Critique Writing, English homework help

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oxbyn04

Humanities

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Find two useful claims, facts, examples, questions, etc. from Blackey's text "Words to the Whys." Explain how these will help you write a better critique. Respond to at least two other students' posts.

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and need OF 2 TO 3 lines reply on this

I also recommend that student sit with paper, pencil, and instruction close at hand as they read their book so they can note any and all reactions precisely as they come to mind.

My habit of writing article review is after reading a whole book or article I write down the most impressive part. This habit lets me encounter difficulties pretty often. I will always forget the details; just remember the most important part. Therefore, I have to read the entire article again and again. Here, the author said, “Taking notes along the way should produce more material than is needed.” I will sit with paper, pencil and my wall street journal article this week.

2. In the actual writing of the summary, I instruct students to use their own words, to combine ideas and story line into new sentences and phrasing of their own.

Abstracts/summaries on the internet or the introduction often affect my thinking and fall into the trap of plagiarism. While during the summary it is easy to undermine original thinking if I take the original language of the author. The best ways to do the summary is finish reading an article and digest it then come up with my own words.

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Society for History Education Words to the Whys: Crafting Critical Book Reviews Author(s): Robert Blackey Source: The History Teacher, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Feb., 1994), pp. 159-166 Published by: Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/494717 . Accessed: 30/04/2013 21:01 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Society for History Education is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The History Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Wordsto the Whys: CraftingCriticalBook Reviews RobertBlackey CaliforniaState University,San Bernardino "My FAVORITECHARACTERIS..." and "I recommendthis book because..." are typical phrases that characterizethe traditionalbook report,but they also epitomize the kind of directionthat provides little preparationfor the critical evaluation and review of books that often awaits studentsin manyof theirhigh school andcollege classes. How can we as teacherstranscendthe simplicityof book reportsandtheirminimal demandsupon our students'intelligence andabilities?How can we teach book reviewing, a task that encourages the development of the more sophisticated,higherorderthinkingskills (e.g., the full evolution of ideas and the explanationandjustification of reactions-the whys in the title) that have an educationalvalue beyond the dimensions of the assignment itself? What follows are some thoughts and practical suggestions for answeringthese questions. Book reviews, whetherfor professionaljournals, newspapers,or our classrooms, generally have two aims in common: to inform the reader aboutthe contents of the book and to providean evaluationthat presents the reviewer'sjudgmentof the book's quality.This two-fold task is often none too easy for many students. Since the degree to which students succeed-or fail-as they complete assignmentsis due as much to the clarity of directions as to their intelligence or experience, I have devised-and here expand upon-a set of instructions(batteries not inThe HistoryTeacher Volume 27 Number2 February1994 This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RobertBlackey 160 cluded) that is aimed to make composition and thought development easier. These instructionsarean integralpartof my course syllabi;thatis, the sectionof my syllabusdevotedto the book review assignmentincludes threeparts:1) a discussion of the natureof book reviews and the goals of the assignment,plus advice on how to proceed;2) a descriptionof what a summaryis and how it can be composed;and 3) an elaborationupon the essence of a critique and the variety of possibilities (in the form of questions) that can be explored. Teachers can, and should, modify my suggestions both to suit their own needs and to adapt them to the perceived ability levels of their students.In addition,I always include inclass oral elaborationand time for questions, both when the syllabus is distributedand again a week or so before the assignmentis due. Discussion and Preparation A productiveway to preparestudentsfor whatis expectedof them is to discuss the natureof book reviews.Whatis the purposeof a review?How shouldit informthereader?I encouragestudentsto exchangeideasaboutthe kind of informationthatshouldbe includedin---orexcludedfrom--a book review, the variousways a review might be organized,and the degree to which a review ought to be used to forwardthe reviewer's own ideas. Teacherswill haveto establishtheirown guidelinesandboundarieshere,but as much as possible I try to allow for significantlatitudesince diverse approachesusuallycan be takento reachthe same goal. We also talkabout assumptionsthe reviewershouldor shouldnotmakeandaboutthe audience (read:level of sophistication)forwhichwe arewriting.As a readerof a book review,I ask