EDUC 878 - Intercultural Competence

A book review is not a book report.  You are doing much more than summarizing the book.  A book review typically includes:

1.  A brief summary of the book, along with the author’s thesis or main point.
2. Identify the author
   1. What are the author’s credentials?
   2. Has the author written other books/articles on this topic?
   3. With what institution or organization is the author affiliated?
3. The author’s viewpoint and purpose for writing the book
   1. Do you need to know anything about the author’s background in order to understand the book?
   2. Does the author have any biases?
4. Discuss the evidence the author uses to support the viewpoint or thesis. Why or why not?
5. Does the author use the evidence effectively?  How does the author handle counter evidence? (i.e. information contrary to the author’s thesis)
6. Is the book’s argument convincing?  Tell why or why not?  Give specific examples from the text.
7. How does the book compare to other’s you have read on the same subject?
   1. How does it fit within the existing literature in this field?
   2. Was the writing clear and coherent?
   3. Is the writing accurate?
   4. Were the author’s points/arguments substantiated?
   5. Were the sources the author used appropriate for the book?
   6. Did the author properly cite sources within the text and in the reference list
8. Give your overall conclusions about the book and discuss who might find the book useful.

Remember writing is a process.  You need to be flexible and make changes as appropriate while you write.  Be prepared to write more than one draft.  In a nutshell, writing involves three things:

1. Tell them what you are going to say (introduction);
2. Give them the information (body of the paper)
3. Tell them what you told them (conclusion).