Instructions:
1. Have to have Read E.R. Dodd’s The Greeks & the Irrational
2. Write an academic book review according to the University of Toronto guidelines. https://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/book-review
3. Turnitin.com is required, so be careful with the plagiarism.
4. Use proper footnotes or endnotes if required.
Marking Scheme:
A) Followed instructions correctly:
B) Comments & evaluates the work effectively: C) Illustrates development of critical analysis: D) Style, spelling and grammar
Total Mark
________/5 ________/45 ________/45 ________/5
THE BOOK REVIEW OR ARTICLE CRITIQUE: GENERAL GUIDELINES
A review (or “critique”) of a book or article is not primarily a summary. Rather, it analyses, comments on and evaluates the work. Your review should show that you could recognize arguments and engage in critical thinking about the course content. Keep questions like these in mind as you read, make notes, and then write the review or critique.
1. What is the specific topic of the book? What overall purpose does it seem to have? For what readership is it written? (Look in the preface, acknowledgements, reference list and index for clues about where and how the piece was originally published, and about the author’s background and position.)
2. Does the author state an explicit thesis? What are the theoretical assumptions? Are they discussed explicityly?
3. What exactly does the work contribute to the overall topic of your course? What general problem sand concepts in your discipline and course does it engage with?
4. What kind of material does the work present? E.g. Primary resource, personal observation, literary analysis, quantitative data or biographical.
5. How is thesis material used to demonstrate and argue the thesis? Your review could quote or summarize specific passage to describe the author’s presentation, including writing style and tone.
6. Are there alternative way so far arguing from the same material? Does the author show awareness of them? In what respects does the author agree or disagree with them.
7. What theoretical issue and topic for further discussion does the work rise? What are your own reaction and consideration regarding the work?
Browse in published scholarly book reviews to get a sense of the ways reviews function in intellectual discourse. Look at journals in your discipline or general publications such as University of Toronto Quarterly, London Review of Books, or New York Review of Books (online at www.nybooks.com/archives/).
To keep your focus, remind yourself that your assignment is primarily to discuss the book’s treatment of its topic, not the topic itself. Your key sentences should therefore say, “This book shows…the author argues” rather than “This happened…this is the case.”
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]