students,whatwouldyou like to know thatwouldhelp you to makean intelligentdecisionaboutwhetherto readthe book? I also recommendthat studentssit with paper,pencil, and instructions close at handas they readtheirbook so they can note any andall reactions precisely as they come to mind.Justas one who observes a crime will be a more credible witness if what is seen is recordedimmediatelyrather than recalled later on the basis of memory, so students should have a clearerfix on theirthoughtsif they note them when they occurratherthan wait to gatherand organize them after the book has been completed. In this way ideas cannot be lost, forgotten, or abridged, and when the reading has been completed students ought to be in possession of a thorough set of notes from which to craft a review. Waiting to collect one's thoughtsuntil after the book is read is likely to result in shrugged shoulders and a shortage of ideas. Instead, taking notes along the way should produce more material than is needed. The resulting harvest, inevitably,yields more of substancee-andwithoutthe need for fertilizer. This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Words to the Whys: CraftingCriticalBook Reviews 161 Like any piece of writing,be it an examinationessay, a termpaper,or something else, a book review reads best when it is launched with an introduction. This can take a variety of forms, including a personal anecdotethat can be relatedto the subjectof the book, a brief story from the book itself thatcan be used to introducethe broadercontent,or even a clever quotation on which to build an introduction-all of which can serve the useful function of capturing a reader's attention. There is, however, simpler and more fundamentalinformationthat an effective introductionshould minimallycontain in orderto preparethe readerfor what follows: an overview of the book thatincorporatesboth an encapsulated summary and a sense of the reviewer's general judgment. Thus armedwith this equivalentto a thesis statement,the readeris preparedto wade into the body of the review. The Summary A successful summaryconsists of a discussion and highlightingof the majorfeatures,trends,concepts, themes, ideas, and characteristicsof the book in as much detail as space limitations,establishedby the instructor, will allow. This can be as brief as a single sentence-if such brevity is what is desired (if not, the essence of such a sentence can otherwise be included as part of the introduction,say as a topic sentence)-or a paragraph,or it can go on for two, threeor morepages. I find thata threepage limit (or half the total length of the review) works best in that it allows studentsenough space to describe the book without their losing sight of the purpose of the review. Since shortersummariestend to be more difficult to write (i.e., because so much more has to be coherently compressed into fewer words), it is probablya good idea for teachersto restricttheirlength as muchas conventionalwisdom and studentabilities dictate. In the actual writing of the summary,I instructstudents to use their own words, to combine ideas and story line into new sentences and phrasingof their own. While quotationmarksshould be placed around words and sentences taken directly from the book, for the most part using the exact language of the author should be avoided because it undermines original thinking. That is, summarizingis a good way to learn and to assimilate and explain material, but the process doesn't work especially well unless what is read and digested is translatedinto the student's own language,and thatit is done in a way that makes sense to the student. In addition, it is often best for studentsto present the summaryin a manner that reflects the organizationof the book, to write it as if the This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RobertBlackey 162 entirebook were to be viewed throughthe wrongend of a telescope. That is, since one of the purposesof a review is to demonstratehow effectively a book is organized, summarizingin such a micro-reflectiveway will help to achieve this. In other words, the presentationof a true but condensed picture of a book should include the way in which it is organized, althoughchapter-by-chaptersummariesare to be avoided in favor of a unified essay that highlights significantfeaturesand narrative thrust. Finally,summarizinga book,despitewhatsome studentsmightimagine, does not ordinarilyenable the reviewerto providea particularlyincisive understandingof the contentsas a collection of hypothesesor arguments based upon any numberof suppositions.'Even our telling studentsthat they mustreachbeyond summaryinto the realmof analysis is not enough in and of itself. Instead, in something akin to the directions that often accompanychildren'stoys in needof assembling,we mustofferguidelines thatconstitutea methodologythatwill help themto turnup the volume of their thinking. The Critique Studentstend to be wary of undertakinga critiquefor severalreasons. First, because they are neitherprofessionalhistoriansnor experts in the subject matterof the book they are reading,studentsoften assume such an assignmentis beyond theirlevel of knowledge. "Howcan I be critical of something I know nothing about?"is a common response. Second, since they have little or no experience with critical writing, they do not believe they possess such ability.Third,too often they have been allowed to get away with a level of