Book Analysis/Précis Assignmen
1. Pick a book about some aspect of Spanish history
2. write 1-2 page precis, book analysis
3. Full research paper 10-12 page (would be on another bill)
A precis is an analysis or descriptive paper of a secondary source, in this case a book. Everyone has to choose their own book, a scholarly/academic work relating to some topic in Spanish history. For those of you doing the research paper, this book should be one of your sources for the final paper. The papers will be graded on the understanding of the book shown, quality of writing, and fulfillment of the assignment. All bibliographic information must be in proper Chicago style format. Check out the Chicago Style quick guide here.
A précis should contain:
Full bibliographical information. (What you would list on a bibliography/work cited)
Brief author biography. (roughly two sentences)
Body:
Thesis of the work.
Analysis of argument/support
Sources used.
Approach/method.
All this information must be included in the body, but they may be in any order.
Reception:
Excerpt from a published book review. List the review's bibliographic information (also in Chicago-style).
The book analysis must be two pages maximum, normal font (10 or 12 point) and margins (i-inch). Single-spaced with extra space between sections is OK. You could double-space if you wish, but keep it to two pages please.
Attached below is a sample book analysis/precis.
**Further assistance**
For the bibliographic citation, make sure it is in Chicago style.
For the book review, search the book title on JSTOR, a database of scholarly journals which you have access to through our library. You can filter for book reviews, and should be able to find one for most books from which you can pull an excerpt. Be sure and cite which book review your excerpt comes from. If the link above doesn't work, just go to the library website, and search for JSTOR. It is easy to find.
Research Paper guidelines and check points
Instructions
For those of you considering the research paper, a couple of items to consider:
1) Paper 2 (and perhaps Paper 1) can build towards your research paper.
2) The final paper is a 10-15 page research paper.
3) Over the course of the semester, those of you on the research paper path should keep these check-points in mind:
Decision Day: By the date of the midterm, please let me know if you are planning to write the research paper, via email. The email should include the topic you wish to research, how it relates to your source analysis paper, and any questions you have for me concerning the paper. If I do not here from you by 3/8 about your paper topic, I will assume you are doing the midterm.
Bibliography: Please turn in a prospective bibliography for the project with six different sources. This does not have to be a final bibliography. At least two of these must be scholarly/academic books. At least one of these must be a scholarly/academic article. Any internet resources need to be pre-approved by me. Primary sources, for those of you using them, should be clearly identified and listed separately from secondary sources. All bibliographic information should be in Chicago Style. Include a sentence or two of annotation: what is this source, and how are you using it in your paper? Turn in a paper copy of the bibliography in class on 3/29.
Thesis Statement and Outline: Turn in a brief (1-3 sentence) thesis statement or summary of the argument of your paper. In addition, please include an outline of the rest of the paper. This does not need to be too complex, but it should show how you are thinking about your topic and how you intend to lay out the paper.
Technical Details:
Papers should be 10-12 pages, double-spaced, written in a normal (Times New Roman or similar-- no Arial or Lucida, I know the tricks), 12 point font. Normal 1-inch margins all around.
All citations must be in Chicago Style footnotes. Papers should also include a bibliography/works-cited page (which is not part of the 10-12 pages of the paper body).
A simple title page with your name, a title, and the date should be included. This also doesn't count towards the 10-12 pages.
Attachment:- Book-Analysis.rar