Lesson

10:
Book Review/
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
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INTRODUC
TION
Hi dear learners!
You are learning different things each day from the pre-writing process to the
actual and post writing process. For this module, you will learn how to
review/critique books and articles. As a student knowing how to review books and
articles will help you understand the purpose of each writers on why they write the
academic texts. In this lesson, you will learn further about book and article review.
 OBJECTIVE
S

By the end of the lesson, you will have been able to;
 determine the purpose of a book review or article critique;
 analyze the features of a book review or article critique;
 produce an effective book review or article critique.

PRELIMINARY
ACTIVITY

What is your favorite story of all time? It can be a short story, fairy tale, legend,
myth, novel or biography. For 10 minutes, write a composition using at least 7-10
sentences, telling all the things you like in that story.

You will be asked to read your composition in the class.

 DISCUSSI
ON
A review (or “critique”) of a book or article is not primarily a summary. Rather, it
analyses, comments on and evaluates the work. It is a specialized form of academic
writing in which the reviewer evaluates the contribution to knowledge of scholarly
works such as academic books and journal articles.
A book review is different from movie review. Although movie review involves
the analysis of one’s work, they are written for general audience. Book review, on
the other hand, addresses a more specific audience and usually offers a critical
response to a published scholarly work.
Moreover, book review must not be mistaken for book report. Book reports focus
on describing the plot, characters, or idea of a certain work.

Structure of a book review

What is included in an article critique?
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 previews 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.

Guidelines in Writing a Book Review or Article Critique

The following are some guidelines to help you write a book review or an 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. will make you more engaged with the article or book.
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 writer.
6. Examine whether the findings are adequately supported or not.
 7. Analyze the type of analysis the writer used (e.g., quantitative, qualitative,
case study) and how it supports the arguments and claims.
8. Suggest one way on how the writer can improve his/her reasoning or
explanation.
9. Discuss how the same topic is explained from other perspective. Compare
the writer’s explanation of the topic to another expert from the same field of
study.
10.Point out other conclusions or interpretations that the writer missed out.
Present other ideas that need to examined.

ACTIVI
TY
Write a review by following the writing process outlined below. You may assume
the persona of university professor writing a review for a particular book or article
in your chosen field.
Read the book or article to be reviewed. Complete the following details.

A. Article/Book Title: _____________________________________________

Article/Book Author: ___________________________________________
Topic: _______________________________________________________

B. Complete the given information to come up with writing situation for your
book review or article critique.
General Purpose:
_________________________________________________________
Specific Purpose:
_________________________________________________________

Learning how to write a book review and article

critique will help you analyze the text that you have
read critically. This will also help you practice your
thinking skill as you create those academic output.
Always remember what I keep on telling you.
Practice and you will be able to produce an
excellent output for sure. 😊