Learning Journal Activity -- Reviews
For
this week's activity you are asked to write a review, be it of a book,
movie, restaurant, art work, band, product, etc. Writing a good
review is a craft all its own and there is no single, steadfast formula.
However, there are some fairly obvious conventions for any kind of
review. It makes sense to tell the name, title, or designation of
whatever you are reviewing and to describe it in detail. It's a good
idea to name the writer, chef, artist, director, or otherwise
important people involved. Most reviews will offer an evaluation of
the strengths and weaknesses of the particular subject and compare it
to similar things in its particular field. However, the most important
element of a good review is to say what you
think, what you like or dislike, and if you would recommend this to
others. After all, it's your opinion that the reader is interested in
here. What follows are some links to sites that may be of interest as
examples of reviews. I have linked some commercial sites and some
independent reviewers for each category.
Restaurant Review Links
Restaurant Thing
-- Offers thousands of reviews, but only from English speaking
countries. Unfortunately this means that restaurants in France are off
the list!
Burrito Blog
-- Yeah, you guessed it... this blog reviews only burritos and places
that sell burritos. It is not a coincidence that I put this next to
the reviews of the Michelin restaurants.
7-West Cafe -- This is an unconventional review of a restaurant I worked at in Toronto.
Book Review Links
allreaders.com -- allreaders.com has a searchable index of thousands of book reviews.
GoodReads -- GoodReads is a site where individuals offer their thoughts on most any book you can name.
Kristin's Book Blog
-- Kristin has been reviewing books on her blog since 2005. She has a
fascinating project underway to review the Modern Library top 100
books of the 20th century. She is over half way there. New reviews
appear on her site weekly.
Movie and TV Review Links
Internet Movie Database -- No explanation needed. This is likely the biggest movie review and information site on the internet.
Rotten Tomatoes -- Offers new movie reviews and previews
Tassoula's Movie Review Blog -- A blog maintained by an independent film critic from Seattle.
Tv-series and videos -- A site kept up by Julius, a blogger from Sweden.
Music Review Links
Pitchfork -- In-depth music reviews from a credible online source.
Metacritic -- Metacritic reviews new releases of music, as well as films, games, and television.
Rolling Stone
-- Sometimes there seems to be more advertisements than reviews, but
Rolling Stone is one of the industry pillars for music reviews.
MW Music Review Blog -- An independent music reviewer from Ottawa, mostly interested in Indie.
Product Reviews
DC Rainmaker -- A site maintained by a triathlete who reviews technology and products for high-performance athletes.
Car and Driver -- Reviews for most any automobiles on the road.
Of
course there are many other kinds of reviews you might choose to do as well. The links above are only meant to provide some idea of the
possibilities. If you have trouble coming up with a topic or have any
questions about this activity, send me an email or leave a comment on
this post.
Assigned Readings and Overview for Week 4
There are no assigned readings this week, as we are doing our essay writing workshops and will write essay #1 on Friday in class. That said, you are encouraged to review part I of our course text (page 1-54), which focuses specifically on the essay writing process. Some of these sections will be discussed during the workshops, but please take some time to read about any particular aspects of essay writing you may find difficult.
