1. Choose an article.
The news story or article should be taken from news sources such as indicated below which can be accessed free of charge online:
Energy Manager Today
The Globe and Mail
Energy Manager
Macleans
The Vancouver Sun
The Economist
Time
The New York Times
The Independent
The Guardian
Other recognized newspapers, journals, or magazines
Articles should be at least 8-10 paragraphs to provide enough information for you to review.
Articles should discuss current events and should be no more than four months older than the assignment due date.
Avoid using articles published as editorials (opinions, columns) or press releases, blogs, press releases, or general sources. While often interesting and informative, these tend not to be as thorough, or present only one opinion on a topic.
2. Write an Introduction
The length of an introduction is usually one paragraph in length, include a few opening sentences that announce the author(s) and the title, the publisher, date of publication, and briefly explains the topic of the text.
The introduction should present the aim of the article and summarize the main finding or key argument.
Conclude the introduction with a brief statement of your evaluation of the text. This can be a positive or negative evaluation or, as is usually the case, a mixed response.
3. Summarize the article
Present a summary of the key points along with a limited number of examples.
You can also briefly explain the authors purpose/intentions throughout the text and you may briefly describe how the text is organized.
The summary should only make up about a third of the critical review.
4. Critique the article
The critique should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths, weakness and notable features of the text.
Remember to base your discussion on specific criteria.
Good reviews also include other sources to support the evaluation (remember to reference).
You can choose how to sequence your critique. Here are some examples to get you started:
Most important to least important conclusions you make about the text.
If your critique is more positive than negative, then present the negative points first and the positive last.
If your critique is more negative than positive, then present the positive points first and the negative last.
If there are both strengths and weakness for each criterion you use, you need to decide overall what your judgement 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.
In long reviews, you can address each criterion 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.
You can also include recommendations how the text can be improved in terms of ideas, research approach; theories or frameworks used can also be included in the critique section
5. Write a Conclusion
This is usually a very short paragraph. Restate your overall opinion of the text.
Briefly present recommendations.
If necessary, some further qualification or explanation of your judgement can be included. This can help your critique sound fair and reasonable.
Cite your References
Cite the source of your article in a properly formatted APA-style reference at the end of the review.
If you have used other sources in you review you should also include them in this reference list.
Remember to properly cite your reference if you refer to text from it, either directly in the form of a direct quote, or indirectly if you paraphrase.
