Date:

Name:      Amr Shareef

6/4/2020  

CRITICAL REVIEW
Uncle Marcos
Isabel Allende

A critical review is an analysis of a work of literature in which the reviewer

describes the work and makes claims about its quality and effectiveness. A critical
review often features a brief summary of the fictional elements, such as setting,
plot, character, and theme. The critical review includes the reviewer’s analysis of
the writer’s success in communicating a point of view on a universal question
through fictional elements.
The excerpt “Uncle Marcos” from The House of Spirits centers on two main
characters: Uncle Marcos and Clara, his young niece who adores him. To write a
critical review of the excerpt, start with a thesis sentence, or claim, in which you
summarize your evaluation of the excerpt. Then, support your claim with reasons
and evidence. Remember to cite text evidence.

A. DIRECTIONS: Before you write your critical review and answer the
question of how well the writer presents the character of Uncle Marcos, analyze the
excerpt. Complete the following characterization chart as you develop your ideas.
Identify the point of view that the various characters, and the writer, have of Uncle
Marcos.

Point of View Characterization of Uncle Marcos Text Evidence

Niece Clara “in the drawing that

She thinks he is adventurous,
funny, and awesome.
showed him dressed as
an explorer leaning on an
old-fashioned double-
barreled rifle with his right
foot on the neck of a
Malaysian tiger.”

Sister Nivea
She thinks he is weird and strange. “He performed alchemy
experiments in the
kitchen, filling the
house with fetid smoke
and ruining pots.”

B. Write the thesis, or claim, for your critical review.

     Uncle Marcos is brave, adventurous, and funny. But sometimes he becomes
     and weird.
     

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