– The writer includes a good introduction that explains the paper
• Paper has a clearly stated, well-supported thesis
• Paper is well-written and grammatically correct
• Paper makes good use of the source, contains specific
examples to support points, and includes well-chosen,
well-integrated quotations from the book
• Paper uses citations properly- (giving credit where credit is due)
• Paper is well-organized and has logical paragraphs with
clear topic sentences- Author continues to argue their point throughout the entirety of the
paper (Cohesion)
• Paper offers a historical critique of the book – not a straight summary
• Student followed instructions, and heading, paper, and
citations follow proper format, and are free of spelling errors and
typographical errors
Each review should explore the historical context of the book and consider the following:
The purpose of a historical book review is to showcase your understanding of the material by
critiquing the work in question. You want to develop an argument about the book, it shows that
you can evaluate the usefulness and importance of the book in question.
Thesis: Should generally explore points that run throughout the book, for instance, what
unifying idea pervades the work?
General Information about the book: What type of source is it? Where does the author get their
information? – For instance, “The Little School” is a personal testimony.
What is the context of this book? Do you know anything about where it came from or what it
came out of?
What is most important to the author? What are they trying to get across to the reader?
When it was written, why, who was it intended for?
• Your book review should explore the author’s point of view or bias. What were they
trying to do with this book? To what degree can we trust this source, is the author coming
across as objective or prejudiced? Is there an apparent sympathy toward any social class
or group or economic and political practices? How does this impact the work and your
understanding of it?
• What is the historical context of the work?
• You should outline the arguments made by the book, and state your opinion of the
strengths and weakness of the argument, and the degree of balance it provides.
• You should explain how useful it is for understanding a particular theme, how it relates to
wider reading on this and other topics, and what you think we can learn from it.
Your opinion: While not the most important part of a book review this is still important.
What did you think of the book- is it enjoyable? Did you like it? Did it move you?
