History 4 pages due in 6 hours

Douglas History 3580

Book Dissection Guidelines In designated weeks, you will write a book dissection of 3-5 pages in length worth 100 points towards your final grade. A book dissection IS NOT a book summary; although you should introduce the book in your paper, any summary of the content should constitute no more than 1/3 of your total paper. Your job is to analyze the content of the book and discuss your thoughts on the book’s primary thesis (or theses), sources, and structure. You should do your best to contemplate the content and how you feel about the author’s argument(s). Try to make this essay your own because you will be graded on the sophistication of your analysis as well as on technical aspects such as grammar, spelling, and format. Below is the layout for an ideal historical book/article dissection. Points III-VII can be reordered as appropriate and points VI and VII are optional as they are not always relevant or the information does not exist to be included.

I. Introduction

A. Always include the author’s full name and book/article full title—always

write as though the reader has no prior knowledge of the book/article or

the project and DO NOT reference the assignment in your opening

comments; act as though you’re writing this review for an undetermined

audience.

B. Conclude with a THESIS that makes an argument about the validity of the

book OR addresses a specific prompt framing the assignment

THESIS: In this essay I will argue that Diamond’s Guns, Germs,

and Steel erroneously assumes that all social and cultural

differences between societies are strictly the result of geographical

differences.

THESIS: Ultimately though, Morillo’s theory rests upon a false

assumption that models are a useful tool of historical analysis.

NOT A THESIS: In this essay I will compare and contrast the

arguments made by Jarod Diamond and Stephen Morillo.

NOT A THESIS: In this review first I will summarize the book, then I

will discuss the sources used to write it, and then I will analyze the

author’s arguments.

NOT A THESIS: Does Morillo make a sound argument in his

textbook? We will discuss that now.

II. Book/Article Summary (no more than 1/3 of total text)

A. As Pascal once quipped, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not

have the time.” In other words, to include all relevant information in a

Douglas History 3580

succinct, clear, and effective manner is FAR more difficult than taking

paragraphs or pages to summarize something. Remember to focus on the

main points of the assigned book/article and not the minutiae

III. Analysis of the book or article’s arguments (should constitute most of

the essay excluding the points below and above)

What points you wish to make are up to you. However, most of your essay

should focus on your views of the content/argument and whether you

believe it is/they are valid. Also, it is highly unlikely that every book you

read is “outstanding,” “flawless,” or just right above everything so make

sure that you aren’t providing general praise but rather being critical in

your analysis.

IV. Discussion of author and reflections on the book based upon the

author’s qualifications

A. Make sure that you don’t just list an author’s education/qualifications;

REFLECT on what that information says about the quality/validity of the

given book (a concept that applies to both primary and secondary

sources).

EX: The Vietnam War is a highly contentious war in French,

American, and Vietnamese history. Therefore, imagine reading a

book about Dien Ben Phu written by a North Vietnamese soldier

who fought in the battle, or perhaps had relatives who did. How

might that account differ from a historical account from a

Frenchman/woman, or even a historical analysis by an American

representative present at the battle? Who the author is has a

HUGE impact upon what is written so make sure to address that!

B. At times other work the author has published is valid as well.

EX: Imagine if you’re assigned a book about the Vietnam War and

you learn that all of the author’s other books/articles are about

Classical Greece. You might, therefore, question the author’s

qualifications given that he or she isn’t a specialist in the field of

Vietnam history.

V. Discussion of sources and whether they seem adequate for given topic

A. Make sure that you don’t just state that “the author uses many primary and

secondary sources”; be specific. EX: What if an author is writing about this

very historically contentious war and only uses sources (either primary or

secondary) written by someone from the North Vietnamese side of the

conflict? What if the author only uses secondary sources published

Douglas History 3580

between 1960 and 1980? What if the author doesn’t use ANY primary

sources at all to write his/her book? These are potential issues that should

be addressed.

VI. OPTIONAL: Discussion of published reviews of the book.

EX: If you adamantly dislike a book that many other experts in the

field admire strongly, it’s important to understand why the different

opinion exists (because you might have misinterpreted something

since unfortunately it’s unlikely that scores of historians got it

wrong!). Also, if two historians who disagree about a given topic

review each others’ work (and trash each others’ conclusions), it

might be important to acknowledge that the conflict exists.

VII. OPTIONAL: Discussion of the book’s physical structure including

images (or lack thereof if relevant somehow), chapter/section

organization, appendices, etc

EX: Say a book is mainly used for research purposes but has no

footnotes/endnotes and its bibliography is very strangely organized.

That’s something than can be discussed in a review. Maybe the

book opens with a certain organizational structure and then

abruptly shifts to another one without warning. That’s fair game too.

VIII. Conclusion

A. Restate your THESIS

B. Final thoughts on book/topic/prompt

TECHNICAL GUIDELINES:

1. Your paper must be AT LEAST three COMPLETE pages and up to five complete pages NOT counting your cover page. Page count may exceed five pages but it should not be far beyond that limit. Any papers less than three complete pages will be heavily penalized.

2. You must have a clear thesis.

3. Papers must be written in 12pt Times New Roman font, be double-spaced, and have 1” margins.

4. Papers must have a cover page indicating your name and paper title.

5. If you quote or directly reference a specific page or statement in the book, please use footnotes to cite the source (10pt. font, TNR font, single-spaced). For citation format, employ the Chicago Manual of Style. Use the Microsoft Word

Douglas History 3580

footnote function (under the “References” tab to insert footnotes. DO NOT manually insert footnotes).