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 authors 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.
? Documents name should be your student number and name.
? Cover Page (Including Course Name, Your Name and Student ID Number, Title of your
Essay, Tutors 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 Universitys regulations on
plagiarism. For further information on UNICAFs 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 authors 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%
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