{"id":104,"date":"2008-07-04T19:03:44","date_gmt":"2008-07-04T19:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/supaproofread.com\/blog\/?p=104"},"modified":"2023-10-17T14:30:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:30:03","slug":"book-review-the-questions-that-one-needs-to-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/book-review-the-questions-that-one-needs-to-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"BOOK REVIEW: The Questions That One Needs To Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-824\" style=\"margin: 10px;\" alt=\"an suthors book, glasses and a mug of coffee\" src=\"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/book-review.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" \/>An analytical or critical review of a book is not essentially its summary. It is <strong>a description and an evaluation on the quality and significance of the book<\/strong>, in light of specific issues and theoretical concerns. It should focus on the book&#8217;s purpose, content, and authority. It is a work where the strengths and weaknesses of the book are analysed. When writing a review, some questions have to be kept in mind.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Main Questions to Ask<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is there a specific topic that the book deals with?<\/li>\n<li>Does it seem to have any overall purpose?<\/li>\n<li>For what readership is it written?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The preface, acknowledgements, bibliography and index is generally helpful in answering these questions. Do not overlook facts about the author&#8217;s background and the circumstances in which the book was created and published.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Also, think about asking:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Does the author state an explicit thesis or a theme?<\/li>\n<li>What are the theoretical assumptions? Are they discussed explicitly?<\/li>\n<li>From what point of view is the work written?<\/li>\n<li>Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Again, look for statements in the preface, etc. and follow them up in the rest of the work.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The Genre and Material<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Is there a genre that the book can be categorised into?<\/li>\n<li>How does the book fit into it?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What types of material does the work present itself as (e.g. primary documents, literary analysis, personal observation, biographical or historical accounts).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The Author&#8217;s Style<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the style of the author?<\/li>\n<li>Does he\/she have a formal or an informal approach?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Evaluate the quality of the writing style and tone by using some of the following standards: clarity, originality, correct use of technical words, conciseness, fullness of development, fluidity.<\/p>\n<h3>The Audience\/ Readers<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Does it suit the intended audience?<\/li>\n<li>What do you like or dislike about the book&#8217;s writing style?<\/li>\n<li>Is the book readable as well as technically accurate? Is the language stilted, or natural?<\/li>\n<li>Are the examples easy to follow?<\/li>\n<li>How well is the book organized?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Materials and Sources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Are there other ways to argue from the same material?<\/li>\n<li>Does the author show awareness of them?<\/li>\n<li>In what respects does the author agree or disagree?<\/li>\n<li>What theoretical issues and topics for further discussion does the work raise?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The Affect of the Book on You<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Did the book affect you at all?<\/li>\n<li>If it did, then how did you cope with it?<\/li>\n<li>Did you have any preconceived notions of the topic?<\/li>\n<li>Did it change after you read this book?<\/li>\n<li>How is the book related to your own personal agenda?<\/li>\n<li>What are your own reactions and considered opinions regarding the work?<\/li>\n<li>How well has the book achieved its goal?<\/li>\n<li>Would you recommend this book to others, and why?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The above mentioned questions will help in structuring the way you want your review to take shape. What it can also do is to open a new insight into the book that you are writing on. So keep them in mind and go ahead writing reviews on your favourite books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An analytical or critical review of a book is not essentially its summary. It is a description and an evaluation on the quality and significance of the book, in light of specific issues and theoretical concerns. It should focus on the book&#8217;s purpose, content, and authority. It is a work where the strengths and weaknesses [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advice-for-authors-and-writers","8":"tag-book-author","9":"tag-freelance-writing","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supaproofread.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}