This Rough Draft Assignment is meant to prepare you for the Book Assignment by giving you some important things to think about and practice before the Final Submission of the Assignment. This Rough Draft Assignment must be completed before or on the deadline for the Rough Draft, as listed on your Syllabus Addendum for the course. This Assignment is worth 10% of your total grade and is worth 100 points.
The Book Assignment is an important assessment to evaluate if you can read, retain, and gather information from the book and compose an academic and professional response on the author’s argument in the book and its overall significance. The Book Assignment is not a “book summary”; you are not tasked with repeating the entire story that is in the book. The most important thing is to uncover what the author’s argument(s) is (are), what evidence he/she uses to support his/her argument(s), and what the significance of the book is. These are things that historians do on a daily basis—you will be newbie historians!
After reading a THIRD of your chosen book, complete/answer the following items to complete the Rough Draft Assignment:
- Read the Introduction of your chosen book and then answer the following question: What is the topic of the book? (10 points)
- After reading the Introduction of your chosen book, what do you think is the author’s argument? Think of it this way: What is the author trying to prove through the use of evidence? (10 points)
- Two-part question: In general, what is the difference between the topic of a book and the argument of a book? Can you give an example of a topic and an argument not relating to the book? (10 points)
- Two-part question: After reading a third of the book, which primary sources is the author using to create his/her argument? List at least three primary sources. How is the author using these primary sources to build his/her argument? (You can find some
- primary source names by looking at the Works Cited or Bibliography–typically at the back of the book). (15 points)
- Do some research online about the author of the book (some of this information can be found in the book too). What are his/her qualifications? What gives the author expertise on the topic? (10 points)
- Do some research online and find another book that deals with the same topic as your chosen book. List the book’s name and author here. Can you tell the difference between your chosen book and the book you found? (10 points)
- Two-part question: In what time period is the topic of your book? Can you list a couple of events that you know were happening at the same time period as the topic in your book? Do you think these events had an influence on the book’s story? (15 points)
- From what you can tell, why do you think the author selected this topic? Why is it important to write a book on this specific subject? (10 points)
- Two-part question: Without reading the ending/conclusion of the book, what do you think is going to happen (this can be taken differently depending on which book you chose)? Are there any indications as to what will happen? Do you think the author will prove his/her point? (10 points)