Writing any text, an author should know its purpose. Speaking about review essays, it is necessary to mention that this type of content has two main goals: representing readers the topic and depicting an author’s viewpoint towards it. This is a prevalent task among students when they need to review literary compositions or scientific reports. Still, even experienced correspondents can be stuck writing a review essay, so they need some helpful tips on this procedure. Luckily in our article, you can find seven universal recommendations that will help you complete any review essay.
1. Prepare for writing a review.
Before coming up with ideas, get acquainted with a book, article, or another object you need to review. Read the content and analyze the subject matter in the story, why the author uses such specific delivery methods, and how it impacts your viewpoint about the subject. Make notes on and extract necessary citations to support your position after.
2. Write observations and responses.
To make your review writing process more productive, create a list with observations and responses. Observations mean facts about the work you review, and it includes:
- Entire data
- Thesis statement
- Case to discuss
- Details of evidence
- Research method
- Samples from work
- Key point
Responses are your understanding of the reviewed subject. Include your evidence from the source you write a review about and look for strong sentences that will back up your outlook.
3. Understand an author.
In a review essay, it is necessary to focus on the author’s personality. If you write a review and want to say that composition isn’t enjoyable for you, you need to convince readers in your statement. Instead of criticizing without solid evidence, try to ask yourself such questions as:
1) What did the author want to say throughout the book?
2) Who was the author?
3) What led them to write especially this kind of work?
4) Does the author tell about the method of writing their book or project? What do they tell?
5) What had influenced the author to write particular composition in that period?
Having these questions at hand, you have more chances to find answers inside yourself and form a solid ground to convey your outlook.
4. Pay attention to the work itself.
Formulate questions towards the composition so you can understand the primary goal of the text. Your review will be straightforward and valuable when you rely on the author’s context. Answer what you feel about the work, and it will be easy for you to define the main goal of your review. Remember that a review essay is not a research paper. Still, you need to research through the context of a book, article, event, or person to make your text meaningful.
5. Organize your review.
Focus on the central points of your review and implement all answers in the text. Write a draft that includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion to organize your review elements correctly. Provide logical structure not to get yourself being mixed up and let the reader understand your review better.
6. Check the context.
Always think about the perspective of your review. Give relevant information to the reader about the review object, analyze content, and define your evaluation. Track whether your work is original enough or it relies mainly on references. Improve some parts by adding your unique arguments towards agreement or disagreement about the viewed work. See what you need to add or exclude to make your review essay engaging and provide additional research.
7. Edit your work.
It is excellent to track such grammatical or stylistic issues in writing like punctuation or spelling. See where your review essay is lacking and ask for suggestions from a friend or teacher. You can also edit your text with an online grammar checking tool, but you will not get advice about the concept of your work. Therefore, peers’ response is much advantageous.
Afterall
Writing a review essay, remember about your target. Don’t underestimate the subject and always rely on real facts about a book, person, event, or document you review. The more seriously you approach the topic, provide examples, and connect your viewpoint with a studied object, the more worthwhile project you will do as a result.
