Dr. Brunelle's Hints for Writing and Book Reviews 

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Writing Hints (Proofread especially for these errors as well as for spelling and grammar!)

In theory, most of you have studied basic English grammar and style before you came to Cal. State Fullerton. Below are a few reminders. If you are worried about your English or your writing ability, remember that the University Learning Center (Lower Level of McCarthy hall, Room 33) can help you. They have drop-in hours, Monday through Thursday, 8:30-7:00, and Fridays 8:30-noon. Also, try reading Strunk and White, The Elements of Style.

1. All sentences must have a subject and a predicate, which usually means a noun and a verb. Sentences which lack one of these elements are incomplete, and called Asentence fragments.@

2. Independent and dependent clauses containing a subject and a predicate should not be attached in the same sentence unless they are linked by words such as Aand,@ Aor,@ Abecause,@ Abut,@ Atherefore,@ Aalthough,@ Athus,@ or Atherefore.@ Long sentences containing many clauses run together are called run on sentences and should be broken up.

3. All paragraphs must contain a topic sentence. Every sentence in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence. Sentences which do not relate to the topic sentence belong in separate paragraphs. As a rule, one or two sentences are not enough for a complete paragraph. Conversely, paragraphs that run the length of a page or more are probably too long and ought to be broken up.

4. Your papers should be typed, double spaced and contain 1" margins on all sides.

5. Indent five spaces at the beginning of each paragraph. Do not put more space between paragraphs than you have between lines. That purpose (to tell you that a new paragraph is beginning) is served by the indentation.

6. Make sure your verb tenses are consistent. Do not change from simple past to present or conditional (would, would have done) or future from line to line.

7. Avoid writing in the passive (or indirect). A good indicator of whether or not you are using the passive is when you have the word Aby@ in your sentence (as in Athe book was written by the author@). Almost all of the time, thoughts can be better expressed using active phrasing (Athe author wrote the book@).

8. Vary your sentence structure from time to time. Begin sentences with dependent clauses on occasion (ABecause the author needed to earn a large royalty in order to pay the rent, he wrote the book quickly@ instead of AThe author needed to earn a large royalty. He needed to pay the rent. So he wrote the book@).

9. Make sure that the objects of your pronouns are crystal clear. When in doubt, restate the original noun or reorganize the sentence. Example: AThe vicious monsters struggled with the soldiers. They used their armor to win the battle.@ To whom does Athey@ in the second sentence refer?

     Proofread!  Proofread!  Proofread!

Book Review Hints

1.      On the first page of your review, at the top of the page, you should list the books and appropriate bibliographic information following the model below:

A.     J. R. Russell-Wood, The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A world on the move. (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992).

2.      If you are reviewing two books, list one above the other following the format above.

3.      The first time you introduce each book in the body of your text, you should also give a shortened bibliographic form, i. e., A. J. R. Russell-Wood, The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808, (1992). After that, you may use a more abbreviated format, i. e., Russell-Wood, or a short title, i. e.. The Portuguese Empire, when discussing the book.

4.      Avoid intellectually sloppy statements and/or jargon, such as, Athe book was a good read.@

5.      As a rule, each comparative book review paper should commence with an introductory section where you discuss the books in general, drawing the mains lines of comparison and contrast. In the body of the paper you should discuss each book in detail individually, drawing out and providing for the general statements you made in the introduction. Then, in the conclusion of the paper, you should analyze and compare critically the books, drawing where appropriate some kind of judgement as to the quality of each book. You may want to, but do not have to, use subheadings to delineate each section of the paper, and insure that your paper contains all of the required parts.

6.      Somewhere in your papers you must state the interpretation, thesis, or main argument of each book. This element will exist in every book you read, although in some works, particularly narrative histories, it may be implied rather than explicit. From what perspective does each author approach their material? Does the argument seem to make sense to you in light of the evidence offered, or is it logically inconsistent or unsupported by the evidence? You must address this issue. Do not hand in a mere book report, where you tell me what the book is Aabout.@

7.      You should also address the issue of evidence in your papers, best accomplished by analyzing the notes and/or bibliography (hence why I insist that the books you review must have these elements). Every author got their material upon which they base their interpretation from somewhere. Is the book analytical, and based on original research with primary sources? Does this research seem complete, or adequate to you? Are there glaring omissions, for example a book on women in the Third Reich which does not mention or show signs of research about women in the munitions factories? Is the book synthetic, meaning that the author has consulted almost exclusively secondary sources, and attempted to synthesize this material into a coherent interpretation of the subject in question? Again, does the research seem complete, sufficient to support the interpretation offered?

8.      Do not tell me “In the book The History of the Renaissance . . . the author Tom Smith he says.”  First, we know it’s a book because the title is underlined or italicized.  Just say “In The History of the Renaissance.”  Second, say, Tom Smith argues, writes, etc., not only because we don’t ever say “John Smith he” but also because authors generally don’t “say” in a book.  They argue, examine, study, write, dispute, etc.  Finally, whenever possible, don’t talk about “the author.” Say, “Smith” or “Jones.”  If you find that you have too many sentences starting with “Smith” then you probably are using too many short, declarative sentences.  Instead of saying “Smith argues against the focus on Italy in the Renaissance.  Smith thinks that historians should focus more on Europe north of the Alps.  Smith wants to emphasize more Christian humanism,” say “Because Smith believes that Christian humanism should receive more scholarly emphasis, he argues that historians should shift their focus from Italy to the Alps.”  This is using a dependent clause and a conjunctive adverb (because) to create one sentence that shows the relationship among ideas while also eliminating the problem of a series of sentences starting with “Smith.”

9.      Finally, Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!