Book Analysis Guidelines

I promised I would give you parameters for your book analyses later, and today is later.

Your analysis should be concise (less than five pages in manuscript format), thoroughly edited with respect to all items on the writing checklist (explaining in footnotes all stylistic deviations from those rules), and contain:

• Your name, and the date (that of our final examination period, when the piece is due)
• The title, author(s)/editor(s), publisher, and year of publication of the book
• An opening paragraph identifying the central conceptual issues and claims which the book addresses
• A précis of the author’s positions and reasoning about those issues
• A systematic comment on the author’s reasoning, noting what you take to be its most important strengths, as well as any significant weaknesses or oversights

Please edit out any popular review-y tics like how much you enjoyed the book, whether you'd recommend it to your friends, etc.