Writing a review is one way that you can share ideas about literature. In a review, you state your opinion about a novel, play, short story, etc. You then support this opinion with examples from the reading.

Before you write your review, you must have a clear understanding of the reading. You will have to revisit what you have read while writing the review unless you have taken notes while reading. Your goal is to share something important or interesting that you learned.

The following is a list of the components of a literature review according to the four main elements of literature: plot, characterization, setting and theme.

Plot: The action of the story

• The story includes a number of important or surprising events.
• Certain parts of the story are confusing or hard to believe.
• The climax (the most important event) happens when...
• The ending is surprising...predictable...unbelievable.

Characterization: The people or animals in a story

• The main character changes from _______ to ____________ by the end of the story.
• Certain forces-people, setting, events, or ideas-make the main character or characters act as they do.
• A certain character acts believably/unbelievably when...
• ____________ is the main character's most important trait.
• I can identify with the character when...

Setting: The time and place of the action

• The setting helps make the story ___________. (exciting, enthralling, believable...)
• The setting has an important effect on the plot or action.
• The setting (in a historical novel) helped me to understand a certain time in history. (Explain)
• The setting (in a science-fiction story) creates a new and exciting world. (Explain)

Theme: The author's statement or lesson about life

• Courage...peer pressure...growing up...happiness...greed...jealousy... is a theme in (title of book).
• A certain moral, "Don't judge a book by its cover"..."Haste makes waste"..."Hard work pays off,"...is developed in (title of the piece of literature).
• This piece of literature showed me what it is like to be...

 Your literature review must consist of at least four distinct paragraphs, each containing at least five sentences.

• Paragraph 1: Plot
• Paragraph 2: Characterization
• Paragraph 3: Setting
• Paragraph 4: Theme

Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence and end with a concluding sentence. The three sentences in the middle should support the opening, topic sentence using details from the piece of literature.

Your literature review may include two extra paragraphs, if you really want to get fancy. It may contain an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph.

• Paragraph 1: Introduction
• Paragraph 2: Plot
• Paragraph 3: Characterization
• Paragraph 4: Setting
• Paragraph 5: Theme
• Paragraph 6: Conclusion

While reading the piece of literature that you've selected for the review, you should keep a collection sheet on which you can record details for each component of the review: details about the plot, characterization, setting and theme. This will save you from having to go back into the literature to find something to write about. Always provide an example when taking notes on the collection sheet and include a page number. See example from The Miracle Worker, a play by William Gibson:

The climax happens when Helen understands that words have meaning.

Main points:

The opening paragraph of your review must name the title and author of the reading. The title should be underlined if it is a book, italicized if it is a play and enclosed in quotation marks if it is a short story or poem. For example: In The Miracle Worker, by William Gibson, ....

• Does the opening name the title and author of my reading?
• Do the sentences that follow support or explain the subject of each paragraph?
• Does each paragraph contain specific examples from the reading to support each component of the review?
• Are the sentences arranged in the best order?
• See a complete list of revising questions by clicking here.