Ted’s Rough Guide to Reviewing

Reviewing anything can be difficult. Reviewing something in 500 words is a challenge for which professionals get paid the big bucks. Simply put, you can meet this challenge by carefully writing, editing, and rewriting, practicing as you would do for any craft. The best way to approach such a task is to pick a particular aspect or element and review it.

The best way to approach this assignment is to divide your paper into four parts. I would suggest about 100 words for sections one, two, and four, and 200 words for section 3 (your main analysis). The first section is your introduction where you state what you are doing, the subject of your analysis, what your focus is, and why you chose it. Section two should be a general analysis of the subject and will consist of broad themes, topics, plots, and so forth. Section three is where you get into a deeper analysis of the particular element you want to examine. For film, this would likely be a particular scene. For websites, it might be a particular feature or page. The final section is your summary.

It is critical that you constantly refer back to the assignment web page to make sure you are actually doing what was requested and following all directions. Keep in mind the reasons stated for the assignment and address any questions or elements asked EXPLICITLY. Please do not rip reviews or select scenes based on material highlighted on DVDs or websites. This is a different type of review looking at particular elements that are not normally covered by such material. This short cut that would ultimately be more detrimental than beneficial.