Book reviews

Asking students to write a book review of a book directly related to class but supplemental to the assigned readings for the class, I think, was a very good idea. I can see how students process the books they chose for their reviews in a number of different ways but primarily in terms of how the books "fit into" the course - especially its assigned readings and class discussions. The other main way that students process the books is that they identify and assess the books' argumentation, a skill we've been working on all semester in shorter writing assignments. The result is evident in the grades: consistently students earn higher grades on the book reviews than they were earning on the short assignments. I think this is because they've learned how to home in on the main point quickly in the short assignments, which were two-page analyses of long readings and now, in the longer assignment of the book review, they have the space to develop their analysis of one book but still are practicing the skill of expressing themselves succinctly.