Definition Of Book Review

DEFINITION OF BOOK REVIEW A. Understanding The act of reading a lot definitely leaves a certain impression and understanding. The level of depth of a person's understanding of the books they read depends on various things, including previous reading experience, intensity in reading, and background of reading activities. When a reader devotes the results of his reading in written form, the work he writes is called a book review. The term review itself comes from the Latin word revidere or resencere which means to weigh or judge. In Dutch, recensie and English, review have more or less the same meaning, namely weighing or assessing. Thus, reviewing a book is essentially the activity of assessing a book. The term assessing contains the meaning of examining, considering, criticizing, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of the book being read. The act of assessing starts from the book that is read and it is from the book that the assessment is carried out objectively. A person assesses a book with a spirit of objectivity so that the results of his review can be justified. Based on their character, reviews can be divided into several: 1. Informative review Informative reviews only contain a series of information from the book being reviewed. Book reviewers only report what they read from the book in question. Book reviews contain no judgment at all. Resenei also does not provide an assessment of the physical condition of the book printing, arrangement or contents of the book. 2. Evaluative review An evaluative review contains an assessment of the book being reviewed. Book reviews provide an assessment of the condition of the book, both physical and book contents. Evaluative reviews provide an assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses. Readers directly receive advice from book review writers regarding the condition of the book in question. 3. Informative-evaluative review This review contains information as well as an assessment of the book being reviewed. This review provides information on the condition of the book and the contents of the book in question. At the same time, the reviewer provides an assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses. By reading informative-evaluative reviews, readers can find out what a book conveys and at the same time get an overview of the contents of the book in question. Ideally, a reviewer fulfills these two tasks so that readers know the book adequately. Based on this review, readers can make a decision whether to read the book in question or not. Some book reviews are written using the principles of scientific writing. The structure of such reviews is not much different from writing a paper. Meanwhile, there are reviews written in loose structure and language. The following are two types of reviews based on the character of the presentation: a. Scientific review This book review is commonly carried out by academic people. The language used in these reviews is usually more formal and stiff. For example, a lecturer's assignment to his students is to write book reviews. b. Popular science review This review is not too strict in terms of structure, the language used is looser and less formal, limited in length, read by a wide audience. This review was published in the mass media. B. Scientific review Scientific reviews in lectures are also called book writing reports. What is called a book report is in principle a book review. Because writing a book report involves weighing and evaluating a book. Thus, book reports fall into the realm of book reviews. Book reviews in lectures are usually done by students to complete assignments after reading a particular book. These book reviews usually relate to books in a particular scientific field. A book review contains the author's views regarding the contents of the book in question. The content includes the writer's ability to analyze and assess the contents of the books he reads. Writing a book review for a lecture does not summarize the contents of a book, but rather a critical study of a book. 1. According to its type, writing reviews is limited to books only. Reviews of the lecture scope include, among others: a. Book review A book review is a review of the contents of a particular book. b. Chapter review in a book Review of a chapter or chapters of a particular book. c. Review of scientific journal articles Reviews of scientific journal articles from both print and internet sources. d. Bibliographic Annotation Review of a book or article in a scientific journal in 2-3 paragraphs. This report contains the title, author's name, publisher's name, year of publication, keywords, main ideas from the book or article in a scientific journal in several sentences. (UPI Team, 2014) 2. General structure of the review The number of words in writing a book review/book chapter/article is generally in the range of 500 – 750 words. This number can be less or more depending on the assignment given by the lecturer. In terms of structure, a book review/article book chapter as stated by Crasswell (in the UPI Team, 2014, p. 12), consists of several parts which are explained as follows: a) First part This first part is an introductory part. This section contains identification of books or book chapters, or articles. Identification includes author, title, year of publication, and other information deemed important. b) Second part This section contains a summary or short description of the content of the argument of the book/book chapter/article. c) Third part This section contains the core of the review regarding the discussion of the book/book chapter/article. The content is about critical analysis of the main aspects discussed in the book/book chapter/article. In this section the author presents analytical evidence from books/book chapters/articles or compares it with other scientific sources. In this section, the review writer can also reveal the advantages and disadvantages of the book/book chapter/article he is analyzing. d) Final part This section is in the form of a conclusion which contains a brief evaluation of the contribution of the book/book chapter/article as a whole to the development of the topic discussed, to the reviewer's understanding, and scientific developments.