Suzie Eisfelder
February 25, 2011

Like me I’m sure you already know the difference between a Review and a Critique, but we went through them both on class on Wednesday and I thought it’d be an interesting thing to present to the community.

Review

  • Usually brief
  • Can be highly opionated
  • Often aim to be entertaining
  • Doesn’t give away major plot details e.g. ending or spoilers
  • Function of a review is ‘try before you buy’
  • Find reviews in the entertainment section of newspaper/Blogs/Internet/Green Guide (television guide)
  • May be reader-authored

Critique

  • The person engaged in the act of evaluation is a critic/What is written is the critique
  • Often extended
  • Takes on a more subtle argument
  • Looks at it in more detail sometimes getting into the characters
  • Often claims academic/scholarly status
  • Slightly more measured tone
  • More balance
  • Frequently adopts a formal tone
  • Can discuss all aspects of the text including full plot
  • Found in Literary journals/Weekend papers/Supplements to newspapers
  • More likely to be expert-authored

Basically, a review can be written by a peer or someone like me, with no qualifications, while a critique will be written by someone with qualifications and will be published in a literary journal.  A review will generally be short, maybe a few hundred words, while a critique could extend to several pages.

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}