Book report ! please read before accepting
NAME OF THE BOOK:Earth by Bill McKibben,
The report must have the following format:
- – 1 inch margins all around
- – Times New Roman font
- – 12 point font
- – double-spaced
- – left and right justification
- – be at least 5 pages in length.
- The report is not a summary. It is an opportunity for students to react to what they have read
and how it ties in with what they have learned in class. It is a reaction and synthesis paper,
so it is fine to use the first person. - There is to be absolutely no quotation from the book or any other source. If there is anything in particular that students wish to bring to my attention, they can do so by referring me to the page(s) in question, e.g., “Lines 34-37 on page 67 made me think of …”
- Reports will be analysed for plagiarism using software available to faculty. If there is any plagiarism at all, the course grade will be an automatic F.
Detailed guide:
1. Do not write a book summary. What is required is your reaction to the book.
2. Stay on topic – the environment.
3. Do not use contractions (I’m, you’ve, we’ve). Spell them out.
4. Be careful with your usage of commas, semicolons and above all, apostrophes.
5. Do not say “I feel.” Use better terms of expression such as “I think” or “I believe.”
Include the following in your report:
1. Has what you have read made an impact on you?
2. What has it made you think of?
3. Has the book changed the way you look at yourself, your family and your impact on the
environment in general?
4. Has the book changed the way you look at your fossil fuel consumption, your lifestyle and your
contribution to global warming?
5. Has the book changed the way you look at fossil fuel consumption here in the US as well as for
the world at large?
6. Can you draw parallels between your life and things that are presented in the book?
7. What do you think about the future?
8. What do you think about the last chapter of the book (about what Bill McKibben proposes for
the future)? Comment on it in detail.
9. Overall, what do you think of this book?
10. Feel free to react to specific content in the book.
Remember that the report is worth 12.5% of your final grade, more than one letter grade. Do a good job. You need to stop and think about what you have read. Sloppy work will not earn a good grade. Your grade will reflect the effort you put into the assignment.
