If you literally shouldn’t judge a book’s merits by cover art alone, then what should you do to learn more about a book (aside from reading it, of course)?

One option is to read a few book reviews.

If you have to write a book review for a class, your prof is assigning you the task of writing a book review to help a general reader learn about a specific book.

That’s all well and good, isn’t it? But chances are, right about now you’re asking, “So what exactly is a book review, and more importantly, can you help me write one?”

I can indeed help you learn how to write a book review. Let’s start by understanding exactly what it is you’re writing. Ready?

What Is a Book Review?

To better understand the nuts and bolts of a book review, let’s take a look at what it isn’t before we discuss what a book review is.

What a book review is not

A book review is not simply a summary of a book. While you’ll include some summary information in your review (more about that later), the entire review shouldn’t consist of one long plot summary.

A book review is not a literary analysis. While you’ll likely include some discussion and analysis of key points and literary terms (like theme, symbol, or metaphor), the focus of a review is not a pure analysis of the book. (More about that later too.)

A book review is not a literature review. A literature review informs readers about research completed on a specific topic. It reviews academic books and journal articles related to the topic. (You know, the types of sources you’d use to complete a research paper.)

What a book review is

In short, a book review is an evaluation of a book.

Your goal in writing a review is to provide your audience with a critical and detailed commentary of the book, not simply a summary of what happened in the story.

Ever read a film review on Rotten Tomatoes that says something like, “Don’t bother to see this remake because it’s melodramatic, a waste of 94 minutes, and the re-envisioned plot strays too far from to the original classic version”?

Makes you think about whether you’d actually want to spend your hard-earned money to see the movie, right?

A book review is the Rotten Tomatoes of the book world.

When you write a book review, your goal is to give readers a hint about the plot and, more importantly, to make a comment about the book itself.

What to Do Before You Write a Book Review

All right, now that you know what a book review is and isn’t, let’s focus on what you need to do before writing the book review. And then, I promise, we’ll get to how to write a book review in more detail.

Start by critically and actively reading the book

This seems like an obvious step, but my point in emphasizing it here is that you should actually take the time to read the book. Don’t rely on study guides or online summaries.

As you read, it’s important that you pay attention to what you’re reading. Don’t just skim through it and hope to remember everything.

To help remember the important stuff, take notes.

Write about the literary terms you encounter, the key plot points of the story, its themes, important characters, and anything else that strikes you as particularly noteworthy.

Don’t forget to jot down your own reactions too. Did you find some sections confusing? Were you engrossed in other parts and unable to put the book down? Maybe you found yourself laughing at scenes that weren’t supposed to be funny.

All of these types of comments and reactions may seem a bit scattered and unrelated at first, but they will ultimately help you develop a final, critical evaluation of the book.

Don’t forget: If you can’t write notes directly on the pages of the book, make sure to include page numbers next to your notes. This will be a big time-saver and help you find information later when you write your review.

Develop a focus and draft your commentary

After you’ve read the book, taken notes, and mulled things over a bit, decide what you’ll focus on in your review.

Remember, the goal of a book review is to provide a commentary on the book, so you’ll need to decide what your commentary will be.

A book review must have focused commentary on the book, so identify the focus before writing.
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Need help sorting out ideas? Here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help you find a focus.

• What is the historical context of the novel? Does the author attempt to keep the text historically accurate? If so, does the author achieve this goal? (If you’re reviewing a sci-fi book, can you suspend your sense of disbelief and believe in the characters and the story?)

• Are characters fully developed? Do any characters seem out of place or not effectively developed? Are there any characters who are particularly strong and seem to stand out?

• How is the pace of the novel? Are there any sections that drag on for an eternity and completely bore you to death? Are there scenes that move too quickly and leave you re-reading to fully understand what happened?

• What is the purpose of the type of narration used? If, for instance, the book uses first-person narration, is it effective? Would the story be more effective if told from a third-person narrator?

• Is the author trying to make a comment about society? (Think dystopian literature.) If so, is the commentary effective? Does it make readers think, or is it just too far-fetched to really make anyone question society?

Looking for a few sample student-written book reviews to see how others developed ideas? Take a look at these two examples from our database:

• A Book Review of The Canal Builders by Julie Greene
• A Review of Leo Tolsoy’s Anna Karenina

Want to read some professional reviews? Check out these book reviews on NPR.

