What Makes A Good Critical Review

What makes a good critical review? Guidelines

Gengatharan Das 2013 AIMST

1

Two questions
 What is this text saying? (summary)

 What do I think about what it’s saying ?
(evaluation)
Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

2

State the bibliographical information  Eg. B.Ballard and J.Clanchy (1985).
Study abroad: A manual for Asian students (Chapter 2: ‘Cultural variation in style of thinking’). Longman: Malaysia

Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

3

Introduction
 Introduce the broad issue the text is addressing  Think about how you can relate the text you are reviewing to its broader context

Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

4

Summarising the text
 Accurately represent the ideas in the original text
 Focus on more important ideas
 Ensure that the reader who has not read the text would be able to understand your summary  Length – depends on the review
 Summary and evaluation – equal length
Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

5

Summarising the text
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Introduce the text – give an overview:
The text and its authors
The main content covered in the text
The author’s main argument
State the argument in your own words

Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

6

Summarising the text
 Summarise the supporting evidence:
 i. Main argument
 Ii. Evidence to support the main argument  Think about how the evidence is used to support the main argument
Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

7

Summarising the text
 Rounding off:
- Conclusion of your summary
- Only the ideas of the author are used in this summary not your own

Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

8

Evaluating the text
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Say what you think about the text
Elaborate its strengths and weaknesses
Say what is interesting about the text
If it is not interesting, say why
How much are you persuaded by it?
How much has it contributed to your understanding of the issue?
Gengatharan Das 2013 A
IMST

9

Evaluating the text
 As you read the text take note of the impressions you have of it
 These impressions can be worked into
well-supported