Book Review
Paper
You
will be required to complete one 1000-1250 word (approximately 4-5 pages) book
review. You must choose a book that
focus on some aspect of American history up until 1816. While you may choose any non-fiction work of
history focusing on this period, I will approve only college-level works of
history. The easiest way to ensure that
the book you choose meets this standard is to check it out from the library at
Foothill College. The vast majority of
books students choose are approved; I am simply trying to make sure that you do
NOT accidently choose a collection of primary sources or a book geared to a
high school audience.
Once
you have chosen a book to review, you will write a 1000-1250 word essay
analyzing the text. Because many
students may think of a “book report” as little more than a summary of a book’s
contents, I have used the term “book review” to emphasize that something more
is expected. Perhaps this book review
can best be thought of as a cross between a book report and a term paper
because the student is expected to go beyond merely outlining the
contents. Although it is, of course,
important to summarize the contents of the book as part of the review, the
student should analyze it in some
depth. In reading the book, the student
should pay attention to the footnotes and bibliography, seek out information
about the author, and consult the text and other books to gain a wider
perspective on the book’s subject.
The
most important aspect of the essay is to determine the thesis or main argument
of the book and describe how this is presented and supported. Is the case convincing? Does the author seem to have approached the
topic from a relatively objective point of view, or is a clear bias
apparent? What sources did the author
use? Is the author clearly arguing
against another historian’s interpretation of the subject? What is your opinion about the argument the
author is making?
All
books of history have some argument in the material they are presenting. Try to identify what this argument is and
give your opinion about the validity of this approach.
The
main body of your review should be at 1000-1250 words in length (this is
equivalent to at least 4 full pages in length, typed and double spaced, with
margins no larger than 1 inch in width, using a standard word processing
program). Every paper must have a full
citation of the book being reviewed and a proper bibliography in the MLA style
at the end if you have consulted any additional works.
An
“A” paper will address all of the following points:
- Papers must be written in
college-level English.
- Papers must be at least 1000
words in length.
- Papers must review an
approved book.
- Papers must have a thesis
and support that thesis in the body of the paper.
- Papers must not simply
summarize the book being reviewed.
- Papers must use the MLA
system of citation with a “Works Cited” page, giving a full citation for
the book being reviewed and any other books cited.
No comments:
Post a Comment