How to Write a Book Review

Once you’ve read the book, taken notes, and developed some preliminary ideas for your review, it’s time to sit down (or stand if you prefer), and learn how to write a book review.

So let’s get to work, shall we?

As with any writing project, after you develop your preliminary ideas, it’s a good idea to create an outline. (Not a fan of outlines? Try a graphic organizer instead.)

What should you put in your outline (and thus put in your book review)?

While all course assignments may have different requirements, here are some general guidelines for what you should include.

Introduction

Author and title of book

Include the author and title of the book within the first few lines of your book review. (Don’t rely on the title of your review to tell readers the name of the book.)

The theme or thesis of the book

You should be able to summarize the theme or thesis of the book in a few lines. Remember, this information should be a broad overview. Don’t go into too many details in the introduction.

The focus or framework for your review

Your goal here is to explain the angle or context of your review within a few sentences.

For instance, if you’re writing a book review about To Kill a Mockingbird, your focus might be racism, how the theme is illustrated in the novel, and whether the author effectively illustrates the theme.

You could also focus on the effects of first-person narration in the novel and whether the narration is effective and/or the best option for the novel.

Your focus will change what type evidence and argument you create.

Your thesis

The thesis statement for your review will be the point you want to make about the book.

For instance, you might write something about how Harper Lee tackles racism in To Kill a Mockingbird by creating flawed and potentially racist characters, such as Atticus Finch. You might comment on whether such characters are appropriate and/or effective in the story.

Summary

The summary of the book should be pretty short (no more than a paragraph or so). If you’re writing a book review for a course, assume that your audience has already read the book.

This means that you don’t need to write about every minor detail.

In most cases, the audience for your review will be your professor, so it also means that you don’t have to worry about including spoilers. Your prof will already know what happens in the book and will want to know what you have to say about the novel.

If, by chance, you’re writing for another audience, like classmates who haven’t read the book, you likely don’t want to include spoilers. No one wants to read a book already knowing the surprise twist at the end.

Evaluation and commentary

This section is the bulk of your essay and needs to include at least three or four paragraphs to explain your evaluation and commentary about the book.

Organize your key points of evaluation in an order that works best for you. For instance, you might group your ideas by examples of themes, narration, symbols, or other points in the book.

This section doesn’t have to follow the book in order of each chapter (though you can organize your ideas that way if it seems like the best fit for your paper).

Remember, if you’re quoting directly from the book, you’ll need to cite through in-text citation, likely in MLA or APA format. (Check with your prof to determine which citation style is required for your assignment.)

REMEMBER: Your evaluation doesn’t have to be all positive or all negative. A good book can have a few points that rub you the wrong way or just don’t seem to make sense, just as a (mostly) awful book can have a few shining moments.

Conclusion

The conclusion for a book review should wrap up your key ideas and highlight your final evaluation of the book.

The conclusion is your final chance to stress your evaluation, so make sure you don’t let this section fall flat. Leave your audience with something memorable.

Need a few more tips on how to write an effective conclusion? Read Loose Ends: How to End an Essay With Authority.

And that’s how to write a book review like a pro.

Looking for Even More Help?

If you’re in need of a few more writing tips to help get through this writing assignment, here are three additional articles that just might do the trick:

• Here Is the Right Way and the Wrong Way to Write Topic Sentences
• Why Eliminating Wordiness Is So Important for Your Essay
• The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Word Choice for Your Essay

Have you written your best work but aren’t quite sure if your essay is all that? Learn how a Kibin editor can help.

Don’t need any convincing? Browse our editors’ profiles to find the perfect match for your essay.

But in all actuality, you probably already have a sense of how to critique.

Need proof?

Think about trying a new corner deli. The first time you visit, you evaluate the deli based on all sorts of things, such as the sandwich selection, cleanliness, atmosphere, and location.

Based on your dining experience that day, you critique the deli.

When you buy a new phone, you’re also completing a critique. You evaluate the phone based not only on its price but also on its features, such as its camera, battery life, and storage capabilities.

See? You’re already critiquing things. Your task now is simply to transfer your well-honed critiquing skills to a formal, academic essay and actually write a critique.

Here’s how you do it.

