Components of the review/analysis:

I. An introduction to the author, including the author's title and place of work, and
some indication of who the author is (e.g., the renowned authority on political
writing; a bold, young campus scholar; a frequent critic of political
totalitarianism).
The review should be fair to the author.
Tell readers who the intended audience is, and how the author handles his
material.
Convey the content of the book, not chapter by chapter so much as the
entire book.
Add flavor to the review by including pungent or revealing quotations
from the book or notable facts or findings.
Be specific. Give details. Try not to be too abstract or vague (e.g., avoid
writing "interesting observations," "lots of arresting scenario," or "a strange
view or political design" unless you complement this with specific
examples).
II. A summary of the intended purpose of the book and how it contributes to
improving academic life and operations and to the discipline of college planning
generally.
Include an exposition of how the book fits into the current thinking on the
subject/s (e.g., a novel approach, an introduction, a magisterial review, the
finest book on the subject ever written, etc.).
Avoid repeating the table of contents, if any; rather, give the reader some
idea of the author's thesis and how he or she develops it.
Give some idea of the overall theme and content, but be free to focus on
specific chapters you consider particularly significant or worthwhile.
Inform the reader about what is happening in the area of academic
activity the book addresses; what the state of knowledge is in the subject;
and how the book adds, changes, or breaks new ground in our knowledge
of this subject.
III. A description of the way the author approaches his topic, the rigor of the
work/scholarship, the logic of the argument, and the readability of the prose.
IV. A comparison with earlier or similar books in the field to place the book in the
existing literature.
Another gem of a book is 1984, a chilling tale of how authoritarian
influence can end humanity as we know it today. Written as well by Orwell in
1949, the book has, quite remarkably, managed to predict a number of things that
have since come to be from the omniscient gods of the internet to cameras that
watch every nook and cranny day and night. 1984 is arguably longer and more
complex than Animal Farm. At their essence, though, both share a single theme:
dismantling of societal structure through evil deeds of a few.

Civilization can suffer through many things. While Animal Farm tries to deal
with the societal side of it, Brave New World (written by Aldous Huxley, 1932)
takes on science. The point is, nonetheless, to be careful about the progress, not
wary of it.

Darkness at Noon (Arthur Koestler, 1940) is not allegorical like Animal Farm.
It, however, leaves no fuel unburnt while criticising what needs to be criticised
injustice, hegemony and dictatorship. This book is set in a prison. Much of it
revolves around the concept of revolution, justice and human nature that breaks
down upon the slightest bereavement of hope.

As the beasts of England rollick around while tragedy lurks just around the
corner in Animal Farm, the young protagonist of Crime and Punishment
(Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1866) himself walks into a tragedy, allured by its
romanticism. Crime and Punishment is a study in itself, and it will require
much more time on the readers part than Animal Farm. These two books are
much alike in that they try to analyze human mind through metaphors,
allegories and similes.
 V. An evaluation of the book's merits, usefulness, and special contributions, along
with shortcomings you think are necessary to point out.

The central technique of Animal Farm is the use of the animal allegory. By following
Orwell along the path of the animals in their search for utopia, the folly in their ways is
clearly illustrated. Far better than the author could do with humans, the animals allow
Orwell to draw upon numerous stock characteristics that readers have come to expect
from certain animals. In using the cart horse Boxer, for example, Orwell uses the
popular conception of horses as dedicated and hard-working to extrapolate as
characteristics of the workers in Soviet Russia. The cleverness with which Orwell works
leads us to better understand the motives of the characters in the book, as we can
anticipate that the pigs will tend to be greedy and make a grab for increased power and
prestige. Some critics draw parallels between more than two dozen characters in the
book to distinct entities in Soviet Russia, be they revolutionary figures or dissenting
classes. "The familiar and affectionate tone of the story and its careful attention to detail
allowed the unpopular theme to be pleasantly convincing, and the Soviet myth was
exposed in a subtle fashion that could still be readily understood," (Meyers).
Animal Farms simplicity is a well-wielded device to make his satire easier to
understand, that diversions from the truth are minimal, and that its critiques hit the
mark. Ultimately, the novel's source of literary merit will be its staying power and
ability to remain relevant despite having already served its original purpose in helping
to destroy Soviet communism. The timelessness of Animal Farm will necessarily be
measured in the years to come.
VI. Prospects of Understanding: Viewing thru the lenses of literary critical
approaches.
1. How can characters behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in
terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind (for example unconscious,
regression, crisis, projection, fear of or fascination with death, sexuality---which
includes love and romance as well as sexual behavior---as a primary indicator of
psychological identity, or the operations of ego-id-superego)?
2. How might the work be seen as a critique of capitalism, imperialism or classism?
That is in what ways does the text reveal, and invite us to condemn oppressive
socio-economic forces (including repressive ideologies)? If a work criticizes or
invites us to criticize oppressive socioeconomic forces, then it may be said to
have a Marxist agenda.
3. How does the interaction of text and reader create meaning? How exactly does
the texts indeterminacy function as a stimulus to interpretation? (For example,
what events are omitted or unexplained? What descriptions are omitted or
incomplete? What images might have multiple associations?) And how exactly
does the text lead us to correct our interpretation as we read?
Book review criteria:
Content and substance 50
Organization and style 20
Language and vocabulary 20
Mechanics 10
(Total: 100%)