The structure and features of a book review and an article critique.
The feature and structure of a book review
The book reviews vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features. A review gives
the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a description of the research topic and
scope of analysis as well as an overview of the book's overall perspective, argument, and purpose.
How To Form A Structure Of A Book Review? Below is an example of a good book review structure.
1. Title – The name of your paper followed by the full bibliographic characteristic of the book under
review.
2. Introduction – your intro should be one paragraph long and contain background information and
some significant facts. Be sure to include a strong thesis statement and include a hook to
garner the reader's interest.
3. Body or Summary – the number of body paragraphs is defined by the overall volume specified by
the teacher, as a rule, you should make one or two paragraphs with a general summary of
the text’s contents, one paragraph on the book’s weak points, and one paragraph on its
strengths.
4. Analysis and evaluation – this part provides critical commentary and defines how well the author
has reached the objectives he or she had. This section should answer the following
questions:
Is the author’s style effective, hard to perceive, engaging, and/or powerful?
Did the author achieve set goals?
How can we evaluate the overall impression from the text (did you find it dull, engaging, fun,
moving?)
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the text, are the author’s arguments convincing?
Would you recommend this book?
5. Conclusion – The concluding paragraph is a brief accord that should restate the thesis statement in
a clear logical manner. Define whether readers should read the book. Make sure your
conclusion is tightly bound to your thesis.
In the second case you need to give not only analysis but an evaluation and recommendation for or
against reading a specific piece. Therefore, you can use a similar template. Adjust it a bit to your
needs and you won’t make a mistake!
The feature and structure of an Article Critique
Like an essay, a critique uses a formal, academic writing style and has a clear structure, that is, an
introduction, body and conclusion. However, the body of a critique includes a summary of the work
and a detailed evaluation. An article critique requires you to critically read a piece of research and
identify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the article.
Before you start writing, you will need to take some steps to get ready for your critique
Choose an article that meets the criteria outlined by your instructor.
Read the article to get an understanding of the main idea.
Read the article again with a critical eye.
What are the credentials of the author/s? Is the author qualified to write about the topic?
Are the chosen research methods appropriate to answer the research question(s)?
Are there issues related to the generalizability of the results?
Is there evidence of bias or a conflict of interest?
Is the article timely and relevant or is it outdated?
Did the author/s ground their research in theory and previous literature?
An article critique has four main parts:
1. Introduction
Include an introductory paragraph that includes the following:
• The author’s name(s) and the title of the article
• The author’s main point
• A thesis statement that preview your analysis
2. Summary
After your introduction, discuss the following in your own words:
• The main points of the article
• The arguments presented in the article
• The findings of the article
3. Critique
After summarizing the article, critique the article by doing the following:
• Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the article that you noted while critically reading the
article.
• State your informed opinions about the clarity, relevancy, and accuracy of the article, using
Specific examples from the article to support your statements.
4. Conclusion
Finally, end your article critique with a conclusion that does the following:
• Summarize the key points in the article, as well the key points from your own analysis.
• Close with a comment about the significance of the research or a statement of future research
needed in the field.