How to Write a Critique (That Doesn’t Suck)

I know writing can be stressful. Writing a type of essay that you’ve never tackled before can be even more stressful. But remember, you already know how to critique.

Simply translate your skills into writing, and follow these two basic steps to learn how to write a critique successfully.

Step 1: Know your purpose for writing a critique

It’s a given that you’re writing a critique because your prof assigned it, but that’s not what I mean when I say “know your purpose.” In this case, I mean that you need to know the purpose for the critique itself.

Nonfiction critique

Let’s say you’re critiquing an article about poverty. The information you include will change depending on your purpose for the critique.

For example, let’s say you’re writing a sociology paper, and the purpose of your critique is to evaluate an article to determine whether it’s a useful research source. To do so, you might examine the writer’s arguments, evidence, and logic.

On the other hand, if you’re in a linguistics class and you’re critiquing the same article, your purpose might be to evaluate how well the writer uses language to convey his/her message. In this case, you might evaluate the tone, word choices, and sentence structures.

Literary critique

Knowing your purpose for writing a critique is also crucial if you’re in a lit class. Your critique of a novel, such as Fahrenheit 451, will change depending on your purpose for the critique.

For example, if you’re writing a literary analysis (or literary criticism) about Fahrenheit 451, your purpose might be to evaluate the novel and examine how it fits into the dystopian genre of literature.

In this case, you might look for elements such as a ruler or oppressor, a protagonist who fights to change society, and an ending that leaves readers wondering about the future of current society.

On the other hand, if you’re reading the same piece of literature and studying theme, your purpose might be to evaluate Fahrenheit 451 and write about the themes of technology or literature.

The takeaway: Your purpose for writing a critique will determine which elements of the work you’ll actually critique.

Your purpose for writing a critique determines what elements you’ll actually critique.
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If you’re not sure why you’re writing the critique, check your assignment guidelines. And if you’re still unsure after that, ask your prof for clarification.

Step 2: Determine key points to critique

Now that you know that your purpose for writing a critique will determine what you critique, how do you decide what is or isn’t important to evaluate? Here’s what to look for.

Nonfiction critique

In a nonfiction critique, you’re evaluating what the author has written and how he/she presents information.

Here are a few questions you might ask yourself as you complete your nonfiction critique:

• What is the purpose of the article? For instance, does the writer attempt to persuade, to inform, or to convince the reader to take action?

• Does the writer achieve this purpose?

• Are the writer’s arguments well-developed and/or supported with effective evidence?

• Who is the audience for the article?

• How does the writer use language? For instance, is the piece sarcastic, rude, or funny?

• What effect does language have on the audience? Does it persuade them to agree? Might the language offend readers?

• How does this article fit into the larger conversation, such as other research articles, professional discussions, etc?

If you’re looking for even more advice on analyzing articles, check out these resources:

• How to Analyze an Article the Right Way
• How to Write a Smart Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Literary critique

When you’re critiquing literature, you’re also examining how the author presents information. But in addition, you’ll also examine literary devices and how they’re used.

Here are a few questions you might ask yourself as you complete your literary critique:

• What is the theme of the piece?

• What was the author’s purpose for writing the piece? (For instance, was the work created as a cautionary tale? Was the work meant to scare readers?)

• How does the piece fit into its specific genre?

• How do characters develop throughout the story?

• What other literary devices are used in the story, and how do they affect elements such as the plot, characters, and theme?

If you want to learn more about analyzing literature, read these posts:

• How to Write a Literary Analysis That Works
• Literary Analysis Essay Tips From a Kibin Editor

What to Avoid When Writing a Critique

At this point, you should have a pretty good sense of how to write a critique, but it’s just as important to know what you should avoid.

Avoid writing all-positive or all-negative critiques

When you critique something, you should objectively evaluate its merits. This means that a critique is rarely all positive or all negative.

Sure, if you’re evaluating a professional journal article, it’s easy to say that it’s well-written. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t disagree with something or that you can’t address the fact that the article fails to address important arguments.

The same is true with fiction. You might absolutely love The Hunger Games and claim it as your all-time favorite. But if you really think hard enough, there might also be one or two things that really irk you about the novel and don’t quite seem to work.

Avoid focusing too heavily on summary

Whether you’re critiquing fiction or nonfiction, it’s important to include some amount of summary. But you should assume that your audience has already read the piece you’re critiquing.

