Do you have to write a review? Here we show you the appropriate structure of an article review and the steps for its preparation. In this article we are going to make reference about an indispensable practice in the academic formation of all university students, such as the preparation of a review, a text that promotes communication skills, synthesis, analysis, writing skills, reading comprehension, Reflective and critical thinking, therefore, is an indispensable exercise for obtaining knowledge, studying, interpreting and promoting value judgments. Highly recommended by experts from the best essay writing service.

An article review allows the evaluation and evaluation of a literary work, understood as a book, a movie, an art type, an essay … in order to capture or extract its essence and thus summarize it. The way in which a review is presented is through the expository-argumentative text, that is, it condenses the explanations or concrete and objective definitions of that work, accompanied by a position, thesis or premise with the arguments or reasons that support it.

Consequently, before doing it, it is necessary to understand what will be reviewed to be able to synthesize its content, extracting its main ideas, highlights or important points to later reflect on what the author shows, this means that it will be up to you to determine its effectiveness. and the scope of its purposes, making it clear that all that is stated is your position in this regard.

How to write a review of a scholarly article

A review tells us about the quality of a material, its functionality, its usefulness and the acceptance it has about a group of receivers or groups, so doing it is a work and research tool for others because you allow them to decide about reading, appreciation or visualization of that material and subsequent incorporation into their work in development. Similarly, when you read other reviews, you discriminate in advance if that work will work for you.

You may already approach all these points that we have touched in your reviews or follow a different structure, but still make very good reviews. The method can be very diverse, the really important thing is to assume the review of an article with sincerity, objectivity, and professionalism without being guided by influences.

How to write a review

In fact, there are blogs of very young people who are doing things quite well and who are also innovating not only with very careful texts but also with very original ways of scoring and very striking design elements, all that enrich literary criticism.

In short, the review of an article must be tackled with knowledge of the work we have in hand. In addition, it is important to provide it with ingenuity and an educational tone without falling into the error that our blog becomes a simple advertising showcase of praises of every article that falls into our hands.

In the market there is good literature and bad literature, that has been, is and will be so and the audience knows it. But you also have to keep in mind that there are good and less good blogs and better reviews than others.

What is a review format of a scholarly article?

Palmer (2005) in a text entitled The Fundamental Elements of a Review, presents the structure of a review: “The identification, which includes the location of the author and his work in time and space”, this means that you are going to contextualize the work, you will specify who prepares it, when and in what place. “The summary of the content, topics, important ideas and philological analysis or expression, which studies the structure, style, and techniques.”

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How do you start a review?

At this point you will understand the work in its entirety, covering all its aspects without leaving aside the historical moment or reality in which it is circumscribed, in turn, you will take into account everything that makes it relevant and gives you the distinction with relation to other similar materials.

Make a previous review of the structure of the work: title, subtitle and the index so that you are guided about its important aspects, the purpose, the purpose of the work and other complementary aspects. The author refers you to a general diagnosis of the work, a type of exploratory reading to know its main aspects.

Read carefully and taking critical notes on the content of the text. Then he asks you to make a denotative reading, breaking the text into parts for analysis.

Review the partial syntheses that you have prepared and order them in a plan-scheme, since the review should select the meaning of the work read.

Highlight the importance of the work reviewed with a fair and impartial opinion. Here you will answer why and why read it, see it or appreciate it?

10 Tips to write a good review

It includes the data of the publication of the review article

It includes the data of the publication, which edition it is, which year and which publisher. Many times, these data say interesting things about the article. For example, if you have read the tenth edition it means that it has sold out nine times in the market and that it has been reprinted due to the high demand it has.

Other information such as the translator, the urologist or particular features of the edition, is also important to include in a review. There are differences between the different editions of the same work; Each editorial includes details, changes translator and produces its own publication.

Write how the article begins and ends

Pay attention to how the article begins and ends: the first page contains many of the keys to what the whole story will be (not to be confused with the first page of the prologue). In the history of literature, there are memorable opening paragraphs. How it begins and how a story ends are very important moments; they are the entrance and exit door.

Add memorable phrases from the characters and the author

Taking notes of interesting aspects or outstanding phrases is a common habit in every good reader. In the articles, there are real jewels of human thought expressed in brilliant phrases that give an account of an entire era, an ideology, a deep feeling or a powerful reflection. Memorable phrases, which have made you feel and think something, are key when defining how to write a review.

