Her Realm

For starters, you need to tell the name of the book, its author and the genre. If you’re in the mood, you can relate publishing information but I personally don’t think all too many people will be interested in reading that sort of hype.

Next, mention the theme of the book and any necessary background information. This wraps up your first paragraph.

The second paragraph is devoted to the plot. If the book is fiction, give a description of the plot without giving away any information which would ruin the reader’s experience. If the book is nonfiction, give a description and arguments for the thesis.

The third paragraph is for describing the book and your reactions to it. This is where you tell the reader what you though of it, that with which you disagree or agree and support your argument, subjects broached and suggested possibilities, etc. State whether the book was informative, entertaning, memorable or not and how it affected you. You can relate it to the subject which is currently being studied or your own life.

To wrap up the review, you should comment directly on the book and tie together points made in the review. Restate key points and, possibly, offer advice to the reader.

Your initial paragraph will be to catch the reader’s attention, much like a trailer does for the actual movie. This paragraph should set up the feel of the review; it should point out whether or not you liked the movie and, perhaps, make the reader feel the same.

Next, state the name and type of the movie, the director/producer, important actors, and perhaps the rating, intended audience, and length. Additionally you could include your name, date viewed, and location of the viewing.

Give a brief summary which does not give away the ending. Include the setting in the summary. Tell us how well the actors acted and whether or not the characters seemed believable.

If any special effects, scenes, camera work or lighting stands out, comment on it. If you notice any issues, comment on them, here. If any particular scene stuck out, discuss it. This is where you really go in depth about the movie.

The last paragraph is your evaluation of the movie. Give the reader your opinion and your advice on the movie and back it up. Tell us who would be the best audience for this film. If you plan to rate the system (Letter grades, stars, etc), tell us the rating here.

For starters, I will tell you that you cannot sucessfully review a band, so you must stick to reviewing one CD at a time.

Start with general information: the name of the artist and CD along with any significane of the title, the genre of music, the general reception and chart position/expected position, and specialities of the CD (2 discs, enhanced CD, extra songs, etc).

Tell the reader a little about the artist and his or her history in the music business. How long has the artist been making music and how has he or she done in it. How many previously releases does the artist have and does this CD sound like them or not? Is there any change in the style of music the artist is making and does it come as a surprise or not? Find a quote from the artist about the CD, if you can. Let us know whether this sound works well or not.

Tell us a bit more about the CD, here. What if your first impression and how does that change, or ont change, as you conitnue to listen? Name some of the better and worse tracks and tell us why they are as such. If there’s anything about a certain song or songs, tell us about it. Rate the uniqueness of the CD; is it comparable to other artists or is it more original?

As you wrap it up you can give the rating (letter grades, stars, etc), if you are going to rate it. This is the place to tell us whether fans will be appreciative or disappointed and the best audience for this release. Give your prediction about the artists’ career after this CD: will he or she do better or worse or is this an up-and-coming artist for which the reader should keep an eye open?

When dealing with websites, it’s often to difficult to find one which provides accurate information, especially when there are hundreds upon hundreds of “hobby” sites and sites which are not written by experts on the site’s subject.

For starters tell us about the author: who he or she is, his or her knowledge on the subject and how they know it (are they a student, a teacher, a worker, or is it a company or other group?), etc. Tell us about any bias the site appears to have and any sponsors. List important dates such as the sate of production, when it was uploaded, and when the site was last updated. Is there contact information and is it easy to find? Are links updated, broken, or do they lead to moved sites?

This paragraph should relate the intended audience, the purpose of the site, the accuracy of the information provided and how valuable the site is in relativity to the available resources on the subject.

Lastly, comes an assessment of the site structure which includes graphics, text and ease of use. Graphics should be creative and functional, but not over the top or distracting. Text should be easy to read and without spelling or grammatical errors. Information should be easy to find, within 3 or so clicks and a site map or index should be available. Ideally, sites should work well for text-only browsers and those with disabilities (large print/graphics, alt text for images, etc).

A wrap up of the review, plus an optional rating go in the conclusion. Restate any key points or information which you want to emphasize. Give us your opinion and/or advice.

Writing a review for a personal site will vary immensely from that of a professional site. Personal sites are most often geared to entertain or showcase, rather than inform and often graphic/layouts are emphasized over content and may be less functional than that of a professional site. For purpose of this review, I will define a “personal site” any site which is not meant solely for informative or customer purposes, is not the site of a company/service, nor is it backed by a company and is run by an “amateur.” This can include but is not limited to actual personal sites, collectives, portfolios, cliques, fan/hatelistings, webrings, directories, some communities/forums, graphics sites, fansites, etc.

With that in mind, one must take a drastically different approach to reviewing personal sites, focusing more heavily on graphics and viewing content for entertainment moreso than information. Here is a general rubric which may work better for informally reviewing a site (and why would you write up a review for a personal site, anyway?).

Start with your first impression which may be of a splash page or the actual layout. Include both, if you can. This might be mostly about graphic interface, but could also include organization and neatness. Do something stand out right away? Does this help or hinder this site?

Next, comment on the actual layout. How’s the colour scheme in the image and text/links? Is the image simply too big, too small, of bad quality, bad edited, too contrasted, difficult to read? Do you find there’s simply too much going on in the image or text of the layout? Does the site utlize a unique format for presenting the content/text and additional (possibly sidebar or navigational) text? Are the actual graphic effects unique or extremely typical?

Now, move on to the navigation. Can you find it easily? Do you know where each link leads? Is there a link to the main/home page? When you click a link or go several links deep, do you have to click Back on your browser or does the site provide a useful back link?

Now is the time to tackle the content. Basics will include whether or not the site is easy to read and follow or if it’s riddled with grammatical and spelling errors or internet slang. Depending on the type of site, does it include all the vital information? If it’s a personal site, do you find enough personal information along with site information, and perhaps some visitor content? Does a portfolio tell you enough about the artist’s experience in the field and display work of a variety of quality and of different ages? Does the artist tell you mediums use for each piece and do all the ../../images work? Do any sort of “joined” sites include all the information you need, as well as rules? Do fanlistings and/or hatelisting include the basics to joining and extra information if you’re unfamiliar with the subject? If there’s a need for any sort of disclaimer, is it there? Can you find a site map? All sites should have an easy to find method of contacting the owner and content should be clearly updated, as well.

As we’re tying up the loose ends, you may feel that there are enough errors to dedicated a paragraph about them. If there are consistent coding/technical or grammar/spelling errors, feel free to point them out. If there’s a few errors, you can include them with the closing paragraph.

The last parahraph is where you tie in everything you’ve said with your overall feelings toward the site. Was it a pleasant visit/review or did you have to force yourself to click through everything? Will you return or will you even remember the site? On a personal site/blog, you should feel as though the owner’s personality was really shining through. On any personal site, since it is a hobby, it should be pretty obvious that the owner likes doing this. If not, why would he/she even have a site? Feel free to restate some highlights and/or things which really need improvement. Wrap up with a statement either to the public with your advice on whether to visit the site, or to the site owner about the future of the site.