There’s no need to retell the entire story or rehash all the details of a research article. Doing so adds length in the form of useless content. It doesn’t add any value to your critique.

So where should you place the summary in the context of your paper?

It’s a smart idea to include a summary of the work toward the beginning of your critique (usually after the introduction paragraph).

The summary should be long enough to include the main points of what you’re critiquing—but much shorter than the actual evaluation section of your essay.

Avoid critiquing everything

Remember, when writing a critique, you should choose a few important points. You’re not trying to write about everything you can possibly think of.

For example, if you’re critiquing an opinion article in a conservative publication, it might be worth noting the intended audience. The writer wouldn’t only make specific choices about content but would also use specific word choices to reach a conservative audience.

On the other hand, if you’re critiquing an article published in a scientific journal, the writer is reporting factual information to a science-literate audience. In this case, discussing the intended audience isn’t as relevant.

Likewise, if you’re writing about literature and critiquing a novel with no symbolism, there usually isn’t any point of writing about the lack of symbolism.

If the focus of your critique is imagery, it usually wouldn’t make sense to devote the bulk of your critique to how the novel fits into the horror genre.

Avoid choosing random points to critique

While you’ll certainly need to select a few key elements to critique, don’t just pick the first points you think of that you believe will fill a few pages.

It’s crucial that you have a focus for your critique and tie your main ideas together with a strong thesis statement.

For instance, if you’re critiquing a newspaper editorial, you might focus on the writer’s arguments. Your critique could evaluate whether the writer does the following:

• Uses enough evidence to create successful arguments
• Makes persuasive arguments
• Uses effective language to convince an audience

If you’re critiquing a short story, you might focus on theme. Your critique could evaluate the plot, characters, and ultimate resolution of the story to determine whether the writer successfully portrays the intended theme.

In both of these examples, the critique includes several main ideas but then ties them together with a common focus, such as argument or theme.

Critique by Example

If you’re thinking that all this advice sounds great but you’d still like to see a few finished essays to see how to write a critique and pull it all together, here are some example essays to help inspire your creative genius:

• An Analysis of the British Society in Hard Times, a Novel by Charles Dickens
• An Analysis of Sam Harris’s Article “The Power of Bad Incentives”

Of course, writing isn’t the only possible subject of a critique. You might critique (among other things) a work of art, a film, an advertisement, or a political poster. If you’re interested in reading an example critique of some of these topics, check out the following:

• A Critique of The Raft of the Medusa, a Painting by Theodore Gericault
• A Critique of Bowling for Columbine, a Documentary by Michael Moore
• An Analysis of the Kraft Zesty Guy Advertisement

Once you’ve finished your essay and are in need of someone to critique your own writing, reach out to a Kibin editor for comments, corrections, and feedback.

Happy writing!

Stuck on Your Analytical Essay?

Check Out These Example Analytical Essays

Yes! Show me examples.

Due Date: Tomorrow

Confidence Level: Low

Situation: CRITICAL

You’ve sat through (and even paid attention to) your professor’s lectures about critical analysis essays. You’ve read all the assigned readings. You’ve even taken the initiative to dig up a few online resources about critical essays.

The Problem: Even though you have a decent understanding of what makes up a critical essay, you’re still having trouble putting those ideas into the right format.

Sometimes all it takes is an example to help show you the way. Use this critical essay example to write smarter.

Critical Essay: A Quick Synopsis

To write a critical essay, you need to look at things closely. No, you don’t need a magnifying glass. That’s not what I mean by looking at things closely.

What I mean is, you need to think critically about your subject by examining and exploring ideas. You need to think deeply about your subject, analyze information, and develop your own opinions.

If you’re looking for a more complete explanation, read How to Use Critical Thinking in Your Essay and Write Smarter.

Use This Critical Essay Example to Write Smarter

To help illustrate how to a write a critical essay, I’ve included a critical essay example. And with that, let’s dive into A Critical Analysis of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, with comments throughout. (Click any image to enlarge.)

Need more inspiration before you embark on writing your own critical essay? Check out these additional critical essay examples:

• The Impact of Obsessions in People’s Lives
• An Analysis of Stephen King’s Novel Cujo
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin: A Search for Self-Identity

The Takeaway

The takeaway from this critical essay example? Everything is written for a reason.

