Writing a Critical Review for students

1WritingaCriticalReviewPurposeThecriticalreviewisawritingtaskthatasksyoutosummarizeandevaluateatext.Thecriticalreviewcanbeofabook,achapter,orajournalarticle.TobecriticalTobecriticaldoesnotmeantocriticizeinanegativemanner.Ratheritrequiresyoutoquestiontheinformationandopinionsinatextandpresentyourevaluationorjudgmentofthetext.YourevaluationorjudgmentDecidethestrengthsandweaknessesofatext.Thisisusuallybasedonspecificcriteria.YouranalysisAnalyzingrequiresseparatingthecontentandconceptsofatextintotheirmaincomponentsandthenunderstandinghowtheseinterrelate,connectandpossiblyinfluenceeachother.2StructureofaCriticalReview1.Introduction2.Summary3.Critique4.ConclusionThelengthisusuallyoneparagraphforajournalarticlereviewandtwoorthreeparagraphsforalongerbookreview.Includeafewopeningsentencesthatannouncetheauthor(s)andthetitle,andbrieflyexplainthetopicofthetext.Presenttheaimofthetextandsummarizethemainfindingorkeyargument.Concludetheintroductionwithabriefstatementofyourevaluationofthetext.Presentasummaryofthekeypointsalongwithalimitednumberofexamples.Thesummaryshouldonlymakeupaboutathirdofthecriticalreview.Thecritiqueshouldbeabalanceddiscussionandevaluationofthestrengths,weaknessandnotablefeaturesofthetext.Remembertobaseyourdiscussiononspecificcriteria.（参见已发材料。）Thisisusuallyaveryshortparagraph.1.Restateyouroverallopinionofthetext.2.Brieflypresentrecommendations.3.Ifnecessarysomefurtherqualificationorexplanationofyourjudgmentcanbeincludedtohelpyourcritiquesoundfairandreasonable.5.ReferencesIfyouhaveusedothersourcesinyoureviewyoushouldalsoincludealistofreferencesattheendofthereview.3SomeGeneralCriteriaforEvaluatingTextsCriteriaPossiblefocusquestionsSignificanceandcontributiontothefieldWhatistheauthor’saim?Whatdoesthistextaddtothebodyofknowledge?(Thiscouldbeintermsoftheory,dataand/orpracticalapplication)Whatrelationshipdoesitbeartootherworksinthefield?Whatismissing/notstated?Isthisaproblem?ArgumentanduseofevidenceIsthereaclearproblem,statementorhypothesis?Whatclaimsaremade?Istheargumentconsistent?Whatkindsofevidencedoesthetextrelyon?Howvalidandreliableistheevidence?Howeffectiveistheevidenceinsupportingtheargument?Whatconclusionsaredrawn?Aretheseconclusionsjustified?WritingstyleandtextstructureDoesthewritingstylesuittheintendedaudience?(e.g.;expert/non-expert,academic/non-academic)Whatistheorganizingprincipleofthetext?Coulditbebetterorganized?