thinking that is superficial,that places few demandson their intellect, thatdoesn't pressurethem into tryingharder. One of ourjobs as teachersis to lead studentsforward,to show them how to do whatappearsbeyondthem, andthatis whatI try to accomplishwith these instructionsand the questionsthatfollow. To begin with, I make it clear, in the introductoryparagraphto this section of my syllabus, just what a critique consists of-thoughts, responses, and reactionsto what is read. Such a critiqueis not expected to be of a caliber similar to a professional historian's or to reflect an expertise not likely to exist-although, with experience,one can learnto review a book on the basis of one's generalknowledge and one's ability to follow an argumentor to test an hypothesis. I also try to dispel the notion that all criticismmust be negative. In fact, I assurestudents,there is nothingwrong with having only positive things to say; the "trick"is to justify and supportwhateverposition is taken. This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Words to the Whys: CraftingCriticalBook Reviews 163 What I do expect from studentsis a reactionto the book, but since not knowing what to react to is part of the problem, I present a significant number of questions that I encourage them to keep in mind before, during,and afterthe book is read.Collectively, these questionscomprise the bait to lure studentsaway from the security of inexperienceand the easy way out, and toward developing their minds and critical thinking abilities. They are not, I insist, to be answered seriatim, taken like numbersin a store by customerswaiting their turnto be served; in fact, there are many more here than any single review could hope to address. Instead, they are meant to prod, to prime intellectualpumps, to suggest avenues of explorationfor those who are new to the domainof criticism. Teachersshould review this list and choose to include as many as would be considered appropriateguides for their students. Students, in turn, shouldbe instructedto select severalof the most useful (say, five to seven for a three-pagecritique) on which to concentrate.Thus, answers to as many of the questionsas are fitting shouldform partof a smooth-flowing essay, complete with topic sentences and transitions.Effective criticism, in other words, also involves writingthat is clear and coherent. 1. What is your overallopinionof the book? On whatbasis has this opinionbeenformulated?Thatis, tell thereaderwhatyou thinkandhow you arrivedat thisjudgment.Whatdidyou expectto learnwhenyou selectedthe book?To whatextent-and how effectively-were yourexpectationsmet? Did you nod in agreement(or off to sleep)? Did you wish you could talk backto the author?Amplifyuponandexplainyourreactions. 2. Identify the author's thesis and explain it in your own words. How clearly andin whatcontextis it statedand,subsequently,developed? To what extent and how effectively (i.e., with what kind of evidence) is this thesis proven?Use examplesto amplifyyourresponses.If arguments or perspectives were omitted, why do you think this might have been allowed to occur? 3. What are the author'saims? How well have they been achieved, especially with regardto the way the book is organized?Are these aims supportedor justified? (Aims are usually found in the preface or introduction to the book, or sometimes in the opening paragraphsof the first chapter.If they are not found, what does this tell you aboutthe book and/ or the author?Were you able to discernthem anyway?If so, how?) How closely does the organizationfollow the author'saims, whetherstatedor implied? 4. How are the author's main points presented, explained, and supported?Whatassumptionslie behindthese points?Whatwould be the most effective way for you to compress and/or reorder the author's scheme of presentationand argument? This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RobertBlackey 164 5. How effectively does the authordraw generalizationsfrom the materialbeingpresented?Areconnectionsbetweengeneralizationsandthe supportingmaterial and evidence made clearly and logically? Use examples to supportyour evaluation. 6. Whatconclusions does the authorreachandhow clearly arethey stated?Do these conclusions follow from the thesis and aims and from the ways in which they were developed?In otherwords, how effectively does the book come together? 7. Identifythe assumptionsmadeby the authorin boththe approach to and the writingof the book. For example, what priorknowledge does the authorexpect readersto possess? How effectively are these assumptions worked into the overall presentation?What assumptionsdo you think should not have been made?Why? 8. Are you able to detect any underlyingphilosophyof historyheld by the author(e.g., progress,decline, cyclical, circular,linear,random)? If so, how does this philosophyaffect the presentationof the argument?If not, what kind of thinkingor attitudesappearto drive the author? 9. How does the authorsee historyas being motivated:primarilyby the forces of individuals,economics, politics, social factors,nationalism, class, race, gender, somethingelse? What kind of impactdoes this view of historicalmotivationhave upon the way in which the authordevelops the book? 10. Does the author's presentationseem fair and accurate?Is the interpretationbiased? Can you detect any distortion, exaggeration, or diminishing of material?If so, for what purpose might this have been done and what effect does it have on the overall presentation? 