Course Requirements and Grading
Midterm (20% of total grade). Oct. 4.
One five-page book review on Strangers in the House (15%). Sept 20.
One five-page book review on In the Land of Israel (15%). Oct. 25.
One ten-page position paper (20%). Nov. 15.
Final exam (20% of total grade).
Class attendance and participation (10% of total grade).
Grading Scale
B+ 87%-98% C 70%- 76%
B 80%-86% D 60% - 69%
Students are expected to attend each scheduled class. Unexcused absences will not be tolerated and may result in the diminishment of the student’s final grade. In the event a student misses an exam, a make-up test will only be available upon the procurement by that student of a doctor’s note or other such official notice. Students are expected to arrive at class on time. Late arrivals can be disruptive to other students. Please, no food in the classroom.
Students are expected to comport themselves in accordance with the statement on academic honesty in the College of Arts and Sciences Bulletin. Plagiarism, the claiming of another’s work as one’s own, is an offence that will result in automatic failure of the class and may be answered by dismissal from the university.
How to
Write a
Book Review Essay
The
organization of a book review is straightforward. It consists of three basic
portions which are the following: 1) a summary of the book read, 2) a
interpretation by the reviewer of the author's argument, 3) a conclusion by the
reviewer concerning the significance or meaning of this argument for a wider
audience. You should think of your review as divided into these three basic
portions, and even consider arbitrarily dividing your paper into three equal
portions to include them. For a 6-page review, this would mean two pages for
each portion.
The summary of your paper ought to capture the main
features of the book, stated as neutrally and clearly as possible. At this point
in your review, you do not take sides. You are simply presenting to the reader
of your essay the facts, events, ideas and outcome of the book being discussed.
You may choose to focus more on one aspect of the book as more important than
the others to describe. For example, the plot or main characters may be more
interesting than the setting. But stick to conveying the main issues and point
of the book. This is all the background your reader will have to use in
following your arguments about the book.
The interpretive portion of your paper ought to
begin to analyze how and why the author has put his/her book together in the way
he/she has. What are the relationships between the facts, ideas, characters, and
events in the book? How did you react to this combination, and why? Did
something the author say anger or please you? How was this effect achieved? Once
you begin to figure these things out and present them to your reader, you will
find you have a "slant" or an "angle" on the book which is yours alone. It is
this interpretation that you are after in this section.
Finally, you will write a conclusion that in a sense
brings together the first two portions of your essay. In your conclusion you are
trying to compare carefully what the author had to say (your summary) with your
own reaction (interpretation). You are doing this in order to be able to
generalize about the meaning of this book for people other than yourself. You
have had your own reaction, and now you want to step back and say, "Yes, but is
that really all there is to it?" You are reflecting on the meaning of your own
reaction at this point. This is what you could call the "So what?" section of
your essay, for it asks you to tell your reader what the relevance or validity
of the book is for them. Relevance means the meaning it will have for persons
concerned with other or similar problems; validity means its objectivity or
accuracy.
Palestinian men and women take up arms against the British Mandate Authority during the 1936-38 Arab Revolt. Source:
http://www.newjerseysolidarity.org/resources/roots/toc.html