Book Report

Book Review Instructions

Introduction to Book Reviews

According to the Purdue Owl, “Book reviews typically evaluate recently-written works. They offer a brief description of the text’s key points and often provide a short appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.” Do not confuse a book review with a book report. Book reports simply restate what a book says; book reviews critically analyze texts by focusing on key themes, points, theses, and supporting evidence. I recommend looking at the sample book review in D2L if you have yet to do so. If you would like further guidance, see the Purdue Owl on book reviews: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/704/1/.

Basic Requirements

· At least 550 words

· Proper Formatting

· Completion of Rubric Requirements

Steps to Completing the Book Review

1.) Look over the book to see what you’re in for. Peruse the table of contents and index to give yourself an idea about where the author is going to go.

2.) When reading, note important points like the author’s thesis, supporting evidence, writing style, strengths, and weaknesses. Take notes!

3.) Give yourself some time to digest the information and look over your notes.

4.) Begin writing the review. Your book review must include the following things:

a. Book information (properly formatted, see example in D2L)

b. Author’s name and title of the work in the introduction to the review

c. Identification of the author’s thesis

d. Identification of key points

e. Identification of the author’s strengths

f. Identification of the author’s weaknesses

g. Your overall evaluation of the work and critical analysis of the work

5.) Submit your work before the deadline.

Book Review Rubric

I will use this rubric to evaluate your book review. The book review is worth 200 points. You can see the points available in each evaluation category below.

	0 Points	5 Points	10 Points	15 Points	20 Points
Submission	Not on time				On time
Length	Less than 550 words				550 words or greater
Format	Formatted entirely improperly	Tried to format	Formatted somewhat properly	Formatted almost properly	Formatted correctly
Introduction	No intro	Attempted intro	Short intro	Passable Intro	Excellent intro
Grammar	Incoherent	Barely understandable	Nearly good	Passable grammar	Excellent grammar
Author’s Thesis	Does not identify	Attempted to identify	Identified but incorrect	Passable identification	Excellent identification
Key Points	Does not identify	Attempted to identify	Identified but incorrect	Passable identification	Excellent identification
Strengths	Does not identify	Attempted to identify	Identified but incorrect	Passable identification	Excellent identification
Weaknesses	Does not identify	Attempted to identify	Identified but incorrect	Passable identification	Excellent identification
Evaluation	Does not evaluate	Attempted to evaluate	Evaluated but weak	Passable evaluation	Excellent Evaluation
					200 Points