English Literature Book Review Assignment
Order ID 53563633773 Type Essay Writer Level Masters Style APA Sources/References 4 Perfect Number of Pages to Order 5-10 Pages Description/Paper Instructions
Assignment: 10 points
Write a book review that is 3 pages long (including a bibliography) following the guide below for each of the required textbooks in this course.
Book Review Guide:
Adapted from: http://faculty.luther.edu/~slindmar/mockrvw.pdf
A book review does not only tell you what a book is about, but also whether it achieves what it is trying to do. Therefore, a book review is more than a summary of the content (even though this is an important component), but a critical analysis of the book and your reactions to it.
While you are reading the book, take notes about the following issues:
- – What is the author’s main goal in writing this book? (Convince you of his position on a controversy? Explain the background of an event? Raise awareness of a particular issue?)
- – What are the author’s main points?
- – What kind of evidence does the author provide to make his or her points? How convincing is this evidence?
- – Is the book well written? (Easily understandable? Good style?)
- – What group of readers would find this book most useful (Lay people? Students? Experts in the area?)
A book review usually has the following components
- 1) Introduction (one or two paragraphs)
- – Bibliographic information (author, title, date of publication, publisher, number of pages, type of book)
- – Brief overview of the theme, purpose and your evaluation
- 2) Summary of the content (about two pages)
- – Brief summary of the key points of each chapter or group of chapters
- – Paraphrase the information, but use a short quote when appropriate
- 3) Evaluation and conclusion (about one page)
– Give your opinion about the book. Is the book easy to read or confusing? Is the book interesting, entertaining, instructive? Does the author support his arguments well? What are the book’s greatest strengths and weaknesses? Who would you recommend the book to?
(This is a fictional review of a work that does not exist–it is intended to show you how a review should be written, with some general guidelines to help you write your own review)
Writer, Whattagreat. How to Write Great Book Reviews: An Introduction for Undergraduates. New York: Outstanding Publications, Inc., 1991. Pp. 237.
Most students have had little experience writing “formal” academic papers. When confronted with an assignment to write a book review, they often do not know what to do. Even general guidelines do not provide enough information for many undergraduates. To help students deal with this problem, Whattagreat Writer has written an excellent practical guide to writing book reviews. How to Write Great Book Reviews: An Introduction for Undergraduates will undoubtedly become the standard work on this subject.
Writer’s work is a well-organized, carefully prepared volume, which covers all conceivable aspects of writing book reviews. In addition to the excellent text, there are numerous illustrations, showing proper page layout, sample title pages, and practical aspects of preparing book reviews. The index is thorough, without being too detailed to use easily. The text is also well written, with Writer’s subtle sense of humor brightening what might otherwise be considered a dull subject.
To assist students, Writer has also included a list of basic elements to include, as well as common errors to avoid. Several of the most important are:
- List bibliographic information at the top of the first page of the review.
- Be consistent with tenses. In general, use present tense when you are dealing with the author and the book itself, and past tense when you discuss what the author is describing.
- Avoid 1-sentence paragraphs. Also, your paragraphs should generally be no longer than three quarters of a page. Because this is a practical guide for students, rather than the result of research in historical documents, writer does not include footnotes. However, her extensive bibliography provides a thorough guide to other reference works, which students may find useful in preparing other written assignments.
Writer’s only weakness is his tendency to provide too many examples for each subject. By limiting his selection of examples to one or two of the most important possibilities for each subject, his work would have been reduced in size, and consequently easier for students to use.
Because of the excellent index, however, most students will have little difficulty using this work to improve the quality of their book reviews.Sample of a Professional Book Review (yours should be longer)
Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel, W.W. Norton & Company, Copyright 1997, 425 pages
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies richly deserves the 1998 Pulitzer prize for general nonfiction it garnered. A thorough and compelling study of the reasons behind the dominance of select cultures throughout humanity’s history, this book written by a professor of physiology at the UCLA School of Medicine is tremendously accessible to the layperson. Diamond, who is also preeminent in the arenas of evolutionary biology and biogeography, presents a straightforward explanation for the diversity of human fates that is soundly supported by information from many fields of scientific inquiry.
Perhaps the most notable feat Guns, Germs, and Steel accomplishes is that of providing a far more persuasive explanation for ethnic and racial differences than can racist theories (like the recently controversial Bell Curve) of human history. Broad in scope, Diamond’s book covers 13,000 years of humanity’s past over the entire world. While no single continent or society is covered to its greatest depth, Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand provide the greatest amount of anecdotal illustration, since Diamond spent a number of years in the region engaged in scientific study. Diamond does an admirable job of representing the macrocosm by the microcosm, making his theory of history palatable to the general reader.
How did Eurasians come to conquer Native Americans, Africans and Aboriginal Australians instead of the other way around? The answer, according to Jared Diamond, lies with four basic sets of innate differences in the environments from which different peoples arose. Arguing that food production is critical for a society to feed non-food-producing specialists and a larger population that would have a military advantage of sheer numbers, Diamond illustrates the inequitable distribution of domesticable plants and animals around the world. A second set of factors affected the greatly differing rates of diffusion and migration on the different continents. Eurasia, with its east-west major axis and modest geographical and ecological barriers, saw a far quicker rate of diffusion of domesticated food sources, diseases and technologies than did Africa and the Americas, with their north-south major axes. A third set of factors affected diffusion and migration between continents; the varying degrees of isolation between land masses has greatly affected the diffusion rates. And a fourth set of factors, consisting of differences in area and total population size between the continents, affects the pressure put on societies to adopt and retain innovations, or be subsumed by their neighbors.
