for miss professor only

HY 1302 Book Dissection Exercise

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Scientists perform much of their research in laboratories. The library is the historian's

laboratory, and books are often the tools of our research. Part of succeeding in a history

course is learning how historians work. The single most basic skill for any historian is to

know how to read a historical *monograph* critically and thoroughly. That means

knowing the parts of a book, grasping the arguments of its author, and understanding

other historians' criticisms and analyses of that book. It also means that historians must be

able to explain to others efficiently where they found the information or interpretations

they use in their own work. Since historians are entrusted with the past, they carry a lot of

responsibility for getting it right. They must check their sources for bias, confirm their

information from as many sources as possible, try as hard as they can to be objective in

their own work, and make sure someone else has checked their work before they publish

it. This exercise is designed to help students develop some of those skills. Everyone is an

historian to some extent. It's important to be a good one.

CHOOSING A BOOK

Choose a book from the Further Readings Section in the Appendix at the end of the

textbook. The original edition of the book you choose must have been published since

1990, and it must be a monograph. What is a monograph? It is a book written as a

detailed study of a single specialized aspect of History by a single author. It is not a

biography of a individual, it is not a collection of essays edited by an author, not a

memoir by someone who took part in the events, not a collection of documents (primary

sources) edited by an author, and not a general history of America in any given period.

Choose your book carefully, and clear it with the professor before you start reading it!

The book you choose also must have numbered footnotes or endnotes and it must concern

a subject in your American history course, HY 1302 After 1877.

Once you have tentatively chosen your book, you must locate one scholarly review of

that book before you begin reading it. Your review must be complete, and it must be at

least three paragraphs in length. Good sources for reviews of books are the American

Historical Review, the Journal of American History, The New York Times Book Review

and The New York Review of Books. Many book reviews are conveniently indexed in

"America: History and Life" (available on-line or in paper form at most college libraries.

Ask the librarian at the reference desk.) The reviews in CHOICE come out first but are

too short (150 words) to be useful for this assignment. If you find an abstract that looks

interesting, order the entire book review on interlibrary loan! In DO NOT BEGIN

READING A BOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE A REVIEW OF IT IN HAND AND HAVE

CLEARED IT WITH THE PROFESSOR. The book is not yours until you can show the

professor a photocopied review of it. The first person to show him a review gets the book.

Also, DO NOT HOARD BOOKS AND PLEASE, DO NOT MARK IN LIBRARY

BOOKS. There is a special place in hell reserved for people who mark up library books

right beside those who steal them.

THE EXERCISE

The exercise is divided into three parts:

1. Citation and Acknowledgment, 2. Arguments, and 3. Critique.

PART ONE: CITATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This portion of the assignment allows you to describe certain physical parts of the book

and cite it properly. Answer the following questions and perform the following:

1.Type out a bibliographical citation (not a footnote or endnote citation) for your book

using the form outlined in Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers, available in the library

or on line at http://www.eturabian.com/turabian/index.html. The form must be precisely

correct.

2. What is the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) of your book? (look at the

back cover of the back of the title page.)

3. Does it have an index? Is the index slightly or extensively cross-referenced or is it not

cross-referenced at all?

4. Is there a bibliography? Does it include secondary sources (other scholarly books and

articles)? Does it annotate or comment on them?

5. Since your chosen book must have footnotes or endnotes, approximately what

percentage of the sources the author cites in the notes are primary? What percentage are

secondary? (Sample 30 notes taken on random pages ending in the page number xx5.)

Did your author consult archives or depend entirely on printed works in a library?

5. Who read all or part of the book prior to its publication to check it for mistakes? What

organization if any supported the author with money to do the research and/or writing of

the book?

PART TWO: ARGUMENTS

This part is the most involved. It requires a thorough reading of the book. It demands that

you comprehend your author's "arguments." Historians use that word to mean the author's

interpretation, the case that is being made about the subject. When historians confront

evidence, whether it's a large number of printed sources or archival records, they must try

to make sense of those sources. The "sense" they make is their interpretation. The

purpose of their monographs is to present their evidence and "argue" their interpretation

of that evidence. Your purpose in this section is to summarize the arguments of the author

of your book and indicate some of the evidence used to support those interpretations.

Write three sentences--and only three--on each chapter of the book. Begin all of your

sentences as follows:

1. For the first sentence on each chapter, begin with the words, "The main subject of this

chapter is" but do not include any words from the chapter title in your description.

2. For the second sentence of each chapter, begin with the words, "The author argues in

this chapter that."

3. For the third sentence of each chapter, begin with the words, "A specific piece of

evidence that the author uses to support his/her case is." List only ONE piece of

relevant evidence.

After you have written a trio of sentences for each chapter, write one single five-sentence

paragraph at the end of this entire section of your paper summarizing the author's

argument as a whole about the subject of the book.

ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE

In this section, you have two things to do. First, analyze the argument from the standpoint

of the course. What did this book teach you that you did not already know about

American history? Was the argument convincing? Well-supported? Secondly, analyze the

review of the book. Did the reviewer mostly summarize the book or did he/she evaluate it

critically? Did he/she agree with the author's interpretation? Why or why not? Did he/she

have criticisms? What were they? Do you find the reviewer's criticisms, if any, germane

to the author's arguments or peripheral? Do you agree with the reviewer's assessment?

Why or why not?

Be sure to e-mail your final draft of the exercise and also fax a copy of the attached check

sheet, a marked-up first draft, and the photocopied review so the professor can double-

check your work. Good luck!

All Parts of this project should be attached to an e-mail and sent directly to

the instructor.

If you submit you rough draft along with the professional review one week

before the due date, I will review it and make suggestions for improvement

so that you will receive full credit for this assignment if you make the

proper changes to your final draft.

You must include a copy of this Check Sheet and a copy of the professional

book review with your Book Dissection Exercise.

Check Sheet: Book Dissection Exercise

____1. I have attached one book review, an older draft of this paper, and a copy of this

check sheet.

____2. The right margin of my paper is not straight like the left.

____3. I have proofread and proofread and proofread the final draft to remove every

single spelling error I humanly can.

____4. I have purged my writing of sentence fragments and comma splices.

____5. I have typed this exercise on a computer and have used a computer spell-checker.

____6. I have not committed any of the four mortal sins (I like(d), I do (did) not like, "the

people," and "etc.")

____7. I have not marked up my book or mistreated it in any way, keeping it clean for the

next person to use.

I pledge, upon my word of honor and in full cognizance of the possible penalties,

including an "F" in the course and suspension from the university, that this review is my

own work written by me and by no one else, and that I have not resorted to plagiarism,

*that I have read the whole book thoroughly and have written the best paper I can*.

______________ Student Signature

Check Sheet for Choosing a Monograph

_____ 1. Does the book concern a specific subject in American history since 1865?

_____ 2. Is the original publication date (in any language) on or after 1965?

_____ 3. Does it have *numbered* footnotes or endnotes? (A bibliography or

bibliographical essay at the end is nice, but does not count as footnotes or endnotes.

Neither do a few asterisked notes. They must be *numbered*.)

_____ 4. Is it a monograph?

_____ 5. Can you locate a good review of it?

Your book is NOT a monograph if: 1. It is a collection of separate essays by one or more authors.

2. It is a textbook or general history of the US over a period of time.

3. It is a "popular" book for a general audience (most coffee-table and picture books fall

into this category.)

4. It is a primary source: a collection of letters, a memoir by someone who lived at the

time, or a set of documents about a subject.

5. It does not involve research into a specifically defined topic to answer some

specifically stated questions.