Book Critique Essay
To demonstrate your powers of critical analysis, you will write an in–depth critique of a book relevant to our field of study (grammar). Assume that your audience has never read the book; their only impression of the book will come from your report.
To adequately inform your audience of the major aspects of the book itself, you will need to include the following three components:
1. Summary
2. Analysis
3. Evaluation
1. To begin, you should familiarize your audience with the basics of the book. You should include details such as the title, when the book was published, the author(s), the target audience for the book. Give your readers a BRIEF overview so that they have a basic idea of what the book is about.
2. Next, you will need to analyze features of the book in more detail. You may comment on the arrangement/organization, tone, delivery, depth of content, breadth of content, intended audience, how the book did or did not reach its intended audience, scholarly/popular, etc.
Break the book down into its constituent parts and analyze how each of these parts
worked in relation to the whole. The key here is depth, not breadth. Choose a few elements of the book and be thorough and specific about how they worked on you as a r e a d e r .
3. When you have broken the book down and analyzed its parts, then you need to
communicate your overall impression of the book. This overall impression or evaluation will be based on the analysis you will have already provided. Did you like the book? Does it deserve a thumbs–up or thumbs down? Was it worth the price? Would you recommend it to a friend? Your readers should be able to understand your reasons and overall evaluation from the analysis section above.
The minimum length for this assignment is 1,5000 words. The maximum length for this assignment is 2,000 words. The Turnitin originality report may not exceed 10%,
regardless of documentation. This essay must conform in all ways to current MLA
formatting and style guides.
• When referring to action that takes place in the book, use the PRESENT tense: Romeo loves Juliet, not loved. Huckleberry Finn floats down the river, not floated. McCaffrey “argues,” not “argued.”
• Do not use empty, vague adjectives: The content is amazing. The organization is
stunning. The insights are incredible. These exclamations tell the reader nothing and
leave the reader wondering why. Provide evidence, proof, specifics, details, examples.
• The word “great” is prohibited.
• When you introduce an author for the first time, use both the first and last names. After that, use only the last name (unless you know the actor/author personally and are on a first–name basis).
• Do not consult outside sources. I am not interested in what other people think of the book; I am interested only in what you think of the book and why. Referring to outside sources sometimes leads students into plagiarism.
• Book titles are italicized.
• You must have a unique title for your essay. “Book Critique” or the title of the book you are analyzing are unacceptable titles.
• Analysis should be the longest and strongest section of this essay. Do not let Summary overwhelm the paper.
• DO NOT organize your paper as a chapter–by–chapter run–down of the book’s content – boring and lame.
• Before submitting your paper, use your word processor’s spell–check and grammar–
check features. Typographic and grammatical errors are totally unacceptable, especially when we have had the technology to catch and correct them since before you were born.
Also make sure to read the paper aloud to yourself or to someone else, listening for
sentences that don’t work.
• If you do not know what a big, fancy word means, do not use it. Do not use a word you’ve found in a thesaurus unless you know the word’s definition and connotation from actual experience. Otherwise, you will just sound like you’re straining for gravitas you just haven’t earned yet. If you want to expand your vocabulary, read more books written for smart people
(the kind with lots of words in small type and no pictures).
• The word interesting is forbidden. If something wasn’t interesting, you wouldn’t be sharing it. So is the word great. The word incredible means “unbelievable,” not “amazing.” The word unique means “one of a kind,” so something cannot be “very unique.”