The “guns, germs, and steel” of the book’s title refer to weapons, diseases, and technologies, whose development and spread are to a great extent dependent on the four sets of factors Diamond summarizes as responsible for history’s broadest patterns. At the base of Diamond’s pyramidal argument is food production, and he makes a stellar case for history being driven by chance facts of geography, a story of “haves” and “havenots” in terms of suitable environments rather than an indication of genetic superiors and inferiors. Readable and plain- spoken, Guns, Germs, and Steel will fascinate anyone interested in the history of humans on this peculiar little planet.
Taken from: http://www.curledup.com/guns.htm
RUBRIC
QUALITY OF RESPONSE NO RESPONSE POOR / UNSATISFACTORY SATISFACTORY GOOD EXCELLENT Content (worth a maximum of 50% of the total points) Zero points: Student failed to submit the final paper. 20 points out of 50: The essay illustrates poor understanding of the relevant material by failing to address or incorrectly addressing the relevant content; failing to identify or inaccurately explaining/defining key concepts/ideas; ignoring or incorrectly explaining key points/claims and the reasoning behind them; and/or incorrectly or inappropriately using terminology; and elements of the response are lacking. 30 points out of 50: The essay illustrates a rudimentary understanding of the relevant material by mentioning but not full explaining the relevant content; identifying some of the key concepts/ideas though failing to fully or accurately explain many of them; using terminology, though sometimes inaccurately or inappropriately; and/or incorporating some key claims/points but failing to explain the reasoning behind them or doing so inaccurately. Elements of the required response may also be lacking. 40 points out of 50: The essay illustrates solid understanding of the relevant material by correctly addressing most of the relevant content; identifying and explaining most of the key concepts/ideas; using correct terminology; explaining the reasoning behind most of the key points/claims; and/or where necessary or useful, substantiating some points with accurate examples. The answer is complete. 50 points: The essay illustrates exemplary understanding of the relevant material by thoroughly and correctly addressing the relevant content; identifying and explaining all of the key concepts/ideas; using correct terminology explaining the reasoning behind key points/claims and substantiating, as necessary/useful, points with several accurate and illuminating examples. No aspects of the required answer are missing. Use of Sources (worth a maximum of 20% of the total points). Zero points: Student failed to include citations and/or references. Or the student failed to submit a final paper. 5 out 20 points: Sources are seldom cited to support statements and/or format of citations are not recognizable as APA 6th Edition format. There are major errors in the formation of the references and citations. And/or there is a major reliance on highly questionable. The Student fails to provide an adequate synthesis of research collected for the paper. 10 out 20 points: References to scholarly sources are occasionally given; many statements seem unsubstantiated. Frequent errors in APA 6th Edition format, leaving the reader confused about the source of the information. There are significant errors of the formation in the references and citations. And/or there is a significant use of highly questionable sources. 15 out 20 points: Credible Scholarly sources are used effectively support claims and are, for the most part, clear and fairly represented. APA 6th Edition is used with only a few minor errors. There are minor errors in reference and/or citations. And/or there is some use of questionable sources. 20 points: Credible scholarly sources are used to give compelling evidence to support claims and are clearly and fairly represented. APA 6th Edition format is used accurately and consistently. The student uses above the maximum required references in the development of the assignment. Grammar (worth maximum of 20% of total points) Zero points: Student failed to submit the final paper. 5 points out of 20: The paper does not communicate ideas/points clearly due to inappropriate use of terminology and vague language; thoughts and sentences are disjointed or incomprehensible; organization lacking; and/or numerous grammatical, spelling/punctuation errors 10 points out 20: The paper is often unclear and difficult to follow due to some inappropriate terminology and/or vague language; ideas may be fragmented, wandering and/or repetitive; poor organization; and/or some grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors 15 points out of 20: The paper is mostly clear as a result of appropriate use of terminology and minimal vagueness; no tangents and no repetition; fairly good organization; almost perfect grammar, spelling, punctuation, and word usage. 20 points: The paper is clear, concise, and a pleasure to read as a result of appropriate and precise use of terminology; total coherence of thoughts and presentation and logical organization; and the essay is error free. Structure of the Paper (worth 10% of total points) Zero points: Student failed to submit the final paper. 3 points out of 10: Student needs to develop better formatting skills. The paper omits significant structural elements required for and APA 6th edition paper. Formatting of the paper has major flaws. The paper does not conform to APA 6th edition requirements whatsoever. 5 points out of 10: Appearance of final paper demonstrates the student’s limited ability to format the paper. There are significant errors in formatting and/or the total omission of major components of an APA 6th edition paper. They can include the omission of the cover page, abstract, and page numbers. Additionally the page has major formatting issues with spacing or paragraph formation. Font size might not conform to size requirements. The student also significantly writes too large or too short of and paper 7 points out of 10: Research paper presents an above-average use of formatting skills. The paper has slight errors within the paper. This can include small errors or omissions with the cover page, abstract, page number, and headers. There could be also slight formatting issues with the document spacing or the font Additionally the paper might slightly exceed or undershoot the specific number of required written pages for the assignment. 10 points: Student provides a high-caliber, formatted paper. This includes an APA 6th edition cover page, abstract, page number, headers and is double spaced in 12’ Times Roman Font. Additionally, the paper conforms to the specific number of required written pages and neither goes over or under the specified length of the paper. GET THIS PROJECT NOW BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK TO PLACE THE ORDER
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