Your paper is a critique of a very interesting book by Micheal O’Siochru, God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland. This assignment is due on May 12 at noon and must be posted on BB.
Before getting into the mechanics of the paper, I want to share with you some suggestions on how to read a book you’re going to critique. First, read the first chapter carefully. This is the section of the book where O’Siochru explains his broad goals for the book. Once you’ve completed the intro and digested some of the key ideas, I urge you to jump straight to the conclusion because that’s where you often find interesting summations that tie up some of the key issues that were analyzed in the book. This is not always the case, but even if it’s not, conclusions tend to have very important information. Once you’ve read the intro and conclusion, read the chapters having already learned what the author is trying to accomplish, which leaves you in a better position to assess how well he has succeeded.
I am a big advocate of taking notes on books as I read them, in the margins if I own the book, or on a separate sheet of paper if I got it from a library. Taking notes as you read instead of simply highlighting will help you synthesize ideas and put them into your own words even before you start to write the paper. If you’re taking notes outside the text, remember to note the page numbers because you will need to include them in your critique. Also, I suggest you read the first couple pages of each chapter, then read the last few pages in the chapter before reading the bulk of the pages. Treat each chapter the way that you treated the book; this will help you manage the large amount of material in the book.
Your paper is a critique of the book, not a summary that simply goes on and on: “first he says this, then he says that….” Instead, you are going to have three main sections to your critique:
Introduction—1/2 to 1 page: Writing a good intro is essential to a good critique. In this section, you should supply the basic historical context of the book. This basically answers the what, when, and where questions. Then you need to identify O’Siochur’s main arguments. You should not limit yourself to a single-sentence thesis like this: “O’Siouchur says that a lot of economic, cultural, and political stuff happened because of Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland.” Instead, you should devote a few sentences to the thesis and identify the specific issues that you’re going to analyze.
Body—3-4 pages: In this section, you are going to explain how he demonstrates his thesis. Identify some of his sources and explain several specific examples he uses. Organize your ideas into paragraphs that address specific topics. Make sure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that identifies the theme for the paragraph. Be certain that you explain how the information supports his arguments.
Personal reaction—1/2 page: I didn’t write the book so feel free to criticize it if you wish. In a few sentences just offer your assessment of the book. Do you think he effectively defended his argument? Did you like it? If so, why? If not, what should he have done? Also, it’s possible that you may not like the book and still think that he did a good job so explain whether or not you think he succeeded.
Your paper should be four to five double-spaced pages in length, written in 12-point font with standard margins. I do not need or want headers on any of the pages. Page numbers at the bottom are all I need. You are going to submit the paper on BB.
You are free to use some quotations from the book but be very careful not to plagiarize. Make sure that direct quotes are in quotation marks. Do not let quotes dominate your paper; a few brief quotes is sufficient. If you use a direct quote, put the page number in parentheses at the end of it. When you refer to the book, please don’t call it a novel. Novels are works of fiction, not history. Also, book titles should be written in italics, not quotation marks.
