Dept of Linguistics                                            

                          Linguistics 698A     index.htm Section 1

Writing Academic English

ASSIGNMENT:  CRITICAL  REVIEW

    The purpose of this assignment is for you to express evaluation by analyzing and commenting on the quality of  ideas in a paper in English.

    For this assignment, use a major section or sections of one of your model papers.  Select a section no fewer than four published pages and no more than ten.  The suggested length of your critical review is three pages in  font size 12, double-spaced.

    Your paper should have the following elements in an organized structure:

• announcement of the author's primary argument
• brief suggestion of your evaluation early,  say,  the end of the first paragraph
• points weighted towards the positive
• points weighted towards the negative
• degree of significance of the work
• recommendation for audience(s) to read it or not

Focus on the following language/writing skills in particular:

    accurate paraphrasing and documentation of the author's points

    insightful and logically-connected claims about the degree of thoroughness,
    persuasiveness, and timeliness

    appropriate evaluative language with precision in expressing degree
    and level of formality  

Relevant chapters in Swales and Feak:  Ch. 4, Data Commentary and Ch. 6, critique.htmCritiques