Directions
1. Choose a book, a movie or a TV show. Note: You will need to have a copy of the book,or a DVD of the movie or TV show in order to complete this assignment. Any piece of work will do, as long as it's in front of you and you've read it or viewed it. Ideally, it will be something that you loved and that has had some impact on your life. However, you may wish to choose a piece that you really hated, or thought was a failure in some way. You might also choose a piece that didn't change your life in any earthshaking way, but that you found mildly amusing, useful or interesting. Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
- A favorite book, movie or TV show from childhood (picture book or chapter book, cartoon, animated feature film, or non-animated).
- A non-fiction book, or a documentary, about a subject that you know something about.
- A book of poetry
- A how-to or self-help book or TV series
- A reality show
- A cookbook or cooking show
- A biography
- A play, either in written form or performed
- A book of short stories
- A novel, TV show or movie from a particular genre: mystery, fantasy, history, sci-fi, crime drama, horror, romance,supernatural, etc.
2. Read the following resources:
Purdue OWL Book Review
St. Cloud State University
Memorial University Libraries
3. Brainstorm Ideas.
Questions to consider: What type of media is it? What purpose does it seem to have? For whom was it written? What do you think the writer/s and/or producers wanted to accomplish? What effect did the writer want to have on the intended audience? How well does the intended effect match the actual effect? How successful was the author in meeting his or her goal? What are the piece's main strengths and weaknesses? How does this piece fit in with other works the author may have produced? How does this piece stand up to others like it?
4. Organize ideas.: Here is the typical organization of a book review. This organization is a tried-and-true method of writing a review, but you can feel free to deviate from the formula if you feel so moved.
- Intro: Identify the author, the title and the genre to which it belongs. Summarize the contents of the book, show, etc. Give your overall impression of the piece and a brief look at the factors that influenced your impression.
- Body: One by one, go through the factors identified in the intro, and explain how that element contributed to your overall impression of the piece.
- Conclusion: Summarize your reaction to the piece, and end by making a declaration of whether or not you think it is worthwhile, or whether you would recommend it (and if so, to whom).
5. Write a rough draft.
Tips
- Do not simply summarize the work that you're writing about. You will certainly introduce it, along with the creator/s of the work, give a very brief synopsis of the work as a whole. Next, craft a thesis that sums up your conclusion/s about this particular work. In the body of your essay, summarize only of the parts of the work that are relevant to your thesis.
- You may want to do a little research about your topic, to see what others have said about it. Often you can find good professional reviews at amazon.com to use as models for an evaluation essay. (Note: beware the examples of reviews written by ordinary consumers. While some of them are wonderful, as a whole they don't represent the requirements for an academic paper.)
- If you use ideas or quotes that you find from other sources, you must cite those sources in MLA format. Beware plagiarism!
- Avoid inserting too many quotes. A few quotes are necessary, but too many will clog up your essay. Your review should be mostly your own ideas, with a quote or two thrown in occasionally to illustrate a particularly important or relevant point.
6. Proofread, edit, revise and submit!
7. Relax with your favorite beverage. Congratulations! You are done with all five English 1A essays.
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