English 1100 C & D1
Fall 2005
Essay #4
Due: December 26

In three to four pages, write a critical review of a source (a journal article or book chapter) that you plan to include in your term paper. A critical review provides a context for the article in question, summarizes the article, and most importantly, indicates which parts of the article are most and least intelligent, useful, or otherwise worthwhile and explains why. Below are some guidelines on critical reviews from the web site http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~simpsom/106/Project%204.htm which break down the project in more detail:

“After your initial reading of the article, establish valid criteria by which to evaluate the article. Then, having completed your evaluation, use the techniques suggested below to write your review:

• State your claim
• Summarize the article being reviewed
• Explain the criteria (standards) you will use to evaluate the article
• Give your judgment for each criteria supported by detailed evidence and argument
• Provide a balance of positive and negative reactions
• Answer the questions, ‘What were the author’s purpose and intended audience?’ and ‘Did the article succeed in fulfilling its purpose for its intended audience?’”

Use this as an opportunity to start researching and planning your term paper. Some suggestions: 1) Make sure you’ve thought through the poem, story, or play that is the center of your term paper (that is, the work your critics are responding to). You may or may not end up wanting to cite directly from the story etc. in this essay, but figuring out your own sense of how the text works will make it easier for you to understand and respond to the critic. 2) Choose an article that you feel strongly about one way or the other, if possible. Working with an article you disagree with may give you more room for analysis.

Please submit both a hard copy, due in class, and an attachment to jaime (dot) cleland (at) gmail (dot) com. Also, hand in a copy of the article your essay reviews along with the essay itself. (If for some reason you are unable to attend class on the 26th, then leave the article in my mailbox.)