What is a critical review
You are to critically analyze the content of the article. Your critical review should have two major parts: a brief summary and an analysis. Your summary should be coherent, connecting sentences in a manner that reflects the relationship among the author’s ideas. After you have summarized your chosen work’s main points, you must then evaluate them, assessing their validity and the effectiveness with which they are presented. Your paper should be well developed, unified, and coherent.
Structure:
Title: The title of your review should be something other than the title of the article. For example, if you have chosen Munhall’s “Portraits of Napoleon,” and you tit
le your piece, “Portraits of Napoleon,” I will automatically take off a letter grade, because reviewers should never give their work the same title as the item they are reviewing. Come up with something original.
Introduction: Include the author’s name and the title of the work somewhere in the first paragraph. Give the historical context of the work. For example, if the author
is discussing Germany in the First World War, then briefly discuss this time period. Discuss when the work was written and why (to provide some sort of new historical
perspective, to challenge a particular view, etc.).
Summary: Give a brief summary of the work, presenting the main ideas in your own words. Sequence the author’s points in logical order. What was the author’s main point
?
Analysis: Respond critically to the main points you summarized. Some points you might consider:
How is the work significant? Does the author provide a unique perspective? Does the author refute an opposing view effectively? Was the article organized effectively?
What would make the article better ? What kinds of evidence did the author use? Was the article well- written? Would you recommend this article to anyone, including future World History courses? Why or why not?
Conclusion: In your conclusion, state your overall reaction to the work. Evaluate how well you think the work achieved its perceived purpose. Sum up what you have disc
ussed.