The following paper is a four page book review on (
Nancy Lusignan SchultzLinks to an external site., Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834 (Northeastern University Press, 2002). PLEASE HAVE READ THE TEXT BEFOREHAND
1a) THREE BOOK REVIEWS 30% OF COURSE GRADE (3 assignments, 10 points each)
You will write four-page reviews of each of the three books. Each is due at the beginning of class on the day designated for submittal. Reviews are to be double-spaced, written in 12-point Calibri, Garamond, Arial, or Times New Roman font, with margins set at one inch. Each must be a full four pages in length. You are advised to bring a copy of your paper to class on the due date in case you wish to refer to it during class discussion. Each review should address an issue fundamental to the book, critically analyzing it against the background of classroom lectures and discussion. The review must be written in your best prose. It must be well-organized and grammatically correct. Each paragraph must have a topic sentence. The first paragraph of the review should state exactly what you will argue. The last paragraph of the review must return in summary fashion to the statements made in the first paragraph. Avoid jargon and colloquialisms (e.g. Puritans hated Catholic bling). Excise from your writing vague terms such as relate to and deal with. Use strong verbs. Voice is essential: know what you want to say and voice it clearly. Support your points with references to the book. Cite from the book at least once per page (but avoid quoting more than 3 lines at a time.) Avoid nonsense and pseudo-criticism (e.g. Overall, I just didnt get a good feeling from this book). In an English literature class, you might write four pages about the authors style. In this class, you should not address the authors style unless you are certain that you can demonstrate that your understanding of it is fundamentally important to appreciating the argument of the book as a whole. Invent topics for your papers that prospect a manageable essay (i.e., not why this is the greatest book ever written about anti-Mormonism but rather how the book articulates the problems of Mormon growth in America). Read your graded reviews carefully and learn from your mistakes.
A key pedagogical aspect of this course of this course concerns your improvement from one review to the next. The goal is for you to acquire strong competency in a specific genre, the book review. It is a genre that incorporates the core elements of professional writing. It requires critical engagement of a text, evaluation of it against the background of additional evidence (as given in class lecture and discussions), awareness of audience, the cogent presentation of an argument about the book, and the demonstration of quality prose in articulating that argument. While the topic of the reviews will differ, the approach to and structure of the writing is the same. Accordingly, we will treat each review as a graded publish indicating your developing skill with writing a review. In grading each review, we will teach you how to strengthen your argument, edit your prose for clarity and style, and aim to persuade a particular audience. We expect the third review to exemplify strong professional writing. Consult the instructors, if you wish, while you are working on a review, as conversation sometimes can clarify your ideas and improve your writing. I repeat: face-to-face conversation, not text or email.
The instructor will detail the review requirement the first day of class and will comment on each review assignment prior to the date on which it is due. There is no party line that you will be expected to follow in your critical engagements of the books. That is, you may write on any topic that you find interesting, and you may offer any sort of interpretation. However, unless you document your arguments with direct reference to the reading, and, where appropriate, with references to the background given in lecture, you should not expect to do well in the class. In short, grading will be based upon your having shown that you have critically engaged the book and have invested your thinking in prose that clearly communicates that achievement.