A complaint about a broken-down car isn’t merely a complaint about faulty machinery. It’s symbolic of a person’s failed dreams. An obsession with gardening isn’t just a desire to get plants into the ground. It’s one man’s desperate attempt to cling to his dreams.

As you write your own critical essay, keep this in mind. Read with a critical eye.

Be critical of your own paper, too. Every word counts. And as we’ve seen through examining this critical essay example, even titles count.

Be critical of your own paper. Every word counts, even titles.
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Want to make sure your title is as great as your paper? Check out How to Write Good Essay Titles That Are … Good.

If you need someone to take a critical look at your essay, Kibin editors are always willing to help!

Although critics can be quite critical (read: negative) at times, they aren’t always this way. In fact, they can be downright gushing when a film deserves it. But when they go negative, it can be brutal(ly funny).

The critics tend to get a bad rap because of this, but they are just being honest—and well, the truth hurts sometimes. Perhaps this is one of the things your professor has taught you.

Like film critics, critical essays can be misunderstood because of the most common definition of “critical.”

Simple definition of critical:

1. expressing criticism or disapproval

2. of or relating to the judgments of critics about books, movies, art, etc.

3. using or involving careful judgment about the good and bad parts of something

Although the first definition is the most common, you will focus on the third when writing a critical essay. So let’s learn how to write a critical essay the most critical professor will love.

Focusing Your Critical Eyes

A critical essay is not a summary of a text. Instead, it’s a close analysis of what makes that text tick. This doesn’t mean there won’t be moments of summary. There will be.

A critical essay isn’t a summary of a text. It’s a close analysis of what makes that text tick.
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However, summary will not be the main focus of your critical essay. That distinction belongs to your analysis of the work.

There are several ways to analyze a work for a critical essay, and they tend to fall into three common categories: evaluate, describe, and interpret.

Evaluate

This is your chance to be a critic in the most well-understood sense. When evaluating a text, you will be answering the basic question of whether the work is good.

Of course, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.

For example, you may believe, like Peter Keough, that the most recent Transformers movie was “the cinematic equivalent of being tied in a bag and being beaten by pipes,” but that doesn’t change the fact that the grunting guy doing squats at your gym saw it three times.

When evaluating a text for your critical essay, you will need to dig deeper, of course, focusing on the specific aspects of the text that you like or dislike, putting your evaluation into context, and using examples from other works to highlight the differences.

These types of critical essays can be a lot of fun, but your opinions and the reasons behind them must be clear to the reader.

Describe

A critical description will focus on the nuts and bolts of a text. In other words, you will analyze the strategies that the author used to tell his or her story.

This will involve focusing on certain elements of a story, such as the setting, characters, or themes. However, when describing something critically, you’ll often have to go deeper than this, focusing on the literary devices and techniques used in the text.

For example, how does Tolkien’s use of diction lend itself to The Lord of the Rings? Or how does Orwell use personification to better tell the story of Animal Farm?

Instead of focusing on whether the work as a whole is good or bad, you’ll be focusing on how the story works. This will often require some context, which means looking at the text through the lens of its genre and the time period in which it was written.

Interpret

Instead of looking at the specific elements of a story or evaluating the quality of the work as a whole, an interpretation focuses on the message present in the text, which is usually the main reason the author wrote the piece.

When interpreting a text, consider these questions:

• What is the author trying to tell us, the readers?
• Is there something we can learn from this work?
• What was the author trying to say about the time in which the work was written?
• What does it say about the world we live in now?

These are all viable questions to answer when writing a critical interpretation of a text, but none of them are easy to answer—much like it’s hard to understand how anyone paid M. Night Shyamalan to make The Happening.

When tackling this type of a critical essay, you will need to read the text through a critical lens. This will add focus to your paper.

Want to see critical essays in action? Check out these examples for inspiration as you learn or work through the following steps on how to write a critical essay:

• A Critical Essay Analysis on the Catcher in the The Rye
• A Critical Essay on Billy Budd by Herman Melville
• Critical Essay – Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull-House

How to Write a Critical Essay the Most Critical Prof Will Love

In learning how to write a critical essay, you need to follow certain steps to writing that are, uh, critical to its success.

