English 12 Demo

A review is a thoughtful account of (in this case) a piece of writing, either a book or an article. Like other forms of academic writing, a review has certain conventions, that is, a reader will expect certain things of them. The point of a review is to describe the book/article's content and argument(s) and to present some kind of discussion about the presentation and its effectiveness, supported with some quotations from the book that illustrate the points you're making. A person who has not read the book should be able to decide, from what you have written, whether or not to read the book.

Book or article reviews are generally fairly short (usually not more than about six pages) unless you're writing about more than one work in the same review (a review article). Check your assignment information. Whether you're writing a short- (say, less than 1000 words or under 4 double-spaced pages) or medium-length review (1000-1500 words or 4-6 double-spaced pages), you should include the following:

1. Bibliographical information about the book, including author(s), title, publishing information, date, ISBN (always appears at the top of your review)

2. General summary of content (what is this book/article about)

3. Discussion of Author's Main Point (why did the author write the book/article; what's the point(s) being made?)

4. Identification of Main Elements of Argument (summarize the reasons the author the author cites to support the main argument)

5. Discussion of Conclusion (what does the author conclude?)

6. Identification of at least 2 problems/strengths (might be noted about the writing, the argument(s), the sources of information, the presentation, etc.)

7. Suggests fixes/discusses strengths (for both you noted in 6.) (what might have made the work stronger/better? what is so special about the really good aspects of the work?)

8. Discuss potential effect of fixes/problems/improvements/strengths (what results might you expect (wider audience, easier read, better argument, etc.)?)

9. Discuss potential effect(s) of the book/article's publication (who would most benefit from reading the work, what might it lead readers to do or think?).

Read some book reviews from a variety of sources (newspapers, magazines, etc., as well as academic journals) to get an idea of how other authors have approached the task. As you read them, examine how they've handled the various elements of a review. Disciplinary journals are often good sources of reviews when you're doing one for class or academic duty.