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book choices • scoring guide • deadline information Purposes: 1) gain extensive knowledge of a topic related to Humboldt; 2) summarize that knowledge so that others can benefit from it; 3) add to the group's / Humboldt Project's stock of resources that link Humboldt and a wider range of topics; 4) strengthen your "voice" when you write objectively and mostly impersonally for an educated reader, but still with some of your personality showing in your writing. Products: 1) A main review text that resembles medium-length books reviews found in serious cultural publications. As for word-count: aim for 500 words. Here are comparisons that will be illustrated by examples: NOT the extensive essay articles (2000+ words) found in The New York Review of Books, but NOT the short single-paragraph recommendations for reading (<100 words) found in the corners of lighter publications; LONGER than the 200-word pieces in Amazon description or the back pages of The New Yorker, SHORTER than the major reviews (~800 words, 2/3 of a magazine page) found in The Economist. 2) a brief list of questions or factoids that relate your book to learning about Humboldt, his world, sustainable environmentalism, or any other significant topic that has to do with Humboldt and our course. This assignment is a book REVIEW. It is NOT a book REPORT. I have already read the book you are reading, so I don't need a lengthy summary of its contents. Instead you'll be writing for someone who finds your topic interesting and - if your review is written well enough - may want to read that book (or will have received enough information to decide not to read it, either because the book isn't that appropriate or because your review does such a good job of delivering what the book has to say). EARLY IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Envision your reader, so that you can focus your writing on a definite audience – educated person who is not a specialist in your book's topic; someone who already knows a considerable amount about the topic (for example, a fellow history or biology major, or an experienced cook or hiker); adult or perhaps a younger person, such as we might create learning materials for in our other activities (middle-school TAG student). Your review should include the following ingredients, however you organize them: 1) a brief overview of the book (1-2 sentences), located in your review where a hurried reader can get the Big Picture quickly. 2) A closer look at a sub-topic of the book, perhaps one that shows either the strongest or most typical level of the author's thinking and writing. 3) An evaluation of what the book achieves and what it does NOT achieve, whether because of the author's conscous and stated purpose or because of the author's limitations. 4) One or two significant quotations, to highlight the most interesting content of the book and to show the author's skill at presenting it 5) Your criticism of the content and presentation, if you truly qualified to make such judgments. But you might be safer just to describe some ideas, points, and facts you learned from reading the book. Your supplementary materials should include the following: 1) a SHORT (5-15 words) quotation from the book that could serve as a title/subtitle for your review or a "pullout" text to appear within the review in larger type with some white space around it. 2) questions or factoids that create connections between Humboldt and your book (see top of page). 3) a one-sentence description of your target reader, so that I can judge how well your address that person (or group). Examples: fellow biology majors; people in my reading club; fellow foodies; members of my outdoor club. Why this? So you will be better prepared for your group project assignment, which must address a specfic group of learners. |