Critical review example

Objectives of criticism

Before you start working on a critical article, think about why you want to write it. The goals below are considered acceptable in the scientific community. Moreover, they stimulate the creation of the majority of critical review examples.

1. To help the author correct his work

If you want someone to do something, make it simple for him. It is necessary not only to point out the mistakes but also to show how to correct them. That is, if you point to the author that there is a tautology in his work, it is necessary to add "It is possible to substitute this word with this one". Complaining about a poor description, add a link to an article with rules for good descriptions.

2. To justify your negative opinion

This approach, at least, supports a good tone. Just list the weak points and mistakes. In rare cases, the author will be able to correct himself independently. However, he will have to search for information, read, analyze, learn a lot. In general, it will be hard - so hard that he might ask for an advice from outside.

Such goals as entertainment and self-affirmation at the expense of others are not considered, because no good example of a critical review was written based on them.

Next, let's consider the features of a correct criticism.

Politeness

When talking politely to unfamiliar people, you express respect. Hardly critical book review examples with direct accusations may be called reasonable. Instead of "Is the author a fool? How could he kill John?" it's better to write "I'm sorry that John died. Frankly, his death seems a little strange and unreasonable."

Note that the discussion of the author's personality is an impolite behavior. It is better to express your opinion about the characters, scenes, in general, about the work, and not about the writer. It is also unethical to contest somebody else's opinions. It is better to form your own paradigm and substantiate it so that everyone can agree with it.

Self-control

Let's say an expert wrote a critical review of a research paper example, worked for a long time, stubbornly, everything was logical, and then, he burst out: "The author must be an idiot" - and this is the end! His clever words are unlikely to be taken seriously. After all, it is unpleasant for the author to face criticism. He would rather blame an outsider for unreasonable insults than listen to all the other words that were said before.

Concreteness

"Nonsense", "bad", "only errors", "not worthy of attention" are too abstract phrases. They make it almost impossible to understand what is the cause of the criticism. Moreover, in general, such phrases can provoke a feeling that such a critical book review example is written by a spiteful and incompetent person, and the author has made no mistakes at all.

Agree that the mark "only errors" under a work which is recommended by the scientific community looks a bit strange. It is worth quoting the wrong provisions of the academic paper in the review.

However, if there are too many mistakes, it is better not to overload the author with information but to write "Poor spelling and punctuation" and to add a clarification, for example, "especially the spelling of adverbs and commas near the linking words". Although in rare, very upsetting situations, when the clarification includes all the rules of the English language, it is better to do without it.

Instead of "nonsense", the authors of quality critical article review examples usually write something like "There is no logic and realism, the actions of the heroes are not motivated" and refer to a specific scene. You will not achieve a good result without concreteness. The word "nonsense" can attribute to different situations, but after a detailed explanation, it will be easier to show what exactly you mean.

Cheerfulness and hard work as antonyms of fatigue and laziness

Many critics get tired of repeating the same things over and over again. It is so much easier to give a “thumbs down” and leave whenever it is possible. But such an approach has little use for both authors of the initial work and the so-called “review”. To write a good critical review paper example, one should note all the constructive criticism in a separate file, providing all the necessary examples of the main flaws and suggesting possible solutions.

Good-natured tone

This detail is partially connected with the point about politeness. But a good-natured tone rather refers to the emotional coloring of the response. There is a very simple rule: "People will treat you just like you treat them". That is, if the speech is full of negative, most likely, its recipient will frown and be angry. On the contrary, the good-natured words will be answered with a smile and sincere gratitude. Do not forget that you can face a critical review example of a journal article with a mentioning of your own work. Do not provoke people to be rude.

Unobtrusiveness

It is perfectly normal to defend your own opinion, explain it, argue, engage in a dialogue with an author. But it's foolish to persist when the author does not need your help, he considers himself a genius that doesn’t need any advice. If you approached such a writer with criticism, explained everything in detail and politely, but he responded to you "Don’t like it? Don’t read it!" or "I have my own style!", the most correct actions are to apologize, wish creative successes and finish this communication. In any case, your example of a critical review of an article will remain in an archive, and there is a chance that not now, but maybe someday, the author will take your words into account after all.