Homework: How to Write a Critical Review
Length: 8 pages.
Write an essay that analyzes the foreign policy of Germany.
The critical review is a homework that asks you to summaries and evaluate a scholarly text.In this case, scholarly material written by academics on the theories and foreign policy and international relations. The critical review can be of a book, a chapter, or a journal article. Writing the critical review usually requires you to read the selected text in detail.
At university, to be critical does not mean to criticize in a negative manner. Rather it requires you to question the information and opinions in a text and present your evaluation or judgment of the text. To do this well, you should attempt to understand the topic from different perspectives (i.e. read related texts) and in relation to the theories, approaches and frameworks in your International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis course.
i. What is meant by evaluation or judgment? Here you decide the strengths and weaknesses of a text. Evaluating requires an understanding of not just the content of the text, but also an understanding of a text's purpose, its context, the intended audience and why it is structured the way it is.
ii. What is meant by analysis? Analyzing requires separating the content and concepts of a text into their main components and then understanding how these interrelate, connect and possibly influence each other.
Critical reviews, can be both short (one page) and long (four pages), usually have a similar structure. You expected not to exceed 1500 words within reasonable limits (100 words above or below the limits can be accepted).
I. Introduction: You briefly summarize the key thesis of the text and provide a rationale for why you have selected this article or book.
II. The main body: You can also briefly explain and summarize the author's purpose/intentions, concepts and key arguments throughout the text and you may briefly describe how the text is organized.
III. The critique should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths, weakness you can choose how to sequence your critique. Here are some examples to get you started:
i. Most important to least important conclusions you make about the text.
ii. If your critique is more positive than negative, then present the negative points first and the positive last.
iii. If your critique is more negative than positive, then present the positive points first and the negative last.
iv. If there are both strengths and weakness for each criterion you use, you need to decide overall what your judgment is. For example, you may want to comment on a key idea in the text and have both positive and negative comments. You could begin by stating what is good about the idea and then concede and explain how it is limited in some way. While this example shows a mixed evaluation, overall you are probably being more negative than positive.
v. In long reviews, you can address each criteria you choose in a paragraph, including both negative and positive points. For very short critical reviews (one page or less) where your comments will be briefer, include a paragraph of positive aspects and another of negative.
vi. You can also include recommendations for how the text can be improved in terms of ideas, research approach; theories or frameworks used can also be included in the critique section.
vii. More importantly explain to what extent the selected literature contribute to you're a d general knowledge in the discipline.
IV. Conclusion
This is usually a very short paragraph.
Restate your overall opinion of the text or texts.
i. Compare strengths and weaknesses of the texts if you are reviewing several articles.
ii. Briefly present recommendations.
iii. Explain briefly to what extent these contribute to your knowledge and understanding of international politics.
iv. If necessary some further qualification or explanation of your judgment can be included. This can help your critique sound fair and reasonable.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
i) The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
ii) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
iii) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.