How To Write Book Reviews and Literary Criticism

THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE is to help you write critical essays about books or other literary works. When you write literary criticism, you combine reasoned analysis with your personal evaluation of the work. Literary analysis and book reviews differ from the standard book reports you were assigned in earlier grades. A book report is a mere summary of a work that describes what happened in a text and when. However, in literary criticism and book reviews, you must bring your own critical skills to bear as you analyze a text. Your instructor will be asking you to evaluate and critique the work, not just summarize it.

One of the exciting things about writing literary criticism is that you can share with others what you have learned and experienced while reading a poem, play, or novel. This personal experience is just that-personal-and is an essential ingredient for effective criticism and reviews. Nevertheless, although your work will reflect your individuality, there are some general approaches and techniques that can assist you in organizing your thoughts and creating your final report. The sections of this guide provide hints and strategies that will save you time and help you create a more thoughtful, well-written document.

How To Write Reports On Nonfiction Texts We would like to stress that just because literary criticism sounds critical, you do not have to dislike the work you are analyzing. The word criticism refers to the process of thinking critically about and evaluating a text; you are not required to give a negative evaluation of a work. In fact, there is a strong tradition in literary criticism that seeks to identify what is good about a text and to highlight it for the attention of others.

Writing literary criticism involves reading texts with an eye toward evaluating them, as opposed to reading purely for pleasure or to learn facts (as with a textbook). Reading critically involves not only pinpointing the theme, or the message, of the book, but also appraising and evaluating the style of the author.

This is not easy; often you must reread a few times before you can make an effective judgment. Fortunately, people have suggested ways to accomplish this. In published guides to literary criticism (Barnet, 1985; Sullivan, 1983; Gordon, 1973), authors suggest focusing on some elements that are common to literary analysis when starting your task. Read each of the topics below for examples of how to examine texts critically:

Point of View Point of view, also known as voice or perspective, refers to the way in which information is presented in a literary text. Who is telling the story, and how does the author's choice of narrator effect the plot? In all works of fiction, authors must make choices about what information to include and what information to leave out. The author often does not reveal everything that occurs to every character. Instead, the reader knows only what the author chooses to reveal through the voice of the narrator.

To consider how this process works, think of important episodes in your life and imagine how external witnesses might describe them. Now, imagine how people who were not present but only heard about the events might describe them. The stories will probably be very different, as they came from people with dissimilar points of view. In a novel, the point of view functions in a similar manner; the way in which information is presented varies depending on which character is speaking.

As you read the text, consider the following questions related to point of view:

· Who is telling the story? How does this effect the story?

· How is what we learn in the story limited by the choice of narrator?

· Does the narrator know everything that is going on, or only some things?

· How would the story be different if the author presented another point of view?

· How does the author's choice of perspective contribute to the plot?

· Are there multiple points of view? If so, what does each contribute?

· Does the narrator provide a reliable account of events? Is he or she trustworthy?

Plot Plot refers to the sequence of events in a story. In a well-written piece of fiction, events do not occur randomly. They are arranged according to the author's wishes. The typical plot structure contains elements of the following sequence of events: exposition, where the author provides needed context and background information rising action, where the author develops a series of crises climax of the story, where the crisis is resolved in a certain way, followed by a period of falling action or denouement, where the final elements of the plot are untangled, and the story is concluded One way to analyze a work of fiction is to uncover the reasons the plot is constructed in a certain way. As you read the text, consider the following questions related to plot:

· Why are the events of the story arranged the way they are?

· How does the plot structure relate to the overall theme of the story?

· What keeps the plot moving? How are the characters motivated or effected by either internal (psychological, spiritual) or external (familial, societal, natural) events?

· What is the climax of the story? When does the climax occur?

· What happens after the climax, and how is it significant?

· What are the crises encountered by the characters? How are they resolved?

· Does the plot make sense? Do events occur logically?

Characterization Characterization refers to the ways in which the author portrays the main participants. The world the author has created could contain literally anyone, yet we encounter only those he or she has chosen for us. The author makes a deliberate choice about whom to include in the story, and also controls what we learn about these characters. Determining what characters are in a story, why they are included, and how their characterization effects the meaning of the plot are other ways to analyze a work of fiction.

As you read the text, consider the following questions related to characterization:

· What is the main character like? What are the virtues and vices of the character, and how are they revealed?

· What is the most important element of the main character's personality?

· What conflict does the main character confront? Is the conflict moral, material, or of some other origin? Does the character have any strong beliefs? How does this relate to the theme of the story?

· Why does the author choose to present the character in this fashion? How might the story be different with another main character?

· What minor characters are included? What are their roles in advancing the story?

· Do any of the characters change during the story? How is this change brought about?

Setting All stories take place in a particular time and place. In many works, the setting is as important as the characters themselves. In addition to the physical place, you should pay attention to the atmosphere or feel of the setting. Setting can evoke a particular mood, such as brightness and cheeriness, or drabness and dreariness. The setting can also reveal information about the characters. Paying attention to the environment inhabited by the main characters can be important to understanding the story. The description of the house the character lives in, or the bar he or she hangs out at, can reveal a great deal about the person's lifestyle, habits, and motives. As you read the text, consider the following questions related to setting:

· Why did the author choose to set the story in a particular time and location?

· What are the unique characteristics of the setting? How might the story be different if set in another location or time period?

· How does the setting contribute to the overall theme of the work?

· How does the setting impact the developments of the story?

· How do the characters react to the environment they are in? Are they happy where they are? Do they seek to change the setting? Are they successful?

· Is the setting used as a metaphor or symbol for anything?

Theme Ultimately, the theme of the story is the most significant aspect of a literary work. The theme is what the work is about. What is the author trying to convey by writing the work? Fictional works are not random creations. The structure of the work, the characters, the plot, and the setting should all relate back to the central theme. The theme will not always be simple or obvious. In some cases, the reader has to infer the author's intentions by connecting various events and statements together to form a unifying image.

As you read the text, consider these questions regarding theme.

· What is the theme of the work?

· Is the theme explicitly stated? If so, where does this occur? If not, what events, actions, or statements reveal the theme?

· How do the various elements of the story (settings, plot, etc.) contribute to the theme?

· Is there more than one theme of the work? If so, which is the main theme?