Major Essay Guidelines

 Your essay must be formally written, following appropriate rules of grammar and using correct spelling and punctuation.  It should be three to four pages long (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, one-inch margins).

Be sure to begin your review with an opening paragraph stating the major point you expect to make (i.e., the thesis). Include the author's name, the book’s title, and the publication date.

            In the body of the paper, cover these points:

            (1)        the author's view of the subject (his or her thesis);

            (2)        whether the author's position is well-supported by the examples or evidence he or she includes;

            (3)        whether the work is readable;

            (4)        whether the work is well documented (e.g., if the author uses direct quotes, does he or she cite the source of the information in a detailed footnote?);

            (5)        whether the author raised disturbing or unusual questions;

            (6)        whether the bibliography was well organized and extensive;

            (7)        whether the work had illustrations, and if so, whether they were useful;

            (8)        whether you enjoyed reading the book (why or why not?).

Be sure to discuss two or three things you learned in the book that you hadn't known before.  What topics were most interesting to you?

Be sure to use a concluding paragraph summarizing your opinion of the work.

Submit your essay online in tab titled Major Essay no later than 11:59 p.m. April 3, 2018.

Follow this Format:

Page 1 (cover sheet):   Your name, the title of your review, information about the book (author, title, city of publication, date of publication, pages), the date, the course name and number. (THIS IS NOT PART OF THE TOTAL PAGE COUNT)

Page 3-4:        Body of Text

Appendix:        (optional: can include photos, supplemental materials, etc.)

Bibliography:    Chicago Turabian Style

Chicago Turabian Style Guidelines

Example of Footnote:

Tony Shaw, Hollywood’s Cold War (Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007). 

Example of Bibliography Citation:

Shaw, Tony. Hollywood’s Cold War (Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007). 

Rules for Formal Writing

Do not use personal pronouns (I, we, you, my, us).  You do not have to write “I think” because the fact that you wrote it implies that it is in fact what you think.

For example – Use “Baseball is the greatest sport” instead of “I think baseball is the greatest sport.”  Both are expressions of the writer’s opinion, but the first sentence follows the rule for formal writing.

Use proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.  No text speak.

All references to a source must be cited within the text, even if it a summary and not a direct quotation. 

Your review is worth a maximum 100 points.