english

Induction Module

Brief and Guidelines

Assignment 3a

Writing a Critical Review

Detailed Assessment Information

Submission Details

The aim assignment 3a is to develop your skills in evaluating an author’s work and producing a

critical analysis that expresses your opinion and evaluation of it. Writing a critical review requires

both critical reading and critical writing.

Worth: 20% of your overall grade

Requirements

✓ Typed in an electronic format (Word or PDF document)

✓ Uploaded to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

✓ Follows the structure of a Critical Review

✓ Do not use headings to divide your work into sections.

✓ Document’s name should be your student number and name.

✓ Cover Page (Including Course Name, Your Name and Student ID Number, Title of your

Essay, Tutor’s Name, Date)

✓ The word limit is 700 words (+/- 10%)

✓ Includes in-text citation and a Reference List on a Separate Page using the correct

Reference Style

Please Note

▪ By submitting your work you are agreeing to abide by the University’s regulations on

plagiarism. For further information on UNICAF’s stance on plagiarism, please read the

University's Student Regulations.

▪ The box on the right hand side of the assignment must be ticked √ in order to proceed to uploading the next assignment.

Instructions

In order to write your Critical Review you must follow the structure used for critical reviews that will

best allow you to support your thesis within the required word limit constraint.

Structure of a Critical Review

1. Introduction

▪ The length of an introduction is usually one paragraph for a journal article.

▪ Include a few opening sentences that announce the author(s) and the title.

▪ Briefly explain the topic of the text.

▪ Present the aim of the text and summarise the main finding or key argument.

▪ Conclude the introduction with a brief statement of your evaluation of the text. This can be a

positive or negative evaluation or a mixed response.

2. Overview

▪ Present a summary of the key points along with a limited number of examples.

▪ Briefly explain the author’s purpose/intentions throughout the text.

▪ Briefly describe how the text is organised.

▪ The overview should only make up about a third of the critical review.

3. Evaluation

▪ The critique should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths, weakness and

notable features of the text.

1. Introduction (with thesis)

2. Overview of the text

3. Evaluation of the text

▪ Point 1

▪ Point 2

▪ Point 3

▪ Point 4 …(continue as

necessary)

4. Conclusion

5. References

▪ Remember to base your discussion on specific criteria. Good reviews also include other

sources to support your evaluation (remember to reference).

You can choose how to sequence your critique. Here are some examples to get you started:

▪ Most important to least important conclusions you make about the text.

▪ If your critique is more positive than negative, then present the negative points first and the

positive last.

▪ If your critique is more negative than positive, then present the positive points first and the

negative last.

▪ If there are both strengths and weakness for each criterion you use, you need to decide

overall what your judgement is. For example, you may want to comment on a key idea in the

text and have both positive and negative comments.

▪ You can include recommendations for how the text can be improved in terms of ideas and

research approach.

4. Conclusion

This is usually a short paragraph.

▪ Restate your overall opinion of the text.

▪ Briefly present recommendations.

▪ If necessary some further qualification or explanation of your judgement can be included. This

can help your critique sound fair and reasonable.

5. References

All sources used in the writing of your review should be included in a list of references at the end of

the review, on a separate page. Your list should include at least one source, i.e. the article that is

under review.

Marking criteria

Element Weight %

Introduction (with thesis)

15%

Overview of the text

20%

Evaluation of the text

35%

Conclusion

15%

In-text citation

5%

References

10%