When a new film or book comes out, society eagerly awaits critics' feedback on the work. This kind of article is called a review. For some reason, many believe: to compose such a thing, a lot of mind is not needed. This is by no means the case. Each work has certain criteria, varieties, as well as a plan for writing reviews.
What is a review?
The word “review” was introduced into the everyday life of the literary language at the end of the 18th century and meant “inspection”. Today, review is a genre of literary criticism, publication, and bibliography. In fact, this is a critical essay where you can find a brief analysis and evaluation of a particular work. An invariable sign of a review is the presence in the publication of information about the role that work plays in the modern world.
The person who writes the reviews is called a reviewer, and his main task is to give a reliable and impartial characterization of a particular work, which, in fact, is difficult to achieve if there is no review plan.
Typology of reviews
The review is written for different types of creativity, which is why experts offer three options for their classification. First, critical articles differ in object, that is, in the original work. It can be musical, literary, theatrical or product reviews. Do not forget about the films.
Secondly, they differ by subject, that is, by who the author of the review article is. It can be:
- Expert estimates. Reviews written by masters of their craft.
- Consumer review. Work written by the consumer of the product.
- Review of the order. Such reviews are distinguished by the fact that they are "bought" by the authors of the works themselves. Often such reviews are subjective in nature, although there are rare exceptions.
Thirdly, reviews differ in the volume and number of analyzed works. And they are all compiled according to what kind of review plan the author chose for his work.
From theory to practice
Having become a little advanced in theory, we can proceed to the question from the practical side. The main thing in the review is to evaluate all the good and bad that is in the work, and this requires a high professional level. To make it a little clearer, you should look at the standard book review plan:
- Bibliographic characteristics. Here you must indicate the name of the book, its author and release date, as well as two or three sentences to convey the content.
- Directly review. That is, you need to describe your own impressions of what you read.
- Criticism. Comprehensive text analysis . It is necessary to characterize the name. To analyze the content, relevance to the genre. Write how the author displays the characters, and do not forget to mention the stylistic features of the artist.
- Actually, an assessment. It is necessary to reasonably evaluate the relevance of the work and draw conclusions.
Tip
When there is a review plan in front of your eyes, it’s much easier to work, but you should not neglect several useful tips.
In the review it is necessary to pay attention to whether the dialogues of the actors correspond to the declared genre. You can also write how entertaining the plot was. Do not lose sight of the tonality, that is, the "uniformity" of the text. Of course, it is worth noting the grammar and artistic delights of the author, this will be a good incentive for his future work. It is perfectly acceptable to describe your own emotions that were inspired by the work. Such a technique will make the work “stronger” than a prepared review plan. The work should be filled with a detailed statement of your thoughts, but you should forget about the short exclamations of admiration - they are not suitable for book review.
Practical example
Using a review plan and tips, you can try to write a review on a literary work. Take, for example, the work of Akutagawa Ryunosuke "In more often."
"The work of Akutagawa Ryunosuke" In the thicket "saw the world in 1922 in Japan. In it, the author talks about the crime committed and four versions of how it happened.
At first glance, it seems that there is nothing entertaining in history. You turn the first page, read the testimony of the first witness, then the second, third. Nothing special. Not boring, of course, but not a masterpiece. But when the turn comes for the testimony of a true criminal, a strange explosion occurs inside the mind. All four versions suddenly gather at one point, and understanding comes of why the heroes did just that.
Only after reading the work of Akutagawa it is clear that it is by no means detective. After all, the author does not need to look for the criminal, he shows the subjectivity of human behavior. Nevertheless, the text is not without food for thought. Whose evidence can be considered reliable? Human qualities and position in society play an important role in testifying. The text is written in a simple and understandable artistic style. Does not lose its uniformity with "every testimony."
This work was written based on the legends of the XIII century. In 1992, the short story received recognition, and the story was the basis of the film "Rashomon." It is difficult to argue with the relevance of the work. At any time, the work “In More often” will tell its readers that each person has his own view of the problem. ”
About the film
But books alone do not end the world of modern entertainment. Every day around the world there is one film of different footage for which you need to write a review.
The review plan for the film is slightly different from the “book version”:
- Catchy headline. Since the film industry is more in demand than literature, a review will not be noticed without an extraordinary title.
- Data. For starters, it's worth mentioning the basic facts about the film. If for the book it was necessary to indicate the author and release date, then for the film it is necessary to write about the director, genre, actors (only the names of the main characters) and, of course, the name and release date.
- A brief retelling of the plot.
- Additional plot. Actually, it’s worth writing here about the moments in the film that were “hooked”. Express your own emotions and feelings.
- Technical question. The review must indicate how the film was shot, what the scenery, special effects, costumes were and how much this pleasure cost.
- Conclusions. For whom this film is intended and what it encourages.
- The call. Conclusions can be complemented by a call to action. That is, we can say that the film will be interesting and useful for everyone (or a certain contingent).
Literature criticized equally
As you can see, the review of the film differs from the review of the book, but only in the sense that these are different works of art. The word is involved in one, and the video in the other. If we talk about literary works, then the review plan for the story and book will be practically indistinguishable.
It will also need to indicate the title of the story, author and release date. Write a few sentences about what is narrated in the work. Some information about my impressions of what I read. Analyze the text and draw conclusions.
The only thing that can be distinguished is that in the review of the story it will be relevant to discuss the correspondence of the title to the work. Moreover, reinforce the conclusions with citations from the text. This technique is used because in such works it is much less than in full-fledged novels. This means that extracts from the text are much easier to find.
In addition, there has long been an opinion that the names of novels are suitable a priori for books, it’s not even worth confirming, but there are always disputes with the stories.
Afterword
What is a review? How to write a book plan and a good review – review? At school, institute or professional activity, sooner or later one may encounter a similar task. And it’s better to be prepared in advance than hastily looking for fragments of information scattered across the Web.
Each reviewer needs to remember: do not skimp on emotions, praise or criticism. The author must see an objective assessment of his work in order to know what to work on. And the consumer must understand what emotions await him and what will be interesting for this or that work.
The review is not just a criticism of the book, it is a professional review of the work, on which it directly depends on whether the work will be interesting to the consumer or “drown” without waiting for fame.