Students will read and review a book of their own choosing (hopefully an interesting one)
Students will read and review a book of their own choosing (hopefully an interesting one). Start locating your book as soon as possible. Your book must meet the following standards:
It must relate to some aspect of World History II (political, economic, social, military, cultural, religious, technological, etc., from after 1500 CE) If you have doubts about a book, ask… It must be non-fiction, not a novel with made-up content.
It must be written for adult readers- no children’s/juvenile or “young adult” texts, e-books, web sites, encyclopedias, or fictional works are acceptable. When in doubt, have the instructor approve your choice. You can check a book’s rating on Amazon.com; if a book is rated for readers age 9-12 or juveniles/teens, don’t use it! Books printed by a university press are often of superior quality. If you read a “kid’s book,” expect no credit. I will check unfamiliar texts, so beware of reviewing a “really easy” book that is in fact intended for children.
The author/authors must credit/cite the sources used to construct the book. All scholarly works contain footnotes, endnotes or some style of citations.
Avoid “coffee-table” style photo books with little content.
Avoid dated/old material, for example a survey of “current” U.S.-Asian affairs printed in 1962.
No Readers Digest, Scholastic Press, or encyclopedia material. Avoid edited collections of documents (it’s hard to critique these).
STEP ONE: Read your book, taking basic notes summarizing each chapter. Be sure to jot down page numbers if you plan to quote or paraphrase specific information out of the text.
STEP TWO: Search the internet (Google works well) for information about the author. Note where you found the information, so you can cite the source(s). Sometimes, you’ll find evidence confirming an author’s expertise—or calling it into question.
STEP THREE: Write your paper. It should contain the following:
An introduction, that tells readers what work you are reviewing, who the author is, the title of the book, and what the purpose of the essay is (a summary and critique of a book). Try to make your introduction interesting, to make the reader want to see more…
A basic summary, chapter by chapter, describing the book’s content. If there is a thesis/argument, tell your reader what it is. It the book has a purpose or agenda, explain what it is. Readers should come away with a comprehensive view of the book.
A rigorous critique or analysis of your book. What is good about it? What could be improved? How useful is it for someone studying history at the college level. Is the text well written? Interesting or boring? Well organized? How did you react to this work? Would you recommend it? Use examples when possible to illustrate your points. If the author uses unnecessary jargon, cite a few examples. When quoting or paraphrasing, always cite the author’s name and the page number—e.g. (Brown, p. 78). Papers should be 4-5 pages in length double-spaced.
You’ll be graded on content, spelling, grammar, punctuation and syntax. Always use spell-check! Papers must be typed and late papers will lose progressively greater amounts of value, beginning at 10%. No late papers will be taken during or after finals. Feel free to submit an early rough draft for feedback. An additional handout on review papers can be found in Course Documents in Canvas. Copied or plagiarized texts are worth no credit.4 PAGE REPORT; PLEASE NO PLAGERISM
BOOK REVIEW
Students will read and review a book of their own choosing (hopefully an interesting one). Start locating your book as soon as possible. Your book must meet the following standards:
It must relate to some aspect of World History II (political, economic, social, military, cultural, religious, technological, etc., from after 1500 CE) If you have doubts about a book, ask… It must be non-fiction, not a novel with made-up content.
It must be written for adult readers- no children’s/juvenile or “young adult” texts, e-books, web sites, encyclopedias, or fictional works are acceptable. When in doubt, have the instructor approve your choice. You can check a book’s rating on Amazon.com; if a book is rated for readers age 9-12 or juveniles/teens, don’t use it! Books printed by a university press are often of superior quality. If you read a “kid’s book,” expect no credit. I will check unfamiliar texts, so beware of reviewing a “really easy” book that is in fact intended for children.
The author/authors must credit/cite the sources used to construct the book. All scholarly works contain footnotes, endnotes or some style of citations.
Avoid “coffee-table” style photo books with little content.
Avoid dated/old material, for example a survey of “current” U.S.-Asian affairs printed in 1962.
No Readers Digest, Scholastic Press, or encyclopedia material. Avoid edited collections of documents (it’s hard to critique these).
STEP ONE: Read your book, taking basic notes summarizing each chapter. Be sure to jot down page numbers if you plan to quote or paraphrase specific information out of the text.
STEP TWO: Search the internet (Google works well) for information about the author. Note where you found the information, so you can cite the source(s). Sometimes, you’ll find evidence confirming an author’s expertise—or calling it into question.
STEP THREE: Write your paper. It should contain the following:
An introduction, that tells readers what work you are reviewing, who the author is, the title of the book, and what the purpose of the essay is (a summary and critique of a book). Try to make your introduction interesting, to make the reader want to see more…
A basic summary, chapter by chapter, describing the book’s content. If there is a thesis/argument, tell your reader what it is. It the book has a purpose or agenda, explain what it is. Readers should come away with a comprehensive view of the book.
A rigorous critique or analysis of your book. What is good about it? What could be improved? How useful is it for someone studying history at the college level. Is the text well written? Interesting or boring? Well organized? How did you react to this work? Would you recommend it? Use examples when possible to illustrate your points. If the author uses unnecessary jargon, cite a few examples. When quoting or paraphrasing, always cite the author’s name and the page number—e.g. (Brown, p. 78). Papers should be 4-5 pages in length double-spaced.
You’ll be graded on content, spelling, grammar, punctuation and syntax. Always use spell-check! Papers must be typed and late papers will lose progressively greater amounts of value, beginning at 10%. No late papers will be taken during or after finals. Feel free to submit an early rough draft for feedback. An additional handout on review papers can be found in Course Documents in Canvas. Copied or plagiarized texts are worth no credit.
This should not be too wordy with a lot of big words, more on a 12th grade level.
………………….Answer preview……………………
Book review
This paper will review the book “world history, volume II: since 1500”. The authors of this book are William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel. William is a former Foreign Service officer of the United States and currently is at Penn State University where he is a professor of liberal arts. He has written many history books, among them being World History volume II. Jackson was an associate professor emeritus in the Pennsylvania state university. Most of his books which he has written are suitable for collage students, among them being World History Volume II. The purpose of this paper is to summarize this book chapter by chapter describing…………………………..
APA
1209 words
