History/ES 107E

Guidelines for Writing Assignment

Assignment: book review

Length: 1800 words

Choice of book title in writing by January 23

Review due: March 8 in class

The writing assignment for this class is a book review. You may choose a title from the “Suggested further reading” at the end of Guerrini, Experimenting with Humans and Animals. You may choose a title not on this list but I must approve it in advance (i.e. before January 23). In either case, you need to give your final choice of title to me in writing by class time on Tuesday, January 23. E-Mail is acceptable. Late submission of a title, or changing a title after you have submitted one, will detract from your grade. This means you have to do some homework in choosing a title and not pick the first one on the list.

We will discuss the requirements of a book review in class on January 23. If you have never written a book review, I recommend that you look at the reviews in scholarly journals such as the American Historical Review and Isis or in places such as the Sunday New York Times Book Review. All of these are readily available on the web via the library.

The book review should be about 1800 words, or about 7 pages. Use your word counter on your word processing program and give me the word count at the end of the review. The review should be submitted in hard copy (I do not accept e-mailed submissions), double-spaced, with pages numbered. Please take the time to proofread; part of your grade will be on presentation. Any direct quotes from the book under review or another source should be footnoted, following the Chicago Manual of Style.

Please DO NOT download paragraphs from the web and think that I will not catch it. This will not teach you anything, and it bores and annoys me. Plagiarism is a very serious offense and can result in expulsion from the university. New university policy requires that professors report ALL instances of plagiarism, no matter how trivial.

The book review is due in class on March 8. There are no exceptions to this deadline. I am happy to read drafts submitted before March 1. The reviews will be returned on March 15.