Critical Writing Skills: A Review of Kenzabure Oe’s Silent Cry

Abstract

Some upcoming critical writers and students confuse reviews for book summaries and reports for the sole purpose of marketing the story to the audience. Even in high institutions of learning, students write book reports with name of publisher, price of the book, major characters, dominant themes, styles and impact of the story. Allyson Skene defines a review as the writer’s interpretation of a work of art. He underscores the importance of the thesis statement in the interpretation of a work of a text. Whereas a book report gives a summary of events in a story, a review gives the main argument and a summary is only given to support the thesis. This paper is a review Kenzabure Oe’s Silent Cry. Using the ideas of Allyson Skene and other literary scholars, it demonstrates the components of a critical book review.