The Objective
After you’ve read your book, you need to develop a summary and review of the book. First, let me say what I’m NOT looking for. I’m not looking for an academic research paper and I’m not looking for a traditional 5-paragraph essay. This is about using the web to get ideas across to your fellow students. When other students finish reading the page for your book review(s), they should have a good idea
- what the book is about
- what the author is trying to say
- how it relates to what we’ve studied
- what your thoughts are about these ideas.
- some reason(s) why they should or should not read the book themselves.
Every one of these books has a “message” – something the author is trying to persuade readers to do, think, or believe. When I and the other students view your site, we need to understand both the “message” the author is pushing AND what you think about it. Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Why not? What do you think the author should have considered but didn’t? Did this book change your thinking? Or did it just make you angry? Or just bored? What would you like to ask or say to the author if you could?
The Minimum Questions You Need to Answer on Your Webpage
(you don’t need to cover these in this order, just make sure you answer them)
1. The Basics
What’s the book? Who’s the author? Who’s the publisher? What’s the ISBN? Is there a publisher’s or author’s website where we can get more info? Be sure you include basic bibliographic information about the book, too, such as who the author is, the copyright, and publisher.
2. What is the book about? How is the book structured?
A simple descriptive summary of the structure and main topics of the book is sufficient. I would suggest perhaps using a sentence to describe the main topic or point of each chapter.
3. What are main points or arguments the author is trying make?
If we were to ask the author to name only two or three main points or ideas that he/she wanted readers to remember after reading the book, what would the author answer? We want you to tell us those main points in your own words. Of course, an author might have more than two or three main points or arguments, but you decide the most important.
4. So What?
Why should anybody read this book? Why should they read or pay attention to what you’re saying in reaction? Remember, you fellow students (and possibly other people on the open web) are reading your summary. You’re not just writing for me, the professor. Tell us why this book and your summary of it is worth our time. Why should we care?
5. What insights did the author have regarding the particular topics we studying this semester: Development, classifications of systems, standards of living, healthcare, intergenerational issues, or income inequality?
In this course we’re focusing in units 2-4 largely on development, classification of systems, and different approaches to creating improved standards of living in an economy – i.e. economic growth. In Unit 5 we talk about the particular issues of healthcare and intergenerational support. In Unit 6 we discuss income inequality. What, if anything, did this author have to contribute to our understanding of these issues.
6. What facts or insights did you learn that you didn’t already know?
Find significant facts or phenomena that you weren’t aware of before reading this book. Try to find facts that might be surprising to most of the other students in class. Remember the other students in this class will be reading your summary, but they will not have read the books themselves. Help them learn from your reading of the book. Be sure to fully describe the facts and other relevant information. For example, it is useful to know why these facts were included in the book.
7. What did the author not cover or include that you wish/think they should have?
What did the author not include, consider, or discuss that you think could have added to the discussion or might change conclusions? Is there something else you wish the author would have discussed in greater depth or provided more convincing evidence?
8. Has this book changed your thinking? Why? Why not?
What did you learn from the book? How has it changed your thinking? It’s not necessary to agree with an author’s argument for the author to have an impact on your thinking. What is the one main insight, idea, or argument from the book that has changed or expanded your thinking. What is the one main idea or opinion you want to pass on to other students from your reading of the book?
Total Points Available (grading scale and rubric)
This assignment is worth 80 points. I will grade the assign using a rubric where each of the above questions is worth 0-10 points. In addition, if you create a really interesting, visually engaging page, I may assign additional points.
Formatting: Expectations
As mentioned before, do not limit yourself to the traditional format of an academic essay. You are contributing to a “blog” on the web. This is increasingly how the world is processing and distributing articles, papers, and even academic research.
For the technical aspects of how to create your webpage on this, the compsys.econproph.net site, see How to Create Your Book Review In WordPress.
You are free to be as creative or expressive as you wish. Remember though that your formatting should serve your goal: informing and interesting your fellow students about the book you read.
Nonetheless I have some minimum expectations:
- The work is your own original work. Inserting or including pieces from others or other sites is acceptable, IF it is clearly identified as such and who/what the sources are (links are a good idea). The best way to do this is by only quoting portions and using the “Blockquote” button on the editing toolbar to format it. It also means inserting links. Again, WordPress makes this easy by using the “Link” button.
This means:- NO PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism is passing off somebody else’s work as if it were your own without giving proper credit.
- NO COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS. Copyright violations are not the same as plagiarism. Just because you are doing this for an educational assignment doesn’t protect you from accusations of copyright infringement. Before you copy or upload something, be sure you have the rights to do it. When quoting from commercial Internet sources, you have some protection in that this is for an “educational fair use” exemption under copyright law. However, to qualify for that exemption it is best to only use only partial excerpts and to clearly label and link to the source. Just because something is on the Web does not mean it is in the public domain with regard to copyright.
- SUGGESTION for GRAPHICS: Materials that are licensed with a Creative Commons copyright are OK to use (see creativecommons.org site for more info). To make searching for images, music, articles, etc. that are Creative Commons licensed, try: http://search.creativecommons.org/ or search Google Images with the Search Tools set to Labeled for Reuse.
- Embedded videos are welcome. Embedding of a copyrighted video is acceptable because you aren’t really copying it. You are creating a space within your webpage where the original can be viewed. If the video is found on YouTube, then it’s tremendously easy to embed the video in WordPress. But do not rely on the video to substitute for your writing. Tell us why or how the video is important and relevant.
- Style Guide. You don’t have to create footnotes (footnotes are kind of odd in a web page anyway). Nor do you have to conform to some particular “style guide” such as APA or MLA. If you want some models style-wise for your writing, look at how I write things in my blog, Econproph.com. I do, however, expect you to list or identify somewhere your key sources, particularly if you quote them or they consist of data or surprising facts. The test of whether a source is documented is “Has enough detail information been given so that the reader could find and verify it from the source”. I also strongly expect you to create links to your sources.