Book review
The purpose of a book review is not simply to summarize the text. It is a careful and analytical reading of the material. A book review is also about your reactions to the material. A book review looks at both the WHAT (content of the book) and the SO WHAT (connections of the material to not only personal context, but other literature (from the course) and other problems in society. For this book review you must complete each component that I have provided. Failure to address a component will lead to a loss of those points. The questions I am asking are very specific and therefore will be very easy to determine if you read the text. Do not attempt to download a review from another source and use it for this review. It is plagiarism and you will fail the assignment. As you read the book, you will want to make notes on the following. It will help you write the review. What are the author’s viewpoint and purpose? You may have to tease out the viewpoint or purpose of the text. It may not be explicitly stated. But, a good place to start in order to understand the author’s intention is the preface or introduction of the book. What are the author’s main points? You will want to keep a running list of the main ideas, arguments that you come across in the text. What kind of evidence does the author use to prove his or her points? Is the evidence convincing? Evidence is absolutely crucial in judging the quality of the argument made. This book review will rely heavily on your understanding of the evidence provided. Therefore, you must make notes as you read the text to make sure the author provides ample evidence that adequately supports the claims made. Be sure to connect the evidence provided to the “sources of knowledge and evidence” material that I’ve provided on blackboard. As you are reading, think about the concepts or ideas that are covered in text that we have also covered this semester. Make notes about the connection of these concepts. It will be critical to do this as you read because a major portion of your review will be a connection of concepts. Components to the Book Review (120 points total) Introduction (5 points): An introduction should identify the book by author and title. It should also describe, briefly, the theme of the book. Further, it is important to include some background information about the book in order to help the reader place the book in a specific context. (1-2 paragraphs) Summary of Book (10 points): This summary should include paraphrases and quotations of the book’s thesis and primary supporting points. (1-2 pages). Personal Reaction to the Text (5 points): Provide your general reaction to the book. Was it interesting, memorable, entertaining, or instructive? Why? (1-2 paragraphs) Argument and Evidence (20 points): In this section of the review, you will evaluate the author’s thesis using evidence. Using the different forms of knowledge and evidence material on Blackboard, you will evaluate the strength of the author’s arguments based on the types of evidence provided to support the thesis of the text. Based on the source of knowledge, what were the strongest arguments made? What were the least persuasive based on evaluating the sources of knowledge and evidence? (1-2 pages) Connecting Theory and Practice (20 points): In this section you will select 4 concepts from the course material that you found important in helping you to understand the arguments in the book. How did the text help you engage with the course material? How did the text help you to better understand the course material? In this section you must define the concepts in your own words. Do not simply copy definitions from the course material or PowerPoint. Paraphrase and put it into your own words so I can evaluate whether you understand the selected concepts completely. (1 -2 pages)
