Book review: Robert McElvaine, The Great Depression (ISBN: 9780307774446)
Your review will be graded on the following categories:
*Opening Paragraph- a brief description of the nature of this assignment is required,
specifically what are your expectations going into reading & reviewing this book.
1.) Author: writing style, expertise, and bias – 30 points
A. How interesting to read and easy to understand was the author’s writing style? Give some examples from the book.
B. What expertise does the author have for writing on this topic: e.g. has he or she written on this topic before? Do they teach on this topic? What academic credentials do they have? If they don’t have obvious academic expertise, what other factors might lead us to still trust them on this topic? Why should we trust what they have to say on this topic? How well-researched does the book seem to be?
C. What biases did you detect on the part of the author? Give some examples from the book.
D. Discuss the types of sources the author used. What is the relative number of primary to secondary sources? Do they seem reliable? Do you detect any biases in the types of sources the author used? Give some examples of the types of sources used.
2.) The Book: -Theme and Content- 50 points
A. Explain in full detail the book’s main theme(s) (or thesis). What is the author trying to “prove” with this book? Did the author explain why they decided to write on this topic?
B. Explain how well the author supported the book’s main theme(s). Give specific examples from the book.
C. Give a summary of the content of the book. (This will be the biggest part of your paper. Be sure to include specific examples, such as brief quotes, from the book in order to demonstrate familiarity with the contents). Your paper should have a lot of citations from the book. Reviews without specific references to the book will not receive a passing grade. The purpose of this section is for the student to demonstrate that they have read the whole book, so be sure your citations come from the whole content and not just selected parts of the book.
3.) Conclusion- 5 points
1. What was the best part of the book? What was the worst part of the book?
4.) Format, Grammar, and Spelling-15 points
1. Fully Explained and supported Opinions
2. Proper Spelling, Grammar, Sentence and Paragraph Structure
3. Proper MLA format-includes in-text parenthetical citations and a works cited page. For help with MLA: go to TCL’s Library page and click on the MLA button. The OWL at Purdue University is also a good reference (be sure you are looking at the MLA part of the site however)