11. Does the dateof the book's publicationvis-A-visthe contentreveal anythingabouthow theperiodin whichit was writtenmighthaveinfluenced its thesis? For example, books writtenduring the Great Depression,or duringWorldWarII,orduringtheColdWarmightbe affectedby prevailing attitudesor perceptions.In other words, since every age writes its own history,to whatextentdoes the book reflectits time? 12. Does the author'snationality,gender,race, ethnicity,class, and/ or age (to the extent these are known) affect the writing?Does the author acknowledge any obvious or not so obvious biases? 13. Does the materialpresentedraiseyourcuriosityaboutthe subject, and is there anything especially distinctive about the book? Might the book have some impact upon the course of your educationalor other pursuits?What are you most likely to rememberabout it in a week, a month, a year?Here, too, elaborateupon your responses. 14. Is there enough informationin the book? Is the subject treated thoroughlyor summarily?If you were the author'seditor, what would This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Words to the Whys: CraftingCriticalBook Reviews 165 you add to render the book more thorough and well rounded?What would you subtractthatmight be extraneousor distracting?Explain why you would take these actions. 15. Where and how does the book fit in relativeto the contentof the course for which it was read?Does it add or contradictanythingyou read in other books or texts or what was discussed in class? How would you explain, and possibly resolve, these differences? 16. How well is the book written?If you wish to use quotationsto illustratea particularstyle or point, keep them short,preferablyno more than one sentence. 17. If the book includes graphicmaterial(e.g., pictures,charts,diagrams, appendices), how easy are these to follow or read? Are they referredto in the narrative?If so, are they used to enhance both the text and your understanding?If you had difficulty utilizing this material, explain why. 18. How useful are the footnotes (or endnotes)to you as a reader?If you made use of them,explain how. If morethanjust sourcecitationsare included in these notes, what purposedo they serve? 19. What is the quality of the bibliography provided? With the book's date of publicationin mind, does the authorseem familiarand up to date with the literaturein the field? Upon what kinds of sources does the authorseem to depend?Whatkind of primaryand secondarysources? To what degree are you impressedby the use of these sources, and why? 20. If you had occasion to make use of the index, how easy was it to use and how useful was it in finding whatyou were looking for? Did you find any subjectsmissing? Armed with these questions-veritable written stimulantsto reflection-students have more thanenoughdirectionwith which to formulate and organize a critical book review. Ignorance as to how to proceed cannot be an excuse, and better students can use this direction to be creative.It even becomes possible for studentsto develop skills whereby they are able to integratesummaryand critiquein a way thatdiscourages these two componentsfrom being presentedas separateand distinct. Moreover, by being aware of and thinking about these questions, studentscan learnto readmore criticallyand to thinkaboutwhat historians do and why they do it. Every bit as important,learningto think and write critically in history can be carried over into their work in other disciplines, just as it also can, in general, furthertheir development as educatedand thinkingcitizens. Without the experience of writing critical book reviews, studentsare likely to thinkthe task is beyond theirability. But with these signposts in the form of directions and questions to guide their thinking, many dis- This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RobertBlackey 166 cover and develop in ways hithertounknown to them. To the extent it works-and it has worked effectively for my students, especially as I have refined these instructionsover the years-the experience becomes both a profitableand exciting exercise. Note For an excellent look at how to teach students to analyze works of history 1. critically, see Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr., "Demystifying Historical Authority: Critical Textual Analysis in the Classroom,"in History Anew: Innovationsin the Teaching of History Today,edited by RobertBlackey (Long Beach:The UniversityPress, California State University,Long Beach, 1993). This content downloaded from 129.74.250.206 on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:01:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
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Critique Writing
Writing a review requires an individual’s attentiveness to the source of content that is
intended for the critique while applying their judgements, response as well as a feedback to their
reading. The Blackey’s text “words to the whys” contains helpful information that helps people to
analyze what they get to read (Blackey). The text contains useful claims that one can consider like
substituting concepts about information that needs to get incorporated or left out from the book
that gets assessed. Another claim is the level to which the book should get assessed so as to get in
touch with analysts thoughts. F...


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