3. Evaluating a literary work... From Reading to Writing How do you decide what movies to see, what books to read, or what concerts to attend? You might read a critical review, an essay in which a writer expresses a personal opinion of a literary or artistic work by referring to some of the elements of that work. Critical Review

4. Evaluating a literary work... The word critical does not mean that the writer must find fault; it means that the writer evaluates a work based on certain criteria. Critical Review

5. B a s i c s i n a B o x Critical Review at a Glance RUBRIC Standards for Writing A successful critical review should identify the work you are reviewing briefly tell what the work is about state your opinions clearly state the criteria by which you judged the work use enough details from the work to support your review summarize your opinion Introduces the literary work and provides a focused interpretation Introduction Summarizes the interpretation Conclusion Explanation Proof Body Supports the interp- retation with evidence from the literary work

6. The critic should describe, and not prescribe. Eugène Ionesco The critic should describe, and not prescribe. Eugène Ionesco Writing Your Critical Review

7. 1 Prewriting Begin by choosing a literary work about which you have a strong opinion. You might choose a work you like or one you strongly dislike.

8. Planning Your Critical Review 1. Identify the key elements of your subject. Consider the theme, characters, plot, and setting of the work you plan to review. 2. Establish criteria for evaluation. How did you decide what makes an element especially strong or weak? By stating that you believe the theme is expressed clearly through the actions of the characters, for example, you are establishing criteria.

9. Planning Your Critical Review 3. Analyze each element of your subject. Now examine each element and make some notes about the way the literary work handled that element. As you make your notes, be sure to list specific things in the work that support your opinion. ElementCritiqueSupport plot character

10. Planning Your Critical Review 4. Choose a focus. Your review doesn’t need to evaluate every element in the work. After you have examined most elements, you can choose to focus on one or two. Look for strengths and weaknesses in each area you choose.

11. Writing Your Critical Review 2 Drafting n Begin writing even if you haven’t worked out all the details of your opinion about the work. n Start out by identifying the title, author, and type of work, and state a general opinion of it. n Let your subject guide your organization. n Support your opinions with specific details or examples. n End by summing up your opinion.

12. Writing Your Critical Review 3 Revising TARGET SKILL USING APPOSITIVES You can use appositive phrases in your review to include important details without being wordy. An appositive phrase renames a noun by clarifying it or giving additional information about the noun.

13. Writing Your Critical Review 4 Editing and Proofreading TARGET SKILL MODIFIER REPLACEMENT Modifiers can help make your review specific and interesting. Some modifiers function as adjectives and some function as adverbs. Be sure to place each modifier, whether it is a word or a phrase, close to the word it modifies.