I am supposed to write a review of the short story "The Rocking Horse Winner." I am unsure how to make an opinion of the short story without making it sound like a summary.

Question

I would like to express that I think it is wonderfully written to depict the destructive nature of materialism and the effects it has on a family, but my first sentence sounds more like a "motif essay" than anything...

D.H Lawrence’s short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” is a wonderful depiction the destructive nature of materialism.

I need help on direction for writing an actual "review"
Tips? Comments?

Answer 1

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/bookrev.html

This is a webpage for writing book reviews, but the concepts are the same.

I'd take the ideas here and include them all, but focus the paper on your reactions and minimize the other sections. This is a powerful story, to be sure.

Let us know if you have further questions.

Answer 2

Should I focus on materialism, and tie it into today's times?

Would this work?:

Outline:
Introduce author, short story, one of the main themes: materialism.
Brief summary.
My reaction being that Paul's mother is like a today's teenager tendancies--
always worrying about appearance, never seeming to be satisfied.
always desiring more.

or would it a better approached a different way...
I've looked at the pre-writing questions, I'm just having a hard time tying this story into those questions...

Answer 3

I think your connecting Paul's mother with today's teen materialism is excellent -- very fitting. Be careful of overgeneralizing, though, but basically, I think you're on the right track with this.

Answer 4

There may be some ideas in the "themes" section that will help you focus.
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-rockinghorsewinner/themes.html