Land of Hope By James Grossman
Submission Detal Format: Electronic only To submit the assignment, click on “Modules” on Courses. Navigate to Week 15 and click on “Book Review.” NB: It must be a Word or PDF tile.
Assignment Goals The restrictions of a survey course limit how in d we c go. Every textbook chapter, every lecture, every generalization all are built upon litera es of work by historians who have poured their hearts and souls into their research.
For this class, you are required to read and review on of these monographs. You may choose a book on any topic that interests you, but it must be a If story book built upon primary source research.
The main purpose of this assignment is to introduce students to real, in-depth historical research as exemplified in monographs. In addition, this assignment will teach students to read historical arguments with a critical eye, dissect book structures, and evaluate the merits of a research project.
Finally, this project will help students hone their critical writing skills. Book Review Requirements, First things first: a book review is not the same thing as a book report
Rather than merely summarizing the book’s , reviews are more about analyzing the text and critically evaluating it. To that end, your book review should do these things:
State the book’s argument.
Briefly summarize the book’s contents.
Critique the argument and sources.
Comment upon what the book did well and suggest what it could have done better.
Suggest the ideal audience of the book. Suggest potential directions for future research. Historical book reviews are a highly unique form of writing.
They weave together aspects of book reports, critical evaluations, and personal reflection pieces. Although there are standard conventions of how to write a book review, it is also something of an art form.
There are many ways you can approach it. That said, the guiding questions you should keep in mind when reading for and writing Your review are this: (1) what makes the book “tick,” (2) what are Its strengths and weaknesses, (3) and what should someone picking up this book for the first time know before they start reading? If you answer these questions well, then you have written a good book review.
