The University of Akron UA History Department China Resource Page

This Critical Review Guide is a lean and mean review guide or abstract.  It is designed to force you to distill the essentials of a book or journal article and state them economically and precisely in direct, simple prose.  A critical review assesses the purpose, thesis, main points of argument, and evidence/explanation to make the main points clear.

Directions:

•  The purpose and thesis are different, and you must understand the difference and be able to articulate both with precision and clarity.  The purpose defines the subject, issue, or topic that the writer is investigating and his reasons or agenda for doing so.  Start your  “purpose” sentence simply and directly as follows: "The author’s purpose is to investigate/examine/ explore ___________ in order to highlight/draw attention to/ revise previous interpretations of ___________."

• The thesis states the author’s interpretation of, or conclusions about, the topic of study."  The “thesis” sentence should read as follows: "The thesis argues that _______," or "the author argues that ________."  Make sure that you understand the difference between an author’s purpose and thesis and that you articulate the two clearly on your CRG.

• The main points indicate the coverage of those topics that the author emphasizes to demonstrate his/her thesis, or argument, and each should be stated in a simple sentence.  The main points, or issues, in a book-length study generally coincide with the chapter topics, while the subjections of a journal article lay out the main points of a scholarly article.  The details, or evidence, refer to the information and explanations that the author provides to make his/her main points clear.  List the main details/evidence under the appropriate main point.

• Your assessment of the author’s purpose and thesis should indicate specifically if the author has convinced you or satisfied you with his/her coverage of the topic and the arguments presented to prove the thesis.  The assessment gives you the opportunity for editorial comment.  You may want to raise questions about the author’s coverage or omission of certain issues, main points, and evidence.  You may want to compare his/her treatment to similar works.  But whatever you do, you must be fair and thorough, and, in general, judge the author in terms of his/her own purpose and thesis.  You also so should evaluate the organization, clarity of argument, and clarity of prose.

            Your finished written review should:

• State the purpose of the work in one sentence.


• State the thesis of the work in one sentence.


• Identify each of the main issues or points of argument (or claims) that the author uses to achieve his/her purpose and demonstrate his/her thesis.

• Identify the specific details and explanations that are used to illustrate the main points?  List the details under the appropriate main point. Each new point should begin with a new paragraph and draw on direct examples from the text:
• Point 1:   "The author(s) shows/states/demonstrates the name the point by coverage/details/evidence. . . ."
• Point 2:  (etc.)


• Conclude with a summation and your personal assessment of the author's success--give your editorial opinion on the work as it does/does not fulfill the author's purpose and support the author's thesis.