Book Review Assignment

Assignment: Book Review

Your review is an evaluation that should tell the reader not only what the book is about and what it attempts to achieve but also what reactions it evokes in you and what use it can be for you and other readers. Your review must be objective in presenting what the book says, but it must also discuss your personal response to the ideas in it.

You are encouraged to decide what to include and how to organize your review. What follows is a general pattern to help you with its organization:

• Before you write the actual review, begin the assignment with a bibliographic entry.


• The common format for this information is as follows:

Title. Author. Place of Publication: Publisher, date of publication. Number of pages.

• The first time you mention the book in the review, you should repeat the author and the title so that the reader does not have to refer back to the bibliographic entry at the beginning.


• Write an introduction or an opening paragraph that is a direct statement about the kind of book you are reviewing and its main topic – followed by a few words of evaluation. If this book raises some questions that you will explore later, you may briefly outline them here but avoid listing. This brief opening paragraph lets the reader know what direction your review will take, so state your evaluation.


• To give your reader an overview of the book’s content, provide a brief summary. This summary can be highlighted by paraphrase and quotation, but if you use quotations, do so sparingly. Avoid giving a chapter-by-chapter account; instead focus on the significant insights or ideas the book. (2 paragraphs)


• In the last section of the review, you are free to carry on the discussion or evaluation of the book in a variety of ways. Consider the following questions: How well has the book achieved its goal or purpose? What other possibilities are suggested by the writer’s conclusions? Do you agree or disagree with some or all of its specific points? Did it suggest some connections between your experiences and its observations? Were you impressed by his writing style? What contributed to your enjoyment of lack of it in this book? What has the book left out? Use these questions to think about these aspects and write your commentary, pointing out the strengths or weaknesses of the book. (4-5 paragraphs)


• Write a concluding paragraph.
  
  Specific Instructions:
  Use present tense in referring to the author and the book: “the author states” instead of “the author stated;” “the book contains” instead of “the book contained.”
  It is important to distinguish between the ideas of the author and those of the reviewer. Confusion between the two considerably weakens your review to the reader.