Students are required to write
two critical bookreview papers of their choice from twoofthe
following assigned books: Fenno’sThe Challenge ofCongressional Representation
. The length of each paper should befive pages(refers topages of text).These papersrequire you to analyze and summarize the key points ofaparticular
book. The review should clearly discuss the major thesis of the work and
critically assess the theoretical and/or empirical evidence that the authorpresents to
support the arguments. I do not want the paper to focus on peripheral information such
as commenting on how well the structure of the book was organized, the writing style,
whether you conclude the book was boring, whether the tables or charts were easy to
read, etc these serve little purpose except to alert me that you have not carefully read
the book. The following is a set of items that you must address in
each of your papers
:4
1.
What is the core thesis or argument that the author presents in
the
book?
2.
Summarize the key arguments and findings that are presented in the study.
3.
Critically evaluate the book’s key arguments and findings. For example,
does the author provide convincing evidence to support
his key
arguments? If you find the evidence to be convincing, the burden is on
you to demonstrate in your essay why the evidence is credible. If you find
that the author’s evid
ence is weak in supporting his arguments, your essay
must pinpoint the shortcomings and make a strong case for why you reach
this conclusion.
4.
Do you think that the book makes an important contribu
tion to the study
of American politics? Explain your answer.
I do not accept
late papers for any reason since students have the power to decide
which t
wo
books
will serve as the focal point for their
two
critical
book review
papers.
(2)
All papers must be typed using a 10
–
point or 12
–
point
font size with 1
–
inch
margins.
The text of
the paper must be double
–
spaced.
(3)
Papers must have a title page that is separate from the pages of actual text. A title
page should provide a paper’s title
(the title
for this paper
should
indicat
e the
book that
you
have chosen to review in your paper
)
, s
tudent’s name, date of paper
submission, course number, and the instructor’s name.
(4)
All information cited in the paper (whether the material is a direct quote or is
paraphrased into your own words) from
the
book
that you are
analyzing
must be
properly docu
mented by using either footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical notes.
Remember, you should not use a large number of direct quotations in your paper.
5
(5)
The pages consisting of a paper’s text, bibliography, and endnotes must contain
page numbers. Do not put
a page number on the title page.
(6)
Always proofread your paper
s
. There are no excuses for grammatical errors.