You’ll write a review (about 4-5 pages of double-spaced text [approximately 1000-1250 words]) of one major book of either Lewis or Tolkien. If you want to write on a Lewis book, choose any one of the following: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, “Book Two” (the second half of the book) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, “Book Three” (the first half of the book) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, “Book Four” (the second half of the book) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, “Book One” (the first half of the book) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “Book Five” (the first half of the book) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “Book Six” (the second half of the book) Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham you’ll need to consult two scholarly sources (books or journal articles written by experts in the field) about the book you’re going to review. These two sources will give you insights into the book. begin by contextualizing the book – tell us when it was written and how it relates to the author’s other writings (your Duriez textbook can probably help you with this). Next – and this should be about one half to two thirds of the length of your entire review – you should provide a careful and accurate summary/discussion of the book’s contents. If it’s non-fiction (eg some of Lewis’ books on Christianity), tell us its main argument(s) and how, specifically, the author tries to support that (those) argument(s). If it’s a fictional work (all of Tolkien’s works listed above and many of Lewis’ books listed above), outline its key characters, themes, and the story/plot line in such a way that the reader gets a good grasp of what the book is about. Now you’re ready for the analysis part. If your book is one of Lewis’ non-fiction pieces, point out its strengths and weaknesses, as you see them, and tell us whether or not you find the line of argument convincing. If the book is fiction, tell us whether you liked it or not and why. Here, too, you should give us your opinion of the book’s strengths and weaknesses. Was the book easy to follow? Did it hold your attention? Did it make you think about real-life issues in any way? Finally, in this analytical section you must bring in a bit of material from your two scholarly sources; and when you do, try to assess what the two scholars say about your book – does it make sense, is it valid, thought-provoking, or fair? Your review must be properly documented with Chicago-style footnotes or endnotes (see below for where to find examples of these). The summary/description of your book’s content doesn’t need footnotes or endnotes, but any quotes you use must have them. That said, employ quotes sparingly – very sparingly. They should only appear if they say something in a particularly poignant or interesting way. Avoid like the plague the high-school practice of cutting and pasting: slapping a ton of quotes down on a piece of paper and joining them with a few of your own sentences or phrases. That isn’t writing; it’s modified copying – and, in some cases, plagiarism. I want this paper to be your paper — written in your words. Besides having footnote or endnote citations for any quotations you may have, you’ll need them to give credit for any ideas or interpretations you borrow from your two scholarly sources. In fact, I want to see at least a few footnotes or endnotes from those sources to show that you definitely incorporated insights from them into your analysis. To compile your footnotes or endnotes, you must follow the examples in the “Chicago-Style Citations for Assignments” instruction sheet, which can be found at this site:
