ANALYTICAL BOOK REVIEW
U.S. HISTORY I — ONLine
B & A-LEVEL OBJECTIVE
http://www.austincc.edu/dlauderb
In addition to the two course contacts, the student must take all fifteen (15) quizzes, all five (5) exams, and:For the grade of A
Failure to take all all fifteen (15) Chapter Quizzes and all (5) Unit Exams will result in a F in the course.
- make a total course average of 80% on 15 quizzes, the 5 exams, and one (1) completed analytical Book Review
NOTE: The highest grade you can earn in the course without a completed Book Review is a C.
To complete one B-Level objective, see the analytical Book Review page for details on how to:
a.) submit your choice for the analytical book review;NOTE: You must complete all parts of a book review by the deadlines listed in the Course Schedule for the assignment to factor in to your final average and your final grade. You may not earn "partial credit." The points on the outlines and final drafts are not extra credit.
b.) submit your completed Outline (15 points) for the analytical book review; and
c.) turn in the completed Final Draft of the book review (15 points).
Instead, like the quizzes and exams, the points on the completed book review is calculated in the total course average.
Failure to take all all fifteen (15) Chapter Quizzes and all (5) Unit Exams will result in a F in the course.
See the Course Schedule for the quiz, exam, contact, and book review deadlines.
REMINDER: The highest grade you can earn in the course without a completed Book Review is a C.
In addition to the two course contacts, the student must take all fifteen (15) quizzes, all five (5) exams, complete two Book Reviews, and:
Failure to take all all fifteen (15) Chapter Quizzes and all (5) Unit Exams will result in a F in the course.
- make a total course average of 90% on 15 quizzes, the 5 exams, and two (2) completed analytical Book Reviews.
NOTE: The highest grade you can earn in the course without a completed Book Review is a C.
To complete the A-Level objective see the analytical Book Review page for details on how to:a.) submit your choices for the two (2) analytical book reviews;NOTE: You must complete all parts of the book reviews by the deadlines listed in the Course Schedule for the assignments to factor in to your final average and your final grade. You may not earn "partial credit." The points on the outlines and final drafts are not extra credit.
b.) submit your completed Outlines (15 points) for the analytical book reviews; and
c.) turn in the completed Final Drafts of the book reviews (15 points)
Instead, like the quizzes and exams, the points on the completed book reviews are calculated in the total course average.
Failure to take all all fifteen (15) Chapter Quizzes and all (5) Unit Exams will result in a F in the course.
See the Course Schedule for the quiz, exam, contact, and book review deadlines.
Remember, in addition to the two course contacts, the student must take all fifteen (15) quizzes, all five (5) exams, and:
OR
- make a total course average of 80% on the 15 quizzes, the 5 exams, and one (1) completed analytical Book Review for a B
- make a total course average of 90% on the 15 quizzes, the 5 exams, and two (2) completed analytical Book Reviews for an A.
REMINDER: The highest grade you can earn in the course without a completed Book Review is a C.
See the Course Schedule for the quiz, exam, contact, and book review deadlines.
Rationale
The analytical book review will critically examine an important scholarly book covering some aspect of United States History up to 1877. The purpose of the review is twofold: first, to acquaint the student with a classic volume of historical scholarship and second, to allow the student to think critically about an important facet of American history and then to organize your thoughts in clear, cogent prose. You should not view this simply as a hurdle which you must overcome in order to earn a grade of 'B' (Option #2) or two reviews for an 'A' in the course, but rather approach it as an opportunity to expand your creativity in thinking and writing, two very important aspects of any individual's necessary life skills. Therefore, be advised that I consider this a VERY important aspect of this course and your reviews will be read and graded VERY carefully.
Selecting a Book
The book will be chosen in consultation with the instructor. Take advantage of the search tools at the ACC Library to find a book. As you search, remember that you want a work by a single author that examines some moment of America's past from 1492-1877, and does so at a university level. Do not choose novels, edited volumes, or illustrated books. Students MUST confirm their choice by e-mail with the instructor. See your Course Schedule for the date by which you must: select a book, turn in a preliminary Outline, and turn in the Final Draft.
Completing a Book Review
This is not a book report but a critical review of a professional work that demonstrates a student's ability to write clearly, use good grammar and punctuation, analyze the material in a concise manner, and offer their thoughts on the validity of the work. Students completing a book review will also be asked to give some comparison of what they learned from their book with the material contained in Give Me Liberty! vol. 1 as appropriate.
There are a few important things to consider when you write the book review. To begin with you must:
READ THE ENTIRE BOOK.
Authors do not always accomplish the task they set out to do, so you cannot rely on the preface or introduction. Part of your task is to evaluate how well the author proves his/her point. So read the entire text.
NEVER ASSUME.
When you write this review, DO NOT ASSUME that you can leave critical information out because you know that I have read the book.
Instead, you must tell me the:
MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION
so that I will clearly understand your analysis of the book's argument, the evidence the author presents, and your reaction to the work as a whole.
DO NOT REWRITE THE BOOK.
One of your tasks in this assignment is to show that you can digest an entire book, and then distill it down to its essence. You simply do not have the space to repeat everything. So, do not waste time and effort trying to rewrite the book.
Students are expected to accomplish five tasks in the critical book review:
To assist you in developing your final draft, students will be required to complete an Outline of their proposed book review history. Please see the Outline page for the requirements for the outline.
- briefly summarize the work;
- describe the author's argument, or thesis;
- analyze the evidence;
- compare the information in the book to the presentation provided in three secondary sources including Give Me Liberty!; and
- give your reaction to the book.
Completing the Outline (15 Points)
Once students have read the Book chosen for the
review, the
next step is to organize the pertinent information from the Book and
the secondary sources into a detailed Outline.
The Outline serves as
crucial preparation for writing the Final Draft. Students will
use the structure provided on the Outline page to
evaluate the details provided in the Book
and the secondary sources so that you can organize the
relevant portions into a coherent whole. Students will be
expected to include at least five quotes in each of the five
evidence paragraphs in the body of the outline. And students will be expected to keep the same
number of quotes in the Final Draft that
they presented in the Outline documented
by endnotes.
The details in the Outline will become the
basis for the Final Draft, so the time and
effort you spend on the Outline will have a
direct effect on the likelihood that you will be able to
complete an "acceptable" Final Draft.
Please see use the ACC Library link below to Turabian for details
on where to insert endnotes in your text, what content
goes into the notes, and the difference between note
format and bibliography format.
See the Outline page for details on completing the assignment. See the Course Schedule for the date the Outline is due.
Writing the Final
Draft (15 pts)
The Final Draft must be seven paragraphs in seven pages, no more and no less. Do not include a title page; just put the title and your name at the top of the first page, with appropriate spacing. The endnotes and bibliography do not count in the length.
Use the completed Outline as the template for
your Final Draft.
Refine your purpose in the thesis, topic, and concluding
sentences you wrote for the Outline. Because the Final Draft
must be seven paragraphs in seven pages, you likely will not
have room to use all of the words in the quotes that you
have from the Outline. And students will be expected to keep
the same number of sentences with quotes in the Final Draft that they
presented in the Outline documented by endnotes. So students
will often have to trim the quotes presented in the outline
before including them in sentences in the Final Draft. Extract the key
information from the quotes you collated for the Outline.
Then, weave in selected portions of the quotes into
sentences you create. Use the sentences with quotes to serve
as the body of your evidence paragraphs. Again, be sure that
you keep the same number of sentences with quotes and
endnotes from the Outline in the Final
Draft. Please see use the ACC Library link
below to Turabian
for details on:
The Final Draft must demonstrate the student's ability to write clearly, use good grammar and punctuation, analyze the material in a concise manner, and offer thoughts on the period, themes, and the book in question. Students completing an Final Draft will also be asked to give some comparison of what they learned from their Book with the material contained in the secondary sources and in Give Me Liberty! as appropriate.
Some tips on writing
There are a few important things to consider when you write the Final Draft. To begin with you must:
NEVER ASSUME
When you write your findings, DO NOT ASSUME
that you can leave out critical information because you know
that I am familiar with the time period.
Instead, you must tell me the:
MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION
so that I will clearly understand your interviewee’s life, your analysis of their experiences, and your reaction to the interview as a whole.
DO NOT REWRITE THE INTERVIEW
One of your tasks in this assignment is to show that you can digest an entire interview of a person’s life, and then distill it down to its essence. You simply do not have the space to repeat everything. So, do not waste time and effort trying to rewrite their life history.
