the general topic of the article/book (A sentence like, “The article explores the lives of foreign
general article writing
Description
Writing the Article Review
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
• You need to provide the full
bibliography of the text or piece you are reviewing. This is often
presented at the top of the page in
regular APA format for a reference.
• An alternative is to embed it in the
text, like this:
In her article, “Why ‘domestic’ work is
a global issue”, Emily Rauhalla (2011) argues that…
INTRODUCTION
Your introductory paragraph should be
short (3-4 sentences in total). Here is the information you should
provide in the introduction:
• the author’s full name and his or her
background/credentials
• the general topic of the article/book
(A sentence like, “The article explores the lives of foreign
domestic workers, such as nannies”).
• the author’s perspective, bias, and/or
basic outlook on the topic (OR this might appear in the
summary section. Do not put it in two
times). An example is “The author provides an economic
perspective on the topic.”
THESIS STATEMENT
At the end of the introductory
paragraph, write your own thesis statement. This sentence basically
states your opinion of the piece, your
overall rating. The thesis statement for an article review is
different from other kinds of thesis
statements. Here are some features.
1. IT SHOULD INCLUDE AN OVERALL OPINION
• not your opinion on the TOPIC (such as
what you think about using foreign labour) but on
the quality of the article or the
author’s argument
• Do NOT say something like
“I agree with Rauhala when she says that
domestic work is wrong.”
• Present your opinion of the relationship
between the strengths and weaknesses of the
article. Which is more significant?
• Use evaluative language (for example,
adjectives such as well-argued, poorly-supported,
fallacious, concrete, intriguing,
provoking…)
• Use your sentence structure to
represent how the positive and negative are connected.
Thesis Structure: [Although] + less
important, SVO (more significant).
Although Rauhala uses specific countries
as illustrations, her discussion is weak because…
Although Rauhala perpetuates a cultural
bias, she presents a clear argument…
