Writing Assignment #7: Gatsby Persuasive Book Review

Details

Date introduced: 3/6–7
Proposal of your review’s focus: 3/20–21
Final draft due: 4/3–4

750–1000 words, or 3 to 4 pages double-spaced
Includes a visual aid
Name, date, and block printed in upper right corner
Academic formatting: double-spaced, 12-point serif font
Carefully proofread
Ready to be read out loud in class

The culminating assignment for our Gatsby & American Dream unit will be a persuasive book-review-style essay. You will be writing your essay for a magazine of your choosing so long as it is a magazine that regularly publishes book reviews.

The Purpose:
The purpose is to engage in an authentic writing assignment where you are writing for a real life audience.

Criteria:

Engage the audience and tailor your writing to your audience.
Present your main point/argument in a clear way.
Integrate relevant quotations to support your claim or argument in a clear way.
Edit your essay for clarity.

Visual Aid:

Design, draw or bring in a visual aid to enhance your argument.
You can design the magazine cover, take a photograph, draw a cartoon, etc.

Schedule:
Present the focus of your review to class: March 20th / 21st
Due Date: After Spring Break, April 3rd / 4th

Tips for Composing:

Envision your audience when you are writing. Get to know the magazine, newspaper, or journal you are writing for.
Refer to the pointers handout.
Meet the benchmarks.
Make an appointment to meet with Mr. Wells or Mary Clair to clarify any questions you may have.

Here is a list of some magazines, newspapers, journals that run regular book reviews: Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, Harper’s, Vogue, The New Yorker, The Believer, The New York Review, The New York Times Book Review, The San Francisco Chronicle Books, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Poetry Magazine. For links to many of the big newspapers’ book reviews check out http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/.

Posted by Justin Wells : 03/12/2008