Critical
Review
You be the Judge . . .
From Reading to Writing Both The Crucible
and “The Examination of Sarah Good” are works
that excite strong reader responses—either
positive or negative. You can present your
response to books, movies, or performances in
a critical review.
Critical
Review
You be the Judge . . .
In writing a review, you use evidence from the
work to support your opinion. You already form
opinions of what you read and see every day. In
this workshop, you will learn to put them on
paper.
Basics in a Box
Critical Review at a Glance
Introduction
• Identify author and subject
• State overall evaluation
Body
• Briefly summarize
selection
• Establish criteria for
judging work
• Give evidence to support
evaluation
Conclusion
Make a recommendation
RUBRIC Standards for
Writing
A successful critical review
should
• identify and give a brief
summary of the work
• state your opinion of the work
and make clear the criteria
you used to judge it
• support your opinion with
well-chosen details and
examples from the text
• organize arguments and
supporting details in a way
that is easy to follow
• conclude with a
recommendation to the reader
regarding the work
Writing Your Critical Review
1 Prewriting
It is as hard to find a neutral critic as it
is a neutral country in time of war. I
suppose if a critic were neutral, he
wouldn’t trouble to write anything.
Katherine Anne Porter,
short story writer
Writing Your Critical Review
1 Prewriting
Ways of finding a subject for your review:
 Choose a piece of literature or a film that
strongly affected you—either positively or
negatively.
 Examine a film based on a literary work.
 Select a work you’ve read in class.
 Read a new story by an author you like.
Planning Your Evaluation
1. Explore your overall reaction to the work. Did you
generally feel positively or negatively? If you had
both positive and negative reactions, which were
stronger? Discuss your impression with a friend. How
did his or her reactions differ from yours?
2. List the criteria you will use to judge the work.
How did you judge elements of the work such as
plot, characters, language, setting and visual
elements, or theme? For example, do the characters
seem realistic? Does the setting make sense with the
plot?
Planning Your Evaluation
3. Gather evidence from the work to support your
review. What facts, examples, quotations, and other
details from the work support your opinion of each
element? If you find evidence that contradicts your
view, will you include and respond to it in your
review? You might create a chart like the one below
to list your evaluation and your evidence.
Planning Your Evaluation
4. Evaluate and organize your evidence. For which
criteria do you have the strongest evidence? Which
less strongly supported criteria might you not want to
include in your review?
Writing Your Critical Review
2 Drafting

Freewrite about each of your criteria.

State your overall opinion of the work.

Think of an interest-grabbing way to begin
your review.

Present your criteria for judgment and the
evidence that supports them.

Give a balanced view of the work by
including a discussion of both its strengths
and weaknesses.

Include a clear recommendation in your
conclusion.
Writing Your Critical Review
3 Revising
TARGET SKILL
AVOIDING CIRCULAR REASONING
To be convincing, your review must show
clear thinking. Avoid circular reasoning or
trying to prove a statement merely by
restating it in different words. Be sure to
include detailed evidence to support your
statements.
Writing Your Critical Review
4 Editing and Proofreading
TARGET SKILL
ELIMINATING QUALIFIERS
When writing a review, state your opinion firmly
and clearly. Eliminate unnecessary qualifiers—
such as the conditional verbs could and might;
the adverbs nearly, somewhat, possibly, and
probably; and phrases like It seems to me—
that weaken your message.