Angry Reviewer

LibreOffice Writer has hundreds of extensions [1]. Many are cosmetic, trivial, or specialized. However, a handful are major additions to functionality. In the past, some, such as PDF export, have eventually found their way into Writer's default interface. Eventually, the Angry Reviewer style checker [2] may do just that. Although intended to improve academic articles and grant applications, Angry Reviewer is comprehensive and practical enough to be useful for any type of writing. You might call it a Linux version of the much-advertised Grammarly [3], although its feedback might be presented more usefully.

Angry Reviewer is available on the Angry Reviewer website [4], but the Writer extension has the advantage of allowing you to work offline and run Angry Reviewer without having to cut and paste. Like all extensions, it can be installed with Tools | Extension Manager. When Writer is restarted, Angry Reviewer is added to the top-level menu. When Check This Text is clicked (Figure 1), a second Writer document is opened with feedback. The two documents can then be placed side by side as you evaluate the feedback and make changes.

Angry Reviewer in Action

When I taught university composition, I told students that if they knew enough about English to effectively use a spell checker or style checker they didn't need one. Too often such tools lead readers astray with their authoritative-sounding feedback – as in the case of one student who began an essay on Gloria Steinem with "For centuries, women have been depressed by men" (which many women insist was not a mistake). The problem is that most of these tools are prescriptive, treat grammar and style as fixed forms, and advocate standards that are several decades behind the times.

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