Book Review Rubric

1. 3-5 pages in length, MLA format. See “Helpful Writing Sites” for correct format.

2. DO NOT write a condensed version of the book. (i.e. this happened first, then this happened etc…), not interested.

3. Write it as a reaction paper. Review the strengths and weaknesses of the book, quote from the book (using correct MLA in-text citation), identify its thesis, assess how the author supported his thesis, decide how strong the work is. Even if it is fiction, an author writes with a purpose and a theme-find these and write about these in your paper.

4. What is your personal evaluation of the book: Why did the author write this? Were the conclusions convincing? What parts of the book were particularly strong/weak? In which parts did the author “speak” to you? Should others read the book and why?

5. Stay clear of 1st and 2nd person. I know this is your paper and your thoughts-avoid using I or you.

6. In summary, the point of this assignment is to get you reading history or historical fiction outside of class. You can learn so much from other sources than just a textbook! You must ultimately demonstrate you not only read the book, but actually spent some time thinking about the book and “doing” something with it!