Book Report

CON E 101 – Construction & Culture Spring 2020

Instructor: Thais Alves Individual Book Report Assignment

Date assigned: 2/5/2020

Due date: 3/27/2020 by 10 AM

Instructions: • Each student will be assigned one of the four books listed on the syllabus. • The individual book report should be submitted via Blackboard/TurnitIn under Assignments>Individual

Book Report Submission. • Use your own words to answer the questions and when using citations (e.g., definitions, quotes) make sure

to add references (where the citations are coming from) and add your comments to explain the answer. Read the book assigned to you on the group discussion board. You will read one of the four books about fires in structures, covering a wide range of time. Upon completion of the book (and no later than March 27, 2020 at 10 AM) submit a word document using Blackboard>Assignments>Individual Book Report Submission, according to the following guidelines. Use the naming convention LASTNAMEbookreport.doc (docx or docm are also OK). Be sure that your report answers the following questions:

1. WHAT BOOK did you read (give a full bibliographic citation, attach after report as an appendix)?

2. WHAT HAPPENED in this book? WHAT was built, WHERE, WHEN? Give a short summary of the structure(s)/city part/city and its intended functioning.

3. WHAT were the impacts of the fire? How did it impact the lives of people at the location where the fire happened? How did it impact the structure of the building, the city/State where it occurred?

4. WHAT were the most important factors that led to the fire and loss of lives? Consider human and social aspects of the decisions made, existing laws/regulations/requirements in place at the time of the fire, business practices, ethics.

5. WHAT lessons did you learn from this book? How do they relate to existing buildings and building codes? How are these lessons used to design, build, and operate current buildings?

6. HOW did the built environment influence survival in positive and negative ways? HOW innovative was the design of this particular structure(s), in terms of its methods and/or materials of construction, in terms of its environmental social impacts, and in terms of its use? Did it function in the way in which it was intended?

7. Did YOU like this book? Would you recommend it to others? Produce a review of it as an object of entertainment, perhaps using a review of a book in a magazine or newspaper as an example.

I expect that you will submit this information in a 6-8-page written report (not counting any front or back matter). You should use space-and-a-half, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins all around. Number your pages. Spelling, grammar, and presentation will be graded.

SUGGESTED OUTLINE (The report should have headings for each section, as suggested below, do not write using an essay format)

Front matter (cover page with your name and title of the book + additional page with the table of contents)

Introduction – include a brief summary and a hint as to your key observations. (This is a summary of your report, not the description of the book, which will go in the next section)

Description – include item 2 above.

Impacts of the Fire – include item 3 above.

Most important factors influencing the fire and lessons learned – include item 4 above.

Relationship to builders’ place and time – include items 5 and 6 above.

Conclusions, to include your thoughts on, for example, whether a similar fire might happen today, and if so, how the design, construction, and use of similar structures might be approached differently today, and any particularly interesting thoughts or observations you have preventing a fire.

Back matter, including a reference list with complete bibliographic records for any sources including the book you read, your review (item 7 above), and any other relevant information you wish to include.

ANTECIPATED RUBRIC

F (59 and below) – The report is not turned in, or is turned in before the due date/time without answering the guiding questions in a way that they can be found. There is little evidence that the writer read the assignment. The report is written in an unprofessional tone and/or with so many errors in English spelling and grammar, and/or in fact, that it cannot be understood. The writer makes no effort to help the reader find things with things such as an accurate table of content, section headings, etc.

D (60-69) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of the seven guiding questions, only 1-3 are answered clearly and well, in a way that they can be found. The report is mostly written in a professional tone, with many errors in English spelling and grammar. Some concepts introduced or reviewed in the class are correctly used, but there are several errors in fact or areas left incomplete. In spite of these problems, the report can still be generally followed. Some efforts to guide the reader are provided. The report is shorter than the minimum length or violates format to expand a shorter work.

C (70-79) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of the seven guiding questions, only 4-5 are answered clearly and well, in a way that they can be found. The report is written in a professional tone, with few errors in English spelling and grammar. There are minor errors in fact or areas left incomplete, but for the most part the concepts introduced or reviewed in the class are correctly used. The report addresses the questions asked, but evidences little beyond the minimum effort required, and the report, while complete, is boring and/or overlong. It is possible to find things easily via guidance provided to the reader.

B (80-89) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of the seven guiding questions, all are answered clearly and well, in a way that they can be found. The report is written in a professional tone, with rare errors in English spelling and grammar. There are no errors in fact or areas left incomplete. The report addresses the questions asked, with some evidence of effort to understand the subject and convey it to the reader. Ideas presented in the book are related to corresponding ideas from the classroom.

A (90-100) - The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of the seven guiding questions, all are answered clearly and well, in a way that they can be found. The report is written in a professional tone, with only one or two errors in English spelling and grammar. There are no errors in fact or areas left incomplete. The report addresses the questions asked and goes beyond by evidencing interest in the subject additional research into the event and is interesting and engaging to read. Very specific concepts from the class are applied to the reading in new ways, and/or original examples are used to illustrate concepts from the reading. The report is well organized and clear.