346 / Types of Writing
Revise accordingly. Then compare your review with the list of characteristics earlier
in this section and revise as needed. Finally, refer to Chapter 3, Revising, for further
guidance.
STEP 6: Proofreading—Checking Technical Details
A review, like any other piece of writing, follows the standards of grammar, usage,
and mechanics. [See Part IV for rules and examples.] Finally, check spelling and word
choice.
This process will help you write a successful review. Only by reading numerous mag-
azine and newspaper reviews, however, will you fully understand the techniques used
by professionals. For the sake of discussion, we have included below a review of a
novel. Study it and its analysis before writing your own review.
saMPle revieW
The following review serves several purposes. It shows what a review can do. It
enables you to compare a book review with a book report. And it lets you compare
a book review with a literary analysis of a novel. The same novel serves as the topic
for the sample book reports [in Chapter 19, Book Report] and the sample analysis
of a novel [in Chapter 27, Literary Analyses]. A comparison of all three will help you
develop a more effective review.
When Neanderthal-Reared Meets Cro-Magnon:
A Review of The Valley of the Horses
Whisked back 25,000 years to the last Ice Age, readers of Jean Auel’s The Valley of the Horses
land in prehistoric civilization peopled by cave-dwelling Neanderthals and tribes of Cro-
Magnons. The second book in the Earth Children series, Valley alternately follows its two main
characters until they ultimately meet. Ayla, the beautiful, willowy, orphaned Cro-Magnon girl
raised by a Neanderthal tribe, has been exiled and separated from her son because she dared
to dispute the word of the leader. Turned out alone, and with no provisions, to wander the Eur-
asian steppes, she uses her ill-gotten hunting skills and knowledge of medicinal plants to sur-
vive the loneliness and unrelenting environment for five years. She raises a foundling colt after
she kills the mare for food. As a kind of surrogate mother to the colt, she develops a fond rela-
tionship with the animal which, when mature, provides transportation and labor for the young
woman. A similar relationship develops with an injured lion cub. Together, the three of them
form a kind of family. Eventually, Ayla meets Jondalar, an exceptionally handsome Cro-Magnon
man astounded by Ayla’s family, her beauty, her refined skills. He is the first non-Neanderthal
man Ayla has ever seen. The remainder of the plot revolves around their efforts to learn to