Tips · Types of reviews · Plan of a review (for a book) · Example

Review

Review (from lat. recensio) means in other words- reporting or a critical evaluation of a specific literary work, film, concert, exhibition, scientific publication, etc. It is the most commonly presented in the mass media.

Not everyone can write a good review. It is depends on knowledge, intellectual level, taste and sensibility of the writer. The reviews contain specialized vocabulary from the field the review is concerned, as well as specific knowledge (historical, biographical, etc.).

Tips

The review should:

• Include a description of the subject of review (title, author, etc.).
  

• Show the essence of the work, the mentioned problem;
  

• Get to the bottom of the discussed subject. It should be analysed, interpreted, compared to the others;
  

• It should express reviewer’s personal attitude towards the subject;
  

• It should be subjective;
  

• It should include an assessment reasoned by specific arguments.
  

• It should be related to current events;
  

• It should be adjusted to the reader (e.g. if a specialist is the reader, it is not necessary to recall the basic facts);
  

• It is often written from some general information to a more detailed one.

Types of reviews

We can distinguish three types of reviews because of their character:

1. Information – informing a reader about the emergence of a given fact. Reviewer uses a description, summary, story, characterization, etc. It should, however, show the problematic aspect of a phenomenon;
   

2. Feuilleton – extended thematic and problematic perspective;
   

3. Essays – a subjective point of view, expressing personal relationship to the subject of review will be particularly important here.

Plan of a review (for a book)

1. Introduction

We start a text with the presentation of the work being reviewed ( an author, a title, or a publisher, eventually).

It may begin with:

• neutral, for example: “In recent days there appeared…”,
  

• subjective, for example: “I have recently read a very interesting …”,
  

• or indicate the popularity of the work, for example. “… disappearing from the shelves quite suddenly…”, “Do you know what is being sold better than hotcakes?”.

Then previously collected information on the reviewed text and its author are presented. You should select the most important ones. Introduce a wider context concerning the work, the author, his relation to other similar works or to the original one (if there is any).

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