Write something about the characters and their character

Identifying the personality and character of the characters is key in any review. How they express themselves, what they like, what the story says about their philosophy and their habits. Are the characters plausible? Do you believe what they say? The hero and the villain must always be considered. In the stories, there are usually two characters that embody two forces that collide.

Including which is the hero and which is the villain, who are the secondary characters and why do they enter into conflict or friendship, is a very interesting aspect that can be included.

Includes a scheme and timeline (optional)

Making a plot of the plot or the characters can be useful to understand stories and stories where there is some complexity in the story told. For example, in One Hundred Years of Solitude it is very useful to make a scheme of the descendants of the Buendía, simply to reduce the “risk” of being confused.

A good scheme can become a “road map” so as not to get lost in an article with much and very different information. Likewise, making a timeline serves to clearly see the main events of the story and understand its concatenation. However, this point is optional in the review and is often not in the review but in the literary analysis.

The theme and background reflection

To identify the underlying issue and its relation to social reality is to read a little more deeply. To find out if there is a fundamental theme is to make a reading that recognizes the link between literary fiction and social experience in everyday life.

Lord of the Rings saga tells us about the classic battle between good and evil or the triumph over tyrants. Another clear example is the Fables, which bring important issues that touch us all in everyday life but expressed in a fictional format and with a moral at the end. Identify what the background reflection is when reading and include it in the review.

Write relevant information about the author

It is undeniable that there is an author at the birth of an article (some do not want to hear anything about the authors). Sometimes, directly or indirectly, the author recognizes whether his work is autobiographical or not. In any case, a review of an article can include aspects of the author that most attract attention to the reader.

For example, Borges is one of those authors who are very present in his work. Others like George Sand also have a special glow, in that case, because it was actually a woman (Aurore Dupin) who published with a male pseudonym due to the social repression of the nineteenth century to women.

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Contribute your personal experience and critical comment

Including what personal experience the reading has left you is one of the most important points. To recognize what feelings, what thoughts, what learnings, dreams and even fears a reading has aroused is to enjoy the influence that an article and its content has on us.

The personal and subjective experience of reading an article is the effect of the information and knowledge that an article has. It does not matter if it is a literary work, a journalistic chronicle an article of social sciences or of popular science (such as The Journey to the Power of the Mind of Punset). Sharing this reading experience is connecting with other readers who may have had a similar experience. It also serves to start a debate with others who have felt something different.

Additionally, the review includes a critical comment about the content. It can be a deeper and more serious opinion or reflection that gives rise to analyze the article. Usually, critical comments and reading experience generate a judgment about the article and therefore a recommendation.

Connections with other articles

Articles are not lost islands, they are connected to other articles, through the author or the subject. You can make connections with other articles, styles or genres that you have read and give richness to the comment you make of your reading.

For example, science fiction articles are a whole interconnected set; Erotic articles have in common a set of suggestions and sensuality; The historical novel of course keeps a style and resources that are repeated throughout these publications.

Share your reading recommendation

Finally, after reading carefully, could you recommend reading the article? What audience would you recommend? The reading recommendation is very important because it can mean the success of a publication or quite the opposite. This recommendation is the cherry of the cake, it is the point successfully culminates how to write a review.

The recommendation can be positive or negative. If you have read an article that has wasted your time and you have arguments to prove it, why not share this opinion? Maybe you’ll save others from not entering that world. On the contrary, if you have read an enriching article and its impact has changed even a little, how satisfying it is to share it.

In addition to the 10 points mentioned, the most important thing to do or write a quality review is to have read the article with interest and respect. That is, selfless reading generates learning and will never produce a good review or a good comment. A committed reading is at the base of every learning process through article and reading.

Conclusion

Found out the most important part of the review, the personal assessment given by the author of the work. In this part it is not enough to say whether you liked the work or not, you have to argue why you are making this or that statement. It is in this section that the successes and limitations of the work are emphasized. In the successes, the positive criticism, the author develops the strengths of the work and the contributions it may have made. On the other hand, the negative criticism records the weaknesses of a job, the main weaknesses that were found or disappointed in it. Remember that each idea must be accompanied by an argumentative development. It is not enough to say that you did not like the work or thought it was bad, these are empty adjectives of content that end up saying nothing to the reader. The main thing is to develop elements that make a good or bad work for the reviewer. To do this, the use of quotes or examples helps to validate each of the statements you make, giving them plot weight. Remember that the objective here is that your reader not only understands your reasoning but that this can also be persuaded by it.