Hist 360, Pennock, FA07

Guidelines for Writing the Book Review Paper

Taken Hostage or Boston Against Busing

15% of course grade, Due Tues., Dec. 4

The book review is due at the beginning of class on December 4. I will not accept late assignments unless in the case of a documented emergency when students contact me before or on the day it is due.

The book review should be 4 to 5 pages long, typed, double-spaced, 12” font, one-inch margins, no extra spaces between paragraphs. The title should simply consist of a complete and accurate citation for the book under review. No cover sheet is needed.

The review should, like most formal papers, have an introduction, well-organized main body paragraphs, and conclusion. Your writing style should be formal and sophisticated (though not overly verbose or convoluted!), and you should follow all conventions for proper English. Strive to be clear and concise in your writing style; avoid awkward phrasing and redundancy. Carefully proofread your paper because I expect it to be polished. I have high expectations for student writing in an upper-level history course.

Be careful not to plagiarize the author’s words. If you choose to quote the book, then include a citation with the page number. (Citation format may be either parenthetical/MLA or footnote style.) Refrain from quoting too much from the book.

Also, if you choose to quote, or even just refer to, information from other sources, including The American Paradox, then you must include a citation and a bibliography that lists the “outside” source(s). Otherwise, a bibliography is not necessary. (For the purpose of this course, you do not have to include citations for my lectures.)

A book review is basically a summary with your evaluation/assessment of the book added.

I. Summarize the book. To write a good summary, you have to make sure that you understand what the author is arguing and how the author is contributing a new idea(s) to the subject -- in other words, the historiographical contribution of this book. The first paragraph of your book review should identify the author’s purpose in writing the book and his main argument or orientation. The rest of your paper shares what you consider the author’s major sub-arguments, along with his major pieces of evidence and types of sources. Essentially, in a book review you have to articulate what the book is about and what it does before (or while) you evaluate it.

II. Evaluate the book. Think about all the elements of the book: argument/interpretation, evidence, documentation (i.e. foot/endnotes), organization, writing style, images (if applicable).

Provide your commentary/criticism on how well the historian:

1) achieves his historiographical purpose,

2) makes his arguments & interpretations,

3) uses evidence to support his interpretations,

4) presents his arguments and evidence (i.e. style, organization)

Explain how the book does or does not contribute to our historical knowledge of the subject under study.

Your evaluation of these matters can either be intermixed throughout your essay, or you can reserve your opinions for the second part of the essay.