideas and how they affect the
conclusions and findings.
12. Show your reaction to the writer’s ideas and present an explanation.
13. Suggest some alternative methods and processes of reasoning that
would result in a more conclusive interpretation.