EN190 Journal Article Review
850 words
Overview
For this assignment, you will write an 850-word critical review of the below scholarly journal article.
This assignment requires that you (1) summarize and (2) evaluate a scholarly text.
Please read the article.
Griffin, Farah Jasmine. “At Last. . . ?: Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Race and History.” Daedalus, vol.
140, no. 1, 2011, pp. 131-41. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.wlu.ca. 2
Format and core features
The review accomplishes two main things: it (1) summarizes the arguments, methods, and conclusions
of the article and it (2) evaluates the article according to specific criteria or categories of response. As
outlined in the rubric, this assignment requires you to demonstrate your ability to summarize and
synthesize the ideas of (an) author(s) and respond, in turn, with your own cogent, critical evaluation of
the text. Please use the “Critical Review Template” posted to My Learning Space as your guide in
writing your review.
In They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
explain that when you disagree in order to offer a critical response in academic writing, “you need to
do more than simply assert that you disagree with a particular view; you also have to offer persuasive
reasons why you disagree” (58). In order to turn your response to your selected journal article into an
argument, provide reasons for your assertions and interpretations regarding the work.
You can choose to organize your review according to four categories of response (59). While you can
structure your criticism around more than one category, the review must be focused around one clear,
cohering statement of evaluation that, in this assignment, is equivalent to a thesis statement.
In your review, you can say that:
1) The argument overlooks relevant or significant factors
• The author is misinformed about an issue
• Does not adequately consider different or opposing points of view
2) The argument uses flawed, narrow, or incomplete evidence
• The author leaves out or minimizes important evidence
• Look at endnotes, footnotes, and the list of Works Cited: What sources are cited? How
many sources? How diverse? Does the same material appear repeatedly? Does the evidence
help support the argument? How well is evidence integrated in the article?
3) The argument relies on questionable assumptions3
• Bias manifested (cultural, disciplinary, personal)
• Presumes unreasonable shared contextual knowledge in its audience (evidenced by use of
jargon, many references to other scholars in the field, assumed common knowledge that is,
in fact, obscure)
4) The argument’s logic is flawed, the argument is contradictory, and it fails to draw conclusions
• Information or evidence is misrepresented or misinterpreted
• Conclusions reached do not match arguments made
• Fails to demonstrate significance or answer “so what?” and “who cares?”
• Organization of ideas is ineffective or confusing
The review should be formatted according to MLA Style (and double spaced in an easily readable 12-
point font) with a list of Works Cited and saved.