1. The main purpose of the book is ________________.
[State as accurately as possible the author's purpose for writing the book. In other words, what motivated him/her to write it, what did he/she hope to accomplish? A strong answer will require several sentences.]
2. The research question that the author is addressing is, _________________.
[Identify the key question in the mind of the author when s/he wrote the book. Authors usually write about issues they are interested in answering or understanding themselves. State the author's research question in the form of a question. A strong answer will be 1-3 sentences stated as questions.]
3. Please identify and describe three "things" from each chapter that you learned and want to remember.
Specifically:
Summarize in your own words these things you learned. One sentence summaries are an inadequate demonstration of the depth of your learning.React (in writing) to what you are learning with several sentences to a short paragraph per insight/'thing".
This effort will be as valuable as you are willing to make it. Text such as "The author explained what evolution tells us about sex, diet, and how we live" are inadequate because this is a description of what a book is about and not documentation of what you learned. Likewise, "I learned about how Freshmen interact with international students" is not an adequate demonstration of the depth of your learning.
You're not describing what the book is about, you're capturing your growing understanding of yourself and humanity.
Documenting relatively specific facts without stating the larger significance for your learning is not worth your time (e.g., "Lactase is an enzyme that is used to digest milk.").
Please separate what you learned by chapter and number each new insight.
5. The main results (conclusions) of the book are __________________.
[A strong asnwer may be provided in several sentences to a paragraph.]
6. If we accept the authors results/conclusions, what are some implications for our understanding of humanity or yourself?
[In other words, what difference does this information make in your understanding? How does the argument/information change or contribute to your understanding? A strong answer will require several sentences to a paragraph.]
7. Please give me your opinion of the book and rate it from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Why did you rate it as you did?