The Summary

1. The summary consists of a discussion of the major features, trends, themes, ideas, and characteristics.

2. Use your own words. Combine ideas from the book into new sentences of your own. Avoid copying the original language, and put quotes around any that you do borrow. Summarizing is a good way to learn, to assimilate material, but the process doesn't work very well unless you translate the original into your own language.

3. Generally, it is best when summarizing to follow the organization of the original.

4. Your aim should be to give a true but condensed picture of the book, including the way it is organized.

The Critique

1. A critique consists of your thoughts, responses, and reactions to what you have read.

2. The following questions are examples of the kind you should consider as you read your book and prepare the critique.
* What is your overall opinion of the book, and why?
* How effectively and in what ways does the theme of the book or
argument of the author reflect what you already know?
* How well has the author achieved his/her aims? Are these aims
supported or justified?
* Does the author seem fair and accurate? Is there any distortion,
exaggeration, or diminishing of material? Is the overall
interpretation biased, subjective, slanted, objective? does the
author try to look at both sides of the issue?
* Is the book interesting or boring, and why? Does the material
presented raise your curiosity about the subject, and why?
* Is there enough information in the book? Is the subject treated
thoroughly or summarily?
* Did you feel satisfied, disappointed, or puzzled by the book, and
why?
* How well is the book written? (Should you use quotes as
examples, keep them very short -- preferably no more than one
sentence.)
* Is there anything distinctive or noteworthy about the book?
(Give examples where useful.)