jim luke 7:07 pm on March 12, 2017  

What to Say in Your Book Research Project

The Objective of the Book-based Research Project

After you’ve read your book, you need to develop a summary and review of the book. First, let me say what I’m NOT looking for. I’m not looking for a traditional academic research paper. This is about using the web to get ideas across to your fellow students and anybody else out there in the Internets. When other students finish reading the page for your book review(s), they should have a good idea

  • what the book is about
  • what the author is trying to say
  • how it relates to what we’ve studied
  • what your thoughts are about these ideas.

Every one of these books has a “message” – something the author is trying to persuade readers to do, think, or believe. When I and the other students view your post, we need to understand both the “message” the author is pushing AND what you think about it. Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Why not? What do you think the author should have considered but didn’t? Did this book change your thinking? Or did it just make you angry? Or just bored? What would you like to ask or say to the author if you could?

There is a secondary learning objective in this project also. Being able to put together coherent arguments in a digital format is an increasingly valuable skill – no matter what your career or major plans are. The Web is where modern society finds information and shares information. By creating your book-based project on your own WordPress-based blog, you’ll be gaining practice that is highly valuable in your future. You’re becoming more digitally literate as the pedagogy experts say.  One of the things you’ll learn is that writing is a bit different from what you’re likely accustomed to in the past. In the past, I expect some of you have either written personal opinion essay pieces (“I think that blah….”) that are often not supported by outside data, sources, or organized into strong arguments. This is kind of stuff may likely have written in high school. In Composition I or II courses in college writing, there’s a good chance you were required to write “academic” papers. Often in academic papers there’s a lot emphasis on format – especially footnotes and source citations (think MLA, APA, and style manuals).  On the Web, written pieces are somewhere between these two genres.  The strength and organization of arguments matter a lot. Having sources or supporting data matters a lot too, but the formatting doesn’t. The critical thing is that the reader be able to access the supporting information and sources. You do this via links and embedding information or graphics. What counts more than in academic papers is that it be interesting and draw the reader in. This can be done via a more casual language (first person, and not necessarily third person) or with graphics.

What I’m trying to do here is give you an assignment where you can practice these skills in the new Web-based media by working an a real assignment for real readers. People can read your post for example as a way to find out if they want to read the book or as a way to find an alternative view to that posted in the book.  Write for them.

The Minimum Questions You Need to Answer on Your Website
(you don’t need to cover these in this order, just make sure you answer them)

1. The Basics

What’s the book? Who’s the author? Who’s the publisher? What’s the ISBN? Is there a publisher’s or author’s website where we can get more info? Be sure you  include basic bibliographic information about the book, too, such as who the author is, the copyright, and publisher.

2. What is the book about? How is the book structured?

A simple descriptive summary of the structure and main topics of the book is sufficient. I would suggest perhaps using a sentence to describe the main topic or point of each chapter.

3. What are main points or arguments the author is trying make?

If we were to ask the author to name only two or three main points or ideas that he/she wanted readers to remember after reading the book, what would the author answer? We want you to tell us those main points in your own words. Of course, an author might have more than two or three main points or arguments, but you decide the most important.

4. What insights did the author have regarding the particular topics we studying this semester:  Standards of living, healthcare, intergenerational issues, or income inequality?

In this course we’re focusing in units 2-4 largely on different approaches to creating improved standards of living in an economy – i.e. economic growth.  In Unit 5 we’ll talk about the particular issues of healthcare and intergenerational support. In Unit 6 we’ll discuss income inequality.  What, if anything, did this author have to contribute to our understanding of these issues.

5. What facts or insights did you learn that you didn’t already know?

Find significant facts or phenomena that you weren’t aware of before reading this book. Try to find facts that might be surprising to most of the other students in class. Remember the other students in this class will be reading your summary, but they will not have read the books themselves. Help them learn from your reading of the book. Be sure to fully describe the facts and other relevant information. For example, it is useful to know why these facts were included in the book.

6. What did the author not cover or include that you wish/think they should have?

What did the author not include, consider, or discuss that you think could have added to the discussion or might change conclusions?  Is there something else you wish the author would have discussed in greater depth or provided more convincing evidence?

7. Has this book changed your thinking? Why? Why not?

What did you learn from the book? How has it changed your thinking? It’s not necessary to agree with an author’s argument for the author to have an impact on your thinking. What is the one main insight, idea, or argument from the book that has changed or expanded your thinking. What is the one main idea or opinion you want to pass on to other students from your reading of the book?

Formatting: Expectations

As mentioned before, do not limit yourself to the traditional format of an academic essay. You are “bloggin” on the web.  This is increasingly how the world is processing and distributing articles, papers, and even academic research.

You are free to be as creative or expressive as you wish. Remember though that your formatting should serve your goal: informing and interesting your fellow students about the book you read.

Nonetheless I have some minimum expectations:

  1. The work is your own original work. Inserting or including pieces from others or other sites is acceptable, IF it is clearly identified as such and who/what the sources are (links are highly recommended). The best way to do this is by only quoting portions and using the “Blockquote” button on the editing toolbar to format it. It also means inserting links.  Again, WordPress makes this easy by using the “Link” button.
    This means:

    • NO PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism is passing off somebody else’s work as if it were your own without giving proper credit.
    • NO COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS. Copyright violations are not the same as plagiarism. Just because you are doing this for an educational assignment doesn’t protect you from accusations of copyright infringement. Before you copy or upload something, be sure you have the rights to do it. When quoting from commercial Internet sources, you have some protection in that this is for an “educational fair use” exemption under copyright law. However, to qualify for that exemption it is best to only use only partial excerpts and to clearly label and link to the source. Just because something is on the Web does not mean it is in the public domain with regard to copyright.
    • SUGGESTION for GRAPHICS: Materials that are licensed with a Creative Commons copyright are OK to use (see creativecommons.org site for more info). To make searching for images, music, articles, etc. that are Creative Commons licensed, try: http://search.creativecommons.org/. 
    • Embedded videos are welcome. If the video is found on Youtube, then it’s tremendously easy to embed the video in WordPress.  Simply click the “Share” button on the Youtube page for the video. Copy the “embed” code. Then paste that embed code on your book review or essay page on its own line. You can also insert Youtubes and other videos using the “Youtube” button on the editing toolbar. A popup box asks for the Youtube link and then inserts the video – very easy. However, be warned that you should explain why the video is relevant and what we should take away from it.  Do not rely on the video to substitute for your writing.
  2. Style Guide. You don’t have to create footnotes (footnotes are kind of odd in a web page anyway). Nor do you have to conform to some particular “style guide” such as APA or MLA. If you want some models style-wise for your writing, look at how I write things in my blog, Econproph.com.  I do, however, expect you to list or identify somewhere your key sources, particularly if you quote them or they consist of data or surprising facts. The test of whether a source is documented is “Has enough detail information been given so that the reader could find and verify it from the source”.

Total Points Available  (grading scale and rubric)

Your book review will be worth 32 possible points.

I will assign points using the following rubric.  I will assign points for each of the following criteria.

  1. Bibliographic and Author Information: The basic publishing & bibliographic information of the book is provided (tip: A brief description of the book and the author with a link to the Amazon page for the book gets you the information you need)
  2. Book Topic and Main Arguments: What the book is about is explained or described, including the main points or arguments.
  3. Your View:  Add your own commentary, viewpoint, and arguments.  Do you support the author? Do you disagree? Limited agreement? Why? Support your argument.
  4. Interest: Interesting facts or insights are provided. Your reader will most likely not have read this book. Help them learn something from reading your post.
  5. Sources: Sources are linked or documented.
  6. Creativity: Creativity and interesting to view /read.
  7. Technical & Writing: Overall quality and attention to detail (grammar, spelling, layout) etc.
  8. MC: A multiple choice question was submitted for the book review.

Evidence or suspicion of plagiarism will negate points.