Some directions on content
Each
paragraph in the Final
Draft should be
at least thirteen (13), but NOT more than seventeen (17),
lines long -- NOT sentences, but lines on the page.
Each paragraph is a mini-paper. Make the first
sentence of each paragraph an introduction to that
paragraph. Tell your reader what to expect in the
paragraph. This is called the topic sentence.
Summarize your point at the end of the paragraph, like the
conclusion of a paper. In between, give lots of
evidence to prove your point.
Begin each
paragraph in the Final Draft
with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who
did what and why it matters. History is first and foremost
about people, so your review will evaluate a life history
that recounts some aspect of life in America. When
you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you
describe the 'what.' When you tell your reader who did
what and then explain 'why' it matters, now you analyze.
So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence
that explains who did what and why.
Make your
sentences active. Fill your review with verbs that
move the reader along from point to point. Writing
that relies on the verb "to be" -- is, was, are, etc. --
quickly becomes repetitious and will NOT convince your
reader. If you cannot eliminate the verb "to be"
entirely, come very close. Again, explain who did
what and why they did it. Make sure that each
sentence has an historical actor performing some action
for some reason; tell me who did what and why.
Students will be expected to keep the same number of sentences with quotes in the Final Draft that they presented in the Outline documented by endnotes.
Quotes help spice up a paper by giving the reader the flavor of the book. So, include quotations where appropriate to illustrate your points. Using quotes helps to establish your understanding of the key themes, events, person, etc., in your interview. Hence, the use of quotes constitutes a substantial portion of your Final Draft grade. Use the quotes from the outline as the basis for your evidence, argument, and overall purpose. Use your words to present the selected portions of quotes in order to bring your respondent's experiences to life. And students will be expected to keep the same number of sentences with quotes in the Final Draft that they presented in the Outline documented by endnotes.
See the Course Schedule for the date the Final Draft is due.
Again,
be sure that you keep the same number of quotes and endnotes
from the Outline in the Final Draft. Please
see use the ACC Library link below to Turabian for details on
where to insert endnotes in your text, what content goes
into the notes, and the difference between note format and
bibliography format.
Format Requirements
ALL ASSIGNMENTS -- OUTLINE AND FINAL DRAFT -- MUST CONFORM TO THE FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS BELOW. ANY OUTLINE OR FINAL DRAFT THAT DOES NOT CONFORM TO THE FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS BELOW WILL LOSE POINTS:
The format requirements for the completed Outline and Final Draft are:
- Submit via your ACC e-mail as a Word DOCX or PDF attachment;
NOTE: Do NOT submit as a link and do NOT submit as a Google.Doc.
Google.docs is limited and makes it very difficult to complete the format reqs, insert endnotes, or send as a PDF.- Page numbers -- top right; 1 Point
- Title -- Top, center, page 1; 1 Point
- Name -- Center; below title with appropriate spacing (see below); 1 Point
- Text -- Begins right below the name on page 1, with appropriate spacing (see below): 1 Point
- Spacing -- TRIPLE spaced, typed; 1 Point
- Margins -- one (1) inch from the edge of the page on the: top, left, right, and bottom; 1 Point
- Font -- Times New Roman; 1 Point
12 pt; 1 Point
- Length -- [There is no length requirement for the Outline]
The Final Draft must be 7 pp. or you will have 4.5 Points deducted from your Final Draft score- End notes -- place at the end of your document; [Not counted in the length. See Documentation below.] 2 Points
If you include notes but do not use the correct font size and type and spacing -- see above --
and the correct format and indents according to CMS or Turabian below, then you lose 1 point
- Bibliography -- on a separate page. [Not counted in the length. See Documentation below.] 2 Points
If you include notes but do not use the correct font size and type and spacing -- see above --
and the correct format and indents according to CMS or Turabian below, then you lose 1 point- DEADLINE: 70% See the Course Schedule for the date the Outline and the Final Draft are due.
If the the Outline and/or the Final Draft are received after the 11:59 pm deadline on the date listed on the Course Schedule, the highest grade you can receive on the assignment will be 70%, or 10.5/15 points.
- Outlines submitted more than one day after the deadline listed in the Course Schedule will NOT be accepted.
