Name: Instructor: Class: Time: Title: Introductory Paragraph; hook, anecdote, logical appeals Write in here: Thesis #1 – Malcolm Gladwell has penned a fascinating book which is certain to revolutionize how we evaluate the world and the near one-hundred thousand day-to-day decisions that impact our life. Thesis #2 – Malcolm Gladwell has penned a book which trivializes the complex nature of life and death decisions and erroneously dismisses the notions of pensive reflection and erudite study. 1. Summarize the book. You need to describe what the book is about in enough detail that someone who hasn’t read the book has a clear idea of the topic the author is addressing, the parameters of the book, and how the book is organized. If you don’t give your reader some idea what the book is about, then you may lose your reader when you start analyzing the book. Note that a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book is not needed. A general summary of the main points will be sufficient. A summary tends to be logical since you are reporting on what the book is about. • Topic sentence that alludes to your thesis sentence and leads into your summary Summary here Brief one sentence summary of the summary above and transition into the Gladwell’s purpose 2. Identify the author’s purpose. What does your author want to accomplish with this book? What audience is the book intended for? Your author may want to fill a gap in psychology and how our subconscious works by examining a topic that other historians have neglected, or your author may have an interpretation of the chosen subject that differs substantially from previous books on the subject – your author is trying to accomplish something with the book; you need to figure out what it is! Use logical and possible ethical appeals here • Topic sentence that alludes to the thesis statement and introduces the author’s purpose Paragraph #1 Brief one sentence summary of the author’s purpose and transition into whether Gladwell was successful in stating his purpose or not. You may use logical and emotional appeals here Argue that the author does in fact accomplish what he set out to do with this book .You may also argue to the contrary. Paragraph #2 One sentence summary of valid purpose or not and then transition into your theme discussion. 2. Identify the author’s theme or themes. During the course of the book, the author will probably develop several themes. Does the author have an issue that he or she keeps raising? A point or idea that recurs throughout the book? These are the author’s themes – arguments that the author particularly wants to emphasize. Essentially, you will begin to decide if they hold water or not. You should use primarily logical appeals here since you are reporting details • Topic sentence that alludes to your thesis statement and introduces the author’s themes. Paragraph #1 on themes Use logical and or ethical appeals to argue your point. Argue these themes are sophisticated enough to support a major point of view change in the way we judge people and events. Paragraph #2 A one sentence summary of the validity of the themes or not and transition into controversial issues discussion 5. Note where the author stands on controversial issues. Sometimes, the author will make this easy for you, by describing the various positions historians have taken on the topic, and then explaining his or her position on the issue. Professional reviews of books will often point out these controversial issues and will compare your author’s position to that of others who have written on the same topic. Use logical and or ethical appeals to argue your point. • Topic sentence that alludes to the thesis statement and introduces your discussion of controversial issues Where author stands on controversial issues paragraph here. Use logical appeals from the data base research to support your premise. Are these arguments valid or not valid; Equal order or ascending order; least important to most important. 6. Discuss your author’s sources. What types of secondary sources does your author use? Are some of the sources current? What languages are the sources written in? What types of primary sources does the author use? Are potentially biased sources treated with appropriate caution? Does your author neglect any important relevant sources (again, professional reviews will be useful here)? In cases where there may be conflicting views on an issue, does your author examine sources from all sides? Logical appeals here • Topic sentence which gives an overview of the author’s sources. Author’s sources: an overview and comment on the validity of the sources you mention. A one sentence summary about the author’s sources and transition into professional reviews of the book. 7. Look up professional reviews of your book. The book reviews published in professional historical journals will be written by historians who specialize in the area the book addresses. Accordingly, the reviewers will know far more about the author’s topic than you, and they are more likely to recognize important new theories, logical flaws, factual errors, etc. It is important to know how a book has been received by other professionals whose specializations are relevant to the book’s subject. Remember to read a book review with the same critical attention that you used when reading the book itself – when a reviewer disagrees with the author of the book on an issue, it is entirely possible that the author is correct and the reviewer wrong. Note that looking up reviews on Amazon.com or a similar site is not particularly helpful since there is no editorial control over any of those reviews. Use the resources of the library’s reference room (like the online database JSTOR, Book Review Index and Book Review Digest) to track down professional reviews of your book. When looking through these indexes of reviews, do not just check the year your book was published – check a year or two after as well (scholarly journals tend to lag behind in their reviews). Use logical appeals in this discussion • Topic sentence which leads into professional reviews of the book. Discuss professional reviews you find on the book to justify either the book’s validity or its superficiality. You may select positive reviews to reinforce your initial positive thesis statement or negative reviews to reinforce your initial negative thesis statement. Summarize in one sentence what critics are saying about the book and transition into “other issues” you may want to address. 8. Finally, address any “other issues” that affect the book’s quality. There are various other issues that you may want to discuss, issues that will be more relevant in some cases than in others. How is the book organized? What do you think of the author’s writing style? Do his many anecdotes sufficiently support his on-going thesis? Are you motivated enough to try thin-slicing yourself or will you just put the book down when you are finished and never try it? You can use emotional, logical and ethical appeals here • Topic sentence about “other issues” you wish to discuss. “Other issues” paragraph here: 9. Conclusion. Summarize your main points (use your topic sentences to do this) and give me your final opinion as to the book’s validity. Once you begin stating your opinion you may use ethical, emotional and logical appeals Conclusion here • Topic sentence about “other issues” you wish to discuss. • Transitions So you can see this book is for four graders not college students. Name: Instructor: Class: Time: Title: Introductory Paragraph; hook, anecdote, logical appeals Write in here: Thesis #1 – Malcolm Gladwell has penned a fascinating book which is certain to revolutionize how we evaluate the world and the near one-hundred thousand day-to-day decisions that impact our life. Thesis #2 – Malcolm Gladwell has penned a book which trivializes the complex nature of life and death decisions and erroneously dismisses the notions of pensive reflection and erudite study. 