Book Review Assignment (50 points):

Choose a book related to North Dakota history, the history of the Great Plains region, and/or related to one of the themes discussed in class.  Check titles with instructor for approval. 

Guidelines for Reviews

Determine the primary purpose, the thesis, of the book.  Keep in mind what is central and significant in the material.  Take notes of material that could be included in a review (quotations).  Do more than just summarize; point out particular features of interest and give an evaluation of the work.

A good summary captures intent and major points of the author.

A critical review points out strengths and weaknesses of the book.

1.  Provide a citation.  Formats vary according to publications and professors, but a standard citation should always include:

Author. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Date.

2.  Introduce the book.  What is the author’s thesis?  Use both the title and the author’s name in the beginning of the review to introduce them.  When referring to any person in a review use both first and last names the first time they are mentioned.  After that, use only their last name.

3.  Provide a brief summary of the book.  This is NOT a book report.  Do NOT base your review entirely upon the summary of the book.  This should only be a small portion of the overall review, maybe about a paragraph or two.  Reviews that consist entirely of descriptive summary will not receive a passing grade. 

A book review is more than a book report.  Historians write critical book reviews, rather than descriptive book reviews.

4.  Critically evaluate the work.  This will make up the bulk of the review.  What genre is it?  Where does it fit in the existing literature?  Who is the author?  Provide some biographical information.  What authority does the author have regarding the subject matter?  Is the author respected by his peers, or is he considered a crackpot?                        What biases does the author bring to the work?  How credible is the source material the author used in his research?  Who is the intended audience?  Does the book provide new evidence for a subject of controversy?  Does it introduce an entirely new topic that had been previously neglected?  A book reviewer does not have to like everything about the book, just remember that books are not created in vacuums and any review should reflect this.  A review should include both the praises and the problems of the work to provide the reader with a balanced critique.

5. End the review with a brief personal critique.  Do not introduce personal opinion until the end of the review.  This is where a book reviewer can explain what she personally thought about the book.  This should only be a small portion of the overall review, about a paragraph or two.  It is not necessary to explain why a particular book was chosen for a review.  It means nothing to the reader, and has nothing to do with the quality of the book.  Reviews that consist entirely of personal opinion will not receive a passing grade.

Do not use abbreviations.  Write United States rather than U.S.

Do not use contractions.  Write could not rather than couldn't.

Be consistent with the proper tense.  Abraham Lincoln does not write anything; he is dead.  However, in the past, he wrote extensively.

Writers who do not take the time to utilize either their computer’s spell check or a dictionary appear lazy.  A college writing assignment requires more effort than text messages.  Proofread, proofread, proofread.

A book review is often one of the first publishing opportunities available to new professionals.  It is not simply busy work, but is a valuable skill to develop.  It would be worth the time spent reading a few published reviews to see how different authors’ work compares.  Find samples of book reviews on H-Net, a website for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Some additional sources for writing reviews:

http://www.library.dal.ca/how/bookrev.htm

http://astro.temple.edu/~rimmerma/256revs.html

http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/libguides/1-12.html