- Final Drafts submitted more than one day after the deadline listed in the Course Schedule OR after the last day of the semester will NOT be accepted.
- Students may submit the Book choice, the Outline, and the Final Draft via your ACC e-mail as a Word or PDF document NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM on the deadline listed in the Course Schedule.
Please:
DO NOT BOLDFACE; or
DO NOT JUSTIFY
your text.
Only ITALICIZE: the titles of books, journals, websites, and newspapers.
You do NOT need a cover sheet.
Documentation
ALL ASSIGNMENTS -- OUTLINE AND FINAL DRAFT -- MUST CONFORM TO THE DOCUMENTATION SPECIFICATIONS BELOW. ANY OUTLINE OR FINAL DRAFT THAT DOES NOT CONFORM TO THE DOCUMENTATION SPECIFICATIONS BELOW WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
The documentation requirements for the completed Outline and Final Draft are:
To ensure that you give credit
where credit is due, please refer to the source from which you
extracted information with an endnote and a bibliography using
the spacing, font size and type requirements listed above.
For the correct style, start with Kate L. Turabian, A Manual
for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th
ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). The ACC
Library has a an excellent link to Turabian. You
can also use the The Chicago Manual of Style Online.
Both the Chicago Manual of Style and the Turabian guides can be
found at the ACC Library.
The ACC Librarians have put together a remarkable page with all kinds of details and examples for you to follow. And, a link for asking questions! Check out Turabian. Please use the appropriate formatting -- including margins, font size and type, and spacing (see above).
Both the Outline and Final Draft require a bibliography. Include the bibliography in a separate document (with no page numbers). Here you provide a complete citation for each source cited. A bibliography is NOT the same as a Works Cited. And, a bibliography is NOT the same as the endnotes. And while a bibliography includes most of the same information as the notes, there are important differences, e.g., the order of the author's names, the use of commas, periods, parentheses, and page numbers. Please use the appropriate formatting -- including margins, font size and type, and spacing (see above).
And, please, do NOT ask if you can use MLA. Use Turabian. Thank you!
Grading Policy
The Outline
(15 Points)
See the Outline link for a detailed instructions including content, format, and documentation.
Your grade on the outline will be based on how
well you:
Recognize that an Outline rife with misspellings and format, documentation, and grammatical errors will not be considered acceptable. Any Outline that does not conform to the format requirements above will NOT be accepted. If you submit your Outline before the deadline date in the Course Schedule and it is graded "NOT ACCEPTED" you may revise it and resubmit it prior to the deadline date. Outlines submitted more than one day after the deadline listed in the Course Schedule will NOT be accepted.
See your Course Schedule for the date by which you must: select a Book, turn in a preliminary Outline, and turn in the Final Draft.
Deadlines
ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM ON THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE;
and
STUDENTS WHO DO NOT SELECT A BOOK BY THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO SUBMIT A FINAL DRAFT;
and
ONLY OUTLINES and FINAL DRAFTS SUBMITTED BY 11:59 PM ON THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE CAN RECEIVE FULL CREDIT;and
ANY OUTLINE THAT IS
SUBMITTED MORE
THAN ONE DAY
AFTER THE THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE
SCHEDULE WILL NOT
BE ACCEPTED;
and
STUDENTS WHO DO NOT TURN IN AN OUTLINE
WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO
SUBMIT A FINAL DRAFT.
and
STUDENTS WHO TURN IN AN OUTLINE THAT IS "NOT ACCEPTED" WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO SUBMIT A FINAL DRAFT.
and
ANY FINAL DRAFT THAT
IS NOT SUBMITTED BY 11:59 PM ON THE DEADLINE LISTED IN
THE COURSE
SCHEDULE WILL RECEIVE 70%
MAXIMUM CREDIT;
and
ANY FINAL DRAFT SUBMITTED MORE THAN ONE DAY AFTER THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE OR AFTER THE SEMESTER ENDS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Students may submit the Book choice, the Outline, and the Final Draft via ACC e-mail as a Word or PDF attachment NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM on the deadline listed in the Course Schedule.See your Course Schedule for the date by which you must: select a Book, turn in a preliminary Outline, and turn in the Final Draft.
© David Marcus Lauderback, 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED