HIST-H 105, section 20233 ● American History I ● book review of

HIST-H 105, section 20233 ● American History I ● book review of The Federalist ● March 28, 2024 ● Page 4 of 4

date due: April 3 Dr. Thomas A. Mason

assignment

Write a book review of The Federalist of 750–1,000 words (3–4 typewritten pages).

Since you will be turning in this assignment online, it should be in Microsoft Word for Windows (.doc or .docx) or in a portable document file (.pdf), double-spaced, in 12-point type, with a one-inch margin on all sides.

learning outcomes: The essential purpose of writing a book review is to enable the reviewer to summarize, evaluate, and communicate to the reader of the review the book that the reviewer has read.

please note:

Please turn in the book review electronically through Canvas > Modules > Book Review of The Federalist. On the due date, we will have a class discussion of the book.

You are welcome to turn in book reviews (or any assignment) early, before the due date.

If you have an ongoing condition that may prevent you from completing assignments on time, please talk to me about it.

A late assignment will receive a grade of zero (0) as a place marker on Canvas until I have received and graded it.

At Canvas > Modules > Book Review of The Federalist I publish the rubric that I will use in grading the review.

At 2:00 PM on April 3, we will have an online class discussion of the book. See the syllabus for instructions on how to access that Zoom conference.

structure: At the head of the review, give the review your own original title, and your name, followed by the bibliographical information on the book as follows (note that a book title needs to be in italic font):

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist. Edited with Historical and Literary Annotations, and Introduction, by J. R. Pole. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2005.

accuracy of the bibliographical description

There are a lot of editions available—some are better than others.

I chose J. R. Pole’s edition because of its excellence—and Pole’s introduction will help you to understand the book’s context and background.

Since Indiana University includes the eText of this book in (adds on to) the tuition for this course (at considerable savings to students), you should not be reading a different edition.

If you want a print copy, you can buy (or get from a library) the assigned edition. In that case, check the ISBN (International Standard Book Number): 9780872207110, to assure that you get the assigned edition.

Absolutely do not choose a century-old public-domain reprint edition, of which there are a lot available, many of which have no introduction.

content

Brevity and conciseness are harder to achieve than verbosity and vagueness.

Do not just turn in a first draft.

Proofread your writing.

Do not just rely on spell check, which will not alert you when you are using a real word that is the wrong word in the context.

Grammar, syntax, style, and accuracy are important and integral parts of content and will count heavily in or against your favor in the determination of your grade on this review.

Write in complete sentences. A complete sentence has a subject and a verb.

In historical writing, use one verb tense—past—consistently. Do not jump around between past and present tenses.

I suggest that you consult the OWL: Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

For excellent general guidelines on how to write a book review, see Writing Book Reviews, from Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University–Bloomington.

You should not only summarize the contents of the book, but also critically evaluate the book.

A review of any book (or any historical document) should address / answer the following questions:

What was the authors’ (Hamilton’s, Madison’s, and Jay’s) purpose in writing the book? To put it another way: Where are the authors coming from? Where are they going with this book?

How well did the authors achieve that purpose?

What are the book’s strengths and weaknesses?

What audience did the authors intend to reach with the book?

To what extent did the authors set standards for accuracy in writing history? Please do not refer to this book as a “novel.” A novel is fiction; this is supposed to be nonfiction. You may if you wish address the issue of the extent to which the authors spin their message, stack the deck, or blur the distinction between fiction and nonfiction.

spin control (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. [Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2003], hereafter 1984): “the act or practice of attempting to manipulate the way an event is interpreted by others” (MWCD)

stack (14th century), in this sense: “to arrange or fