What are some significant assumptions of the author?

Book review for the book –
The Great Mortality :An Intimate History of the Black Death, the MOst Devastating Plague of All Time

By: JOHN KELLY

(I uploaded assignment rubric in uploads and below)
PART I SUMMARY
Title the first part of your paper Summary. Summarize the book in two pages. A summary is a condensed version of a longer work – your ideas and interpretations do not belong in the summary. Analysis and evaluation will come later in the book review. The first step to writing a good summary is to read carefully the book that you are to summarize. Highlight key ideas, people and events, and identify the authors thesis. Make notes. After you have done this, you are ready to write your summary of the book.

a. Early in the introductory paragraph, include the authors name, title of the book (italicized), and the date of publication. State the authors thesis with a strong verb like argues or maintains. Underline the sentence containing the statement of the authors thesis.

b. The body paragraphs of your summary should include the authors main points and necessary explanation in the order in which they appear in the book. You are summarizing a book, so do not provide a chapter-by-chapter summary; however, the chapter headings may be useful in helping you to identify the authors main points.

PART II – ANALYSIS
Title the second part of your paper Analysis. In another four to five pages you will analyze and evaluate the book. In the summary, you identified the authors thesis or controlling idea and his/her main points. Now you will proceed to analysis and evaluate what the author has said. Underline the sentence in the introductory paragraph of the analysis section in which you state your closed thesis in your evaluation of the book. Your thesis and your analysis must focus on the historical, not literary, aspects of the book.

You will find an information sheet on thesis statement development in Content>Writing Resources.

a. You should look at:

Organization- How is the book structured chronologically, thematically, or some combination of the two? How does the author support his/her thesis?

What are some significant assumptions of the author?

Logic In developing his/her thesis, how does the author use sources to support his/her assertions?

Audience For what audience did the author write the book? What techniques does the author use to engage the reader?

Language Word choice, tone, and complexity.

b. You must read at least two reviews of the book. One must be in a scholarly journal; the other may be in a scholarly journal or a major newspaper. Include a discussion of the viewpoints of the reviewers in your analysis of the book in section d below along with your analysis of the book. If you do not know how to find reviews, a reference librarian can help you. You should check to ensure that you are able to find the two reviews after selecting your book to avoid a last-minute panic. Attach copies of the reviews to your book review.

c. You must comment on the sources the author used, i.e. primary or secondary in your analysis in section d below. What are the sourcesletters, government documents, memoirs, archeological, etc.? Do the sources support the thesis? Are they clearly identified?

d. Finally, at least two-thirds of the analysis section will evaluate the historical arguments and ideas. What contributes to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the book? What is the authors perspective? Why did the author write the book? Be sure that you draw conclusions from your analysis as you end your review.

Mechanics
Compose your document analysis using the Notes-Bibliography version of the Chicago Manual of Style. You will find an excellent guide in the PPCC History Research Guide–Cite Your Sources. There is also a section on citation in Chicago style in Rampollas A Guide to Writing in History, the optional text for this course. The History tutors have copies of this guide; copies are also available in the Learning Commons on each campus.

You may use footnotes or endnotes.

Word-process your review; double-space, use Times New Roman font, size twelve and make your margins one inch.

Remember to use a title page in Chicago format. (This includes formatting for page numbers, title pages, and bibliographies

Prepare your paper in Microsoft Word, which is available free to PPCC students in computer labs at all campuses and in Office 365 in the student portal.

Do not forget to do a bibliography and to attach copies of the two reviews of your book to the paper submission.

Remember that I grade the mechanical aspects of your writing to include grammar, spelling, and punctuation as part of all writing assignments.

Do not call your book a novel, which is a work of fiction. You are reviewing a work of History, not a work of fiction.

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