Choose the right text

Before you can decide how to write a critical essay that analyzes your text—as we talked about above—you have to choose the right text.

Some critical essay assignments include a specified text that will be the focus of your analysis. However, some professors leave the choice to you.

If this is the case, don’t procrastinate! Choosing the right text will require some thinking on your part, and most people don’t do their best thinking when they’re rushed. So start early, and ask yourself these questions:

• Am I already familiar with this text? If not, do I have time to start from scratch?
• Does the work have enough redeeming qualities to keep me from pulling my hair out?
• Do I find the subject matter engaging? Will my reader?

You don’t want to end up with a text that “does not improve on the sight of a blank screen,” as Roger Ebert once wrote about Mad Dog Time.

These essays take time, and you’re going to be much happier dedicating that time to something that you can focus your critical eyes on without weeping.

Read and take notes

The most important step in the process of learning how to write a critical essay doesn’t even involve actually writing the essay.

Once you decide on a text, it’s time to read and think critically about the text.

• What questions do you encounter while reading?
• What kind of impression does the text make on you?
• What techniques does the writer use?

Take your time. Read closely, pausing to think about what you’re reading.

It’s also extremely important to take notes. Mark or highlight passages that stick out to you so that you can come back to them later in the process. You will not regret it.

Write your thesis

While reading and taking notes may be the most important step in the learning process when you’re learning how to write a critical essay, the thesis is the most important sentence in the whole essay.

Now that you have read your text critically, you should have an idea of how you want to focus your essay. It’s time to decide whether you want to describe, evaluate, or interpret.

Your choice in this matter will affect your thesis statement.

• If you choose to describe, your thesis should make a claim based on the specific strategies the author used and how those strategies affect the text.
• If you choose to evaluate, your thesis will focus on the big question of whether the work is good and why.
• If you choose to interpret, your thesis will be a preview of the critical lens you used to analyze the text, as well as a preview of your findings.

Read again, seriously

Take the time to read the text again. And again. And again. You cannot read it too many times, especially if you’re learning how to write a critical essay for the first time. Each time you put your eyes to the work, you should be looking for answers to any previous questions that you had about the text.

Moreover, once you have a thesis statement, you can take an even closer look at the text for all important details related to the focus of your essay.

As you read the piece again (and again), continue to take notes, jotting down any thoughts or questions that arise, and highlight areas that can be quoted in your own writing.

Research

Now it’s time to dive into everyone’s favorite part of writing: research! Love it or not, it’s necessary to a critical essay in the same way that bad date movies are necessary on Valentine’s Day.

“Valentine’s Day is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it’s more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date.” — Roger Ebert

Your research will focus on answering the questions you encountered while reading the piece, finding background information on the author or time period, and finding other works that can be used in comparison.

Outside research adds a level of legitimacy and context to your claims. You may also use research to find information that you believe should have been included in the original work.

Outline

Outlining is a great habit to get into as a student. No matter the assignment, an outline can give your ideas needed clarity before the writing actually starts. It’s like going to the grocery store—it’s easier to skip the list, but you’re more likely to forget something (or buy too much).

The outline is even more important with a critical essay, which involves many notes from the text and your own research. A simple outline will include the following.

Introduction

Your opening paragraph should include the basic information about the text, including the title, author, and relevant background information.

You can also use this paragraph to include a brief summary of the text, focusing only on the points that will be relevant to the rest of your essay. Your introduction will end with, of course, the all-important thesis statement we talked about above.

Body

The body paragraphs are where the magic happens in your essay. I like to use the PEER paragraph structure when writing a critical essay.

This includes the following elements:

• the Point of the paragraph (the topic sentence)
• an Example of the point (one of the quotes you highlighted in the text earlier)
• an Explanation of your example (an analysis of the quote, citing your research)
• a relevant Response (put your example in a broader context and relate it to your thesis)

Conclusion

The best conclusion paragraphs do not simply restate the thesis of the paper (though this will be part of your conclusion). Instead, you should use this space to expand on the broader significance of your argument—that is, why should we care?

Proofreading

Now that you know how to write a critical essay that even you’re most critical prof will love, let’s talk about crossing the finish line to get your essay hand-in ready.

