Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. New American Nation Series. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. Book Review.

Only source is the book “Americas Unfinished Revolution” by Eric Foner.

Book Review: This paper/presentation is a critical assignment. This paper will be a review of a book read by you and presented in class. The final paper will total 1500 words in length (exclusive of quotes, title page, and bibliography). Papers exceeding this amount will only be assessed to this length requirement.

The paper will-

• identify the author’s thesis (What is the author arguing about their chosen topic? What is the purpose of this book in total?))
• be well organized and well written (Structure, spelling, and grammar matter. Clear topic sentences, logical order of ideas, and connections between assertions and your paper’s thesis required.

The submission draft will include:

1. A clear and concise thesis statement.
   1. The thesis will analyze whether the author’s thesis for accurate/supportable. What is the argument of this book and does the author prove this point?
2. Clear organization
   1. Body paragraphs should be clearly separated, coherently connected (clean transitions), and work together to support the thesis statement (using sub-headers as needed) with topic sentences that speak to specific points. There should be a clear connection (progression of ideas/events) between sentences and ideas.
   2. The following structure should be used:
      1. Introduction paragraph with thesis (less than 500 words)
      2. Brief summary of the book including the author’s thesis. This is no more than 25% of the paper.
      3. Brief contextualization of the book as a tool for learning about the period, event, people, etc. Consider the question: How does this book fit into our studies this semester? This is no more than 10% of the paper.
      4. Evaluate whether the author is correct in their thesis and explain why. This will require you to connect to outside research and other class materials like assigned readings and class discussions. You can accept, reject, or hold reservations about the accuracy of the book, but be prepared to offer evidence to support yourself. This should be 35-40% of the paper.
      5. Conclusion (less than 500 words)
3. Sufficient development and support
   1. Well-researched, accurate, detailed, and current information (seek out recent scholarship when possible).
   2. A minimum of two citations per page. See rubric for citation requirements.
4. Academic tone/grammar/formatting
   1. Consider your audience-define terms and tailor your language appropriately (no personal pronouns, opinions, or life experiences)
   2. Cite using direct quotations and paraphrasing; practice appropriate formatting for footnotes and bibliography. No plagiarism!