The Great Depression by Robert S. McElvaine

History Book Review: 20 %
Due: Nov 9th by 10:30 PM (turn in to Blackboard). Late papers will lose five points per day late.
Requirements: 5-7 typed, double-spaced pages, Times New Roman 12-point font, one inch margins. Use MLA guidelines for formatting and citations
Please name your file like this: First Name Last Name Book Review.docx
(For example: Joseph Blow Book Review.docx)
Choose one book from:

1.    Jon Grinspan,  Age of Acrimony (ISBN: 9781635574623)
2.    Robert McElvaine, The Great Depression (ISBN: 9780307774446)
3.    Robert Dallek, The Lost Peace (ISBN: 9780062016713)

Format: Your review will be graded on the following categories:
*Opening Paragraph- a brief description of the nature of this assignment is required,
specifically what are your expectations going into reading & reviewing this book.
1.) Author: writing style, expertise, and bias – 30 points
A. How interesting to read and easy to understand was the author’s writing style? Give some examples from the book.
B. What expertise does the author have for writing on this topic: e.g. has he or she written on this topic before? Do they teach on this topic? What academic credentials do they have? If they don’t have obvious academic expertise, what other factors might lead us to still trust them on this topic?  Why should we trust what they have to say on this topic? How well-researched does the book seem to be?
C. What biases did you detect on the part of the author? Give some examples from the book.
D. Discuss the types of sources the author used. What is the relative number of primary to secondary sources? Do they seem reliable? Do you detect any biases in the types of sources the author used? Give some examples of the types of sources used.
2.) The Book: -Theme and Content- 50 points
A. Explain in full detail the book’s main theme(s) (or thesis). What is the author trying to “prove” with this book? Did the author explain why they decided to write on this topic?
B. Explain how well the author supported the book’s main theme(s). Give specific examples from the book.
C. Give a summary of the content of the book. (This will be the biggest part of your paper. Be sure to include specific examples, such as brief quotes, from the book in order to demonstrate familiarity with the contents). Your paper should have a lot of citations from the book. Reviews without specific references to the book will not receive a passing grade. The purpose of this section is for the student to demonstrate that they have read the whole book, so be sure your citations come from the whole content and not just selected parts of the book.
3.) Conclusion- 5 points
1.    What was the best part of the book? What was the worst part of the book?
4.) Format, Grammar, and Spelling-15 points
1.    Fully Explained and supported Opinions
2.    Proper Spelling, Grammar, Sentence and Paragraph Structure
3.    Proper MLA format-includes in-text parenthetical citations and a works cited page. For help with MLA: go to TCL’s Library page and click on the MLA button. The OWL at Purdue University is also a good reference (be sure you are looking at the MLA part of the site however)
Works Cited Page in MLA format: Failure to include a works cited page in MLA format will result in a 5-point penalty
MLA Citation Help:
1.    Title Page/First Page
1.    At the top left of the first page put:
1.    Your Name
2.    My Name
3.    The name of the class
4.    The due date
5.    Then hit “enter”
6.    Put the title of the review in the center of the page
7.    Hit “enter”
8.    Begin the text of the paper

2.    Works cited page
1.    Include all sources cited in paper
2.    Alphabetize by author’s last name
3.    Proper Citation Format:
Last name, First name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
For example:
Jones, Thomas. Cruel Professor: Why Teachers Assign Book Reviews. Hobbes Publishing,
2019.
Notice that the title of the book is italicized
3.    In-text Citations
1.    Proper format:
(Last name page number)
For example:
(Jones 6)
1.
2.    How a paragraph would look:
In the coffee-houses of London and the salons of Paris the philosophes spread the ideas of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment (Smith 7). The coffee-houses of London were the most popular meeting places of the city in the 18th century (Smith 26). There men met not only to drink coffee, tea, or a “mocha frappiatto” but also to exchange gossip, read the newspaper, conduct business, and to discuss the latest new books and ideas of the writers of the Enlightenment (Smith 102-104). As King George III said: “Mmmmm that’s good coffee!” (Smith 323).

Notice too that the quotation marks do NOT include the in-text citation and that the period is placed after the parentheses! Notice that there is no comma between the author’s name and page number.

Wrong way: “Mmmmm that’s good coffee! (Smith 323).”
Wrong way: “Now is the winter of our discontent.” (Smith 323)
Right way: “Now is the winter of our discontent” (Smith 323).
Wrong way: (Smith, 323)

4.    Helpful hints:
1.    Keep track of what page number you got your information from. As you go through the book you will want to take notes, write down brief quotes etc. to include in your final review (See #2 .c above The Book: Theme and Content). Keeping track of what page number you got the information from will save you a major headache later one.
2.    Should I refer to my book as a novel?
1.    If it is fiction (i.e. a made up story), yes.
2.    If it is a work of non-fiction (e.g. a history book), no.
3.    May I use “I”, as in “I think this book demonstrates the tyranny of Rusnak”, in the review? Yes.
4.    Before turning in the review:
1.    Be sure to do an old fashioned proofread-spell-check and auto-correct won’t catch all types of errors
2.    Re-read the directions of the assignment to make sure you are covering everything the assignment asks you to do.
5.    The Owl at Purdue University online writing lab is a great source for MLA format issues.
6.    If you have any questions, be sure to email Rusnak for help!