When you’re writing an essay that picks apart the fine details of another person’s work, the last thing you want to do is make your own mistakes. Avoid this by taking the time to do a thorough edit.

Make sure that you double check your quotes and citations. I often edit papers at Kibin with misquoted sources.

There’s no excuse for this—unless, of course, you’re trying to simultaneously write your paper while watching Jean Claude Van Damme dance and dole out “inhuman amounts of comically exaggerated violence” in Kickboxer.

Moreover, you should take the time to become your own critic. What would someone write in a critical essay on your essay?

If you don’t have the time to do a good edit on your own, I highly suggest hiring a skilled editor at Kibin to do it for you. We’ll help you put the final touches on your essay before you must hand it over to your critical professor.

Or think about it this way: if you were in The Hunger Games, would you be an inhabitant of The Capitol—carefree and enjoying the “entertainment” of the Games—or more critical of the government and the fact that it’s actually benefiting all of Panem?

Literature, like life, is nuanced.

You can’t just take what the author of your text, President Snow (or other politicians), advertisers, or corporations tell you at face value. You have to think critically and look at the context and background information, biases, and other factors at play.

Don’t take what authors, politicians, or corporations tell you at face value. Think critically.
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Writing a critical analysis essay will help you hone these skills. Instead of looking at this as just another assignment to trudge through, look at it as a chance to channel your inner critic.

In this post, I’ll give you the specifics on how to write a good critical analysis essay. I’ll even throw in some examples relating to one of my favorite critics—Katniss Everdeen. (A critical analysis of The Capitol works, right?)

How to Take Your Critical Analysis Essay from Eh to Awesome

A critical analysis essay takes a piece of literature and breaks it down in order to explain the author’s thesis or main idea. But only explaining the different components and how they relate to the main idea will give you a pretty boring essay.

To make it good, concentrate on three elements—effectiveness in staying true to the thesis, organization, and appeal (aka, the non-boring factor).

A good critical analysis essay concentrates on 3 elements: effectiveness, organization, and appeal.
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Effectiveness

I cannot overstate the importance of staying true to your thesis statement. That’s the North Star guiding you to good essay writing.

I’ll talk about developing your thesis later, but once you have it down, you want to make sure the rest of your essay is devoted to proving your thesis.

Take a lesson from Katniss—success and true greatness don’t come from distractions. They come from dedication to your goal.

In her case, it was freeing the people of Panem from tyranny. In your case, it’s writing a good critical analysis essay. Compared to her goal, the writing doesn’t seem as intimidating, does it?

Organization

Organization comes down to ensuring your writing flows logically from one point to the next. One of the best ways to ensure your essay is well-organized is to write an outline. This way, you can plan everything out before you get too far into writing and realize that you forgot an important part.

Appeal

What I call the “non-boring factor,” others may call creativity. In this case, I’m not talking about being the next Shakespeare. I simply mean that you want to keep your reader engaged.

Just putting the necessary information on paper is not going to create an enjoyable reading experience. When you’re writing and reading over your critical analysis essay, put yourself in your reader’s shoes and judge whether it needs a little more personality.

Steps to a Good Critical Analysis Essay

Now that you know a little more about what to include in your critical analysis essay, let’s get into some real examples. After you have read your text critically, there are only four steps left in the writing process:

1. Write your thesis statement
2. Draft an outline
3. Write the content of the paper
4. Proofread your work

Each of these steps could use a little more explanation, right? Let me show you these steps in action. In the following examples, I’ll analyze author Suzanne Collins’ main point in The Hunger Games series and answer whether she was successful in getting that point across.

Step #1: Write your thesis statement

The thesis statement tells your readers what your critical analysis essay is about. Think about what you want to accomplish with your essay, and state it clearly.

Because this is a critical analysis essay and, therefore, covers a pretty broad topic range, it’s okay to have a fairly lengthy thesis statement.

For my thesis statement, I might write something like this:

In The Hunger Games series, author Suzanne Collins effectively demonstrates the dangers of modern issues of war, inequality, and violence. She uses President Snow and The Capitol as gross exaggerations of the worst habits in US society: vanity, greed, conformity, and lack of empathy. By contrasting these exaggerations against the main character, Katniss, Collins successfully gets readers to understand and even sympathize with her main idea.

Step #2: Draft an outline

Much like taking over The Capitol, writing a critical analysis essay requires you to develop a plan.

