Review Essays | Topics & Examples
A Review essay gives the reader an overview and analysis of the author's key points or the creator of the subject of review. However, unlike a book report, which provides a broad summary, a Review essay focuses primarily on the text's critical discussion. Writing a Review essay on some texts is more challenging than others. You should always pick a task that you can undertake.
This educational piece covers everything you need to know about Review essays and provides guidelines for writing a Review essay like a pro.
What is a Review essay?
Reviewing is more than simply giving your opinion. It involves evaluating or judging and presenting reasons and evidence in support.
Review essay topics can cover a book, article, play, movie, music, poetry, or any other subject. This essay is essentially a piece of writing that allows the writer to express their personal opinion or feelings on the message or central theme raised by an author in a piece of literature.
Review Essay Topics
There are several review essay topics including:
1. Play Review Essay
Gives the audience the writer's opinion on the actors, director, decorations, script, and other elements of a theatrical play.
2. Music Review Essay
Shapes the opinions of music lovers on songs or artists.
3. Poetry Review Essay
Analyzes a poem's poetic instruments and gives a unique position in the poem
4. Article Review Essay
Gives a summary of the article and the reviewer's critique.
5. Film Review essay
Gives a short description of the film and includes the reviewer's opinion.
6. Book Review Essay
Provides a short description of the book, followed by the reviewer's personal opinion about it.
Writing a Review Essay
Review essays generally follow a standard pattern that comprises four sections.
1. Introduction
The introduction of an essay review gives the reader an idea of the general line of argument the essay will pursue. Start your introduction with an opening sentence. Provide the context in which the literary piece you are reviewing is written. Proceed to identify the author's primary thesis and approach and give a preview of your critical response. Keep your Review essay introduction brief. It should be less than a quarter of the whole essay. Close the introduction with your thesis.
2. Summary
Your summary should be brief and written. Do not attempt to relate all the points that the author has made. Instead, focus on the author's central argument and the claims that are significant to your review.
3. Critical discussion
The critical discussion evaluates what the text under review has contributed to the discipline. Start by discussing how the author has attempted to advance the debate introduced in the piece of literature. Identify the problems or controversies the author has addressed in his/her work. Assess whether the author has made a useful contribution towards solving the issues.
Analyze whether the author has provided sufficient evidence to support their thesis, whether the author's argument is internally consistent, and alternative explanations the author should have considered for the same outcome.
4. Conclusion
The conclusion to your essay review should summarize your key points and give your final verdict on whether you think the subject of review serves its purpose or is worth the audience's time.
Review Essay Writing Tips
Improve your review essay writing skills using the following tips:
1. Read, listen or watch more than once
Read, listen, or watch the subject of review the first time to get an overall sense of the material. Think about the wok and make your first impression. Read, watch, and listen again while taking notes and verify your first impression. Your impression will likely change as you go through the work multiple times, so be ready to change your mind.
2. Provide essential information
Provide the reader with complete information about the work you are reviewing. You should include the title of the work, the creator's name, and information about when the piece was created. The details in your review must be factual and accurate.
3. Take a stand
Your Review essay can be positive, negative, or neutral. State your opinion and support it with details and evidence. Show readers how and why you reached your conclusions.
4. Explain your judgment criteria
What makes you think your subject of the review is successful or a fail? Describe the criteria or standards you use to judge the work you are reviewing. This will help your readers understand your review.
5. Support your judgments with evidence
Use quotations, dialogue, or descriptions from the work you are reviewing to support your judgments and opinions. You can also reference external sources that support your viewpoint. Make sure to site outside sources correctly.
6. Understand the conventions of the genre
Consider the specific elements of each genre as you set the criteria for your review. Take into account the structure, theme, characters, dialogue, setting, and other relevant factors.
7. Compare and contrast
Compare your subject of review with other similar works. Use the contrast to advance your point.
8. Do not give away spoilers.
Your review should give the reader a taste of what to expect in the book, movie, or play. Do not summarize the whole plot or give away secrets, especially about the climax.
9. Be clear about voice
Ambiguity about who is "speaking" in your Review essay can be a source of confusion for the reader. This is usually a problem in the critical discussion section of your essay. Make sure the reader can differentiate your voice in the paper from that of the author or creator of the review subject.
Final Thoughts
Writing reviews is pretty straightforward. It involves offering your personal opinion and supporting your points with valid reasons. Like all essay writing assignments, writing Review essays have their conventions. Reviewing this guide and Review essay examples written by experts can help you improve your writing.
