Format: 4 pages double-spaced
No references needed
Main tasks:
• Briefly summarize the book, its purpose, and provide information about the author; who is the intended audience?
• Explain how this book’s premise connects to the growing field of Positive Psychology and its main goals (address at least two themes)
▪ The three pillars of Positive psychology; Why do we need a new discipline?
▪ The benefits of happiness
▪ The science of positive emotions (broaden and build theory)
▪ The science of social connections
▪ Flow
▪ Strengths and virtues
▪ Explanatory style, positive mindsets, and thinking traps
▪ Kindness and forgiveness
▪ Grit and resilience
▪ Gratitude
▪ Positive health; the mind-body connection
• For each selected theme (use at least two) , explain how the author addresses this theme, give examples, connect to class readings, and evaluate the potential usefulness of this theme for the readers/yourself.
Conclude the paper with a personal evaluation/connection:
• What emotions did the book invoke: laughter, tears, smiles, anger? Surprise or disbelief? Or, was the book just boring and meaningless? Record some of your reactions.
• Sometimes books touch you, reminding you of your own life, as part of the larger human experience. Are there connections between the book and your own life? Or, does the book remind you of an event (or events) that happened to someone you know?
• Does the book leave you with questions you would like to ask? What are they? Would you like to direct your questions at a particular character? What questions would you like to ask the author of the book? Are they questions that you may be able to answer by reading more about the author’s life and/or works?
• Are you confused about what happened (or didn’t happen) in the book? What events or characters do you not understand? Does the use of language in the book confuse you? How did your confusion affect how you liked the book? Is there anything that the author could have done to make what happened (or didn’t happen) more clear?
• Is there an idea in the book that makes you stop and think, or prompts questions? Identify the idea and explain your responses.
• What are your favorite lines/quotes? Copy them into your reading log/journal and explain why these passages caught your attention.
• How have you changed after reading the book? What did you learn that you never knew before?
• Who else should read this book? Should anyone not be encouraged to read this book? Why? Would you recommend the book to a friend or fellow classmate?
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Here is a useful guide to writing a book a review:
How to Write a Critical Book Review:
To write a good critical review, you will have to engage in the mental processes of analyzing the work–deciding what its major components are and determining how these parts (i.e., sections, or chapters) contribute to the work as a whole.
Analyzing the work will help you focus on how and why the author makes certain points and prevent you from merely summarizing what the author says. Assuming the role of an analytical reader will also help you to determine whether or not the author fulfills the stated purpose of the book and contributes to your understanding of a particular topic.
Questions to keep in mind as you write
With either organizational pattern, consider the following questions:
• What are the author’s most important points? How do these relate to one another? (Make relationships clear by using transitions: “In contrast,” an equally strong argument,” “moreover,” “a final conclusion,” etc.).
• What types of evidence or information does the author present to support his or her points? Is this evidence convincing, controversial, factual, one-sided, etc.? (Consider the use of primary historical material, case studies, narratives, recent scientific findings, statistics.)
• Where does the author do a good job of conveying factual material as well as personal perspective? Where does the author fail to do so? If solutions to a problem are offered, are they believable, misguided, or promising?
• Which parts of the work (particular arguments, descriptions, chapters, etc.) are most effective and which parts are least effective? Why?
• Where (if at all) does the author convey personal prejudice, support illogical relationships, or present evidence out of its appropriate context?
Keep your opinions distinct and cite your sources
Remember, as you discuss the author’s major points, be sure to distinguish consistently between the author’s opinions and your own.
Keep the summary portions of your discussion concise, remembering that your task as a reviewer is to re-see the author’s work, not to re-tell it.
And, importantly, if you refer to ideas from other books and articles or from lecture and course materials, always document your sources, or else you might wander into the realm of plagiarism.
Include only that material which has relevance for your review and use direct quotations sparingly. Follow APA style on how to properly paraphrase text and introduce quotations.