Outlines may seem like unnecessary work. Really, though, they make your work a whole lot easier. You can organize all your thoughts beforehand and make the writing process a lot faster.

A critical analysis essay has several components, all of which should be reflected (in some way) in your outline:

• Background information about the book, essay, or poem
• Your thesis statement
• A summary of the piece
• The analysis

Depending on your writing style, your outline can be as full or as bare as you want it to be—so long as it gives you an idea of the breakdown of your critical analysis essay.

My outline would look like this:

1. Introduction
   1. Background information
      1. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, 2008-2010
   2. Thesis statement
2. Summary of the story
3. Collins’s purpose
   1. Showing the dangers of war, inequality, and violence
      1. War = catalyst for the Hunger Games to be created in the first place.
      2. Inequality between The Capitol and the rest of Panem creates tension and eventually revolts.
      3. All of Panem is violent, not just the Hunger Games. Creates unjust sense of power for ones committing the violent acts, (rightful) mistrust of government by the victims, and results in death of many.
4. Organization and Style
   1. Three-part series showing Katniss’s life during and after the Hunger Games. Told in first person and portrays rise to her role as the Mockingjay.
5. Effectiveness
   1. Through a thoughtful portrayal of the stark differences between the Capitol and the rest of Panem, and how apathetic Capitol residents can be about the suffering of others, as well as the pure evil characterized in President Snow, Collins is highly effective in making readers understand her main idea.
6. Audience
   1. Teenagers and young adults, but can be enjoyed by older adults as well.
7. Conclusion
   1. Throughout The Hunger Games series, Suzanne Collins is able to effectively show her readers what can happen to the world if war, inequality, and violence continue.

Your essay outline might look similar to mine. If you’re analyzing a non-fiction work, you might include other elements as well. Whatever kind of work you’re writing about, your essay must include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Step #3: Write the content

Now that you have your outline, you have a basic plan of attack. All that’s left is filling in all the important details.

Because each piece of literature is different, no two analyses are going to be exactly the same. But there are components that you should include in almost every critical analysis essay:

• The author’s thesis or main idea
• The work’s organization, style, and effectiveness in defending the thesis or staying consistent to the main idea
• How the work appeals to a certain audience

However, different types of works will require other types of details. For example, nonfiction works can analyze an author’s biases, viewpoints the author might not have considered, and whether the author is relying on assumptions or opinions rather than facts.

Here’s a few critical analysis essay examples about nonfiction works:

• Critical Analysis of the Article Dangerous Minds by John Pekkanen
• A Critical Analysis of Rho’s Article on the Aspects of Excellent Journalism
• A Critical Analysis of Martin Luther King, Jr’s. “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”

With fiction, most of what you’re dealing with won’t be facts. (That’s kind of the point of fiction.) So your analysis might include the literary devices the author uses to achieve the main idea, and discuss the importance of the characters or plot.

Here’s a few critical analysis essay examples about fiction works:

• A Critical Analysis of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
• A Critical Analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
• A Critical Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Let’s dive back into my example essay on The Hunger Games.

Because of the nature of critical analysis essays, no two body paragraphs are going to look the same. However, part of the “effectiveness” part of my essay might look something like this:

While most of the people in Panem struggle and starve, the people of The Capitol live in the lap of luxury. Children of the Districts live in fear that they will be chosen for the next Hunger Games, while children in The Capitol view the Games as entertainment. They live in two different worlds, and it’s these differences that emphasize the apathy of Capitol residents toward the suffering of others. Because President Snow is the man in charge of the Hunger Games, as well as the one responsible for the suffering throughout the Districts on a daily basis, he represents the epitome of evil. Through these differences, Collins successfully allows her readers to see how the evil of the few in power and the apathy of the many can contribute to war and violence.

Step #4: Proofread your work

Just because you’re finished writing doesn’t mean you’re totally done. Make sure to read over your work to catch any mistakes you may have made or anything that could be better.

If you’ve proofread but still aren’t so sure about it, send it to our Kibin editors. They can look it over and bring it to the next level.

That wasn’t so hard, right? Hopefully, now you have some clearer insight into how to take your critical analysis essay from boring to brilliant. Now get to writing!

And may the odds be ever in your favor.