1. Summarize the book. You need to describe what the book is about in enough detail that someone who hasn’t read the book has a clear idea of the topic the author is addressing, the parameters of the book, and how the book is organized. If you don’t give your reader some idea what the book is about, then you may lose your reader when you start analyzing the book. Note that a chapter-by-chapter summary of the book is not needed. A general summary of the main points will be sufficient. A summary tends to be logical since you are reporting on what the book is about. • Topic sentence that alludes to your thesis sentence and leads into your summary Summary here Brief one sentence summary of the summary above and transition into the Gladwell’s purpose 2. Identify the author’s purpose. What does your author want to accomplish with this book? What audience is the book intended for? Your author may want to fill a gap in psychology and how our subconscious works by examining a topic that other historians have neglected, or your author may have an interpretation of the chosen subject that differs substantially from previous books on the subject – your author is trying to accomplish something with the book; you need to figure out what it is! Use logical and possible ethical appeals here • Topic sentence that alludes to the thesis statement and introduces the author’s purpose Paragraph #1 Brief one sentence summary of the author’s purpose and transition into whether Gladwell was successful in stating his purpose or not. You may use logical and emotional appeals here Argue that the author does in fact accomplish what he set out to do with this book .You may also argue to the contrary. Paragraph #2 One sentence summary of valid purpose or not and then transition into your theme discussion. 2. Identify the author’s theme or themes. During the course of the book, the author will probably develop several themes. Does the author have an issue that he or she keeps raising? A point or idea that recurs throughout the book? These are the author’s themes – arguments that the author particularly wants to emphasize. Essentially, you will begin to decide if they hold water or not. You should use primarily logical appeals here since you are reporting details • Topic sentence that alludes to your thesis statement and introduces the author’s themes. Paragraph #1 on themes Use logical and or ethical appeals to argue your point. Argue these themes are sophisticated enough to support a major point of view change in the way we judge people and events. Paragraph #2 A one sentence summary of the validity of the themes or not and transition into controversial issues discussion 5. Note where the author stands on controversial issues. Sometimes, the author will make this easy for you, by describing the various positions historians have taken on the topic, and then explaining his or her position on the issue. Professional reviews of books will often point out these controversial issues and will compare your author’s position to that of others who have written on the same topic. Use logical and or ethical appeals to argue your point. • Topic sentence that alludes to the thesis statement and introduces your discussion of controversial issues Where author stands on controversial issues paragraph here. Use logical appeals from the data base research to support your premise. Are these arguments valid or not valid; Equal order or ascending order; least important to most important. 6. Discuss your author’s sources. What types of secondary sources does your author use? Are some of the sources current? What languages are the sources written in? What types of primary sources does the author use? Are potentially biased sources treated with appropriate caution? Does your author neglect any important relevant sources (again, professional reviews will be useful here)? In cases where there may be conflicting views on an issue, does your author examine sources from all sides? Logical appeals here • Topic sentence which gives an overview of the author’s sources. Author’s sources: an overview and comment on the validity of the sources you mention. A one sentence summary about the author’s sources and transition into professional reviews of the book. 7. Look up professional reviews of your book. The book reviews published in professional historical journals will be written by historians who specialize in the area the book addresses. Accordingly, the reviewers will know far more about the author’s topic than you, and they are more likely to recognize important new theories, logical flaws, factual errors, etc. It is important to know how a book has been received by other professionals whose specializations are relevant to the book’s subject. Remember to read a book review with the same critical attention that you used when reading the book itself – when a reviewer disagrees with the author of the book on an issue, it is entirely possible that the author is correct and the reviewer wrong. Note that looking up reviews on Amazon.com or a similar site is not particularly helpful since there is no editorial control over any of those reviews. Use the resources of the library’s reference room (like the online database JSTOR, Book Review Index and Book Review Digest) to track down professional reviews of your book. When looking through these indexes of reviews, do not just check the year your book was published – check a year or two after as well (scholarly journals tend to lag behind in their reviews). Use logical appeals in this discussion • Topic sentence which leads into professional reviews of the book. Discuss professional reviews you find on the book to justify either the book’s validity or its superficiality. You may select positive reviews to reinforce your initial positive thesis statement or negative reviews to reinforce your initial negative thesis statement. Summarize in one sentence what critics are saying about the book and transition into “other issues” you may want to address. 8. Finally, address any “other issues” that affect the book’s quality. There are various other issues that you may want to discuss, issues that will be more relevant in some cases than in others. How is the book organized? What do you think of the author’s writing style? Do his many anecdotes sufficiently support his on-going thesis? Are you motivated enough to try thin-slicing yourself or will you just put the book down when you are finished and never try it? You can use emotional, logical and ethical appeals here • Topic sentence about “other issues” you wish to discuss. “Other issues” paragraph here: 9. Conclusion. Summarize your main points (use your topic sentences to do this) and give me your final opinion as to the book’s validity. Once you begin stating your opinion you may use ethical, emotional and logical appeals Conclusion here • Topic sentence about “other issues” you wish to discuss. • Transitions So you can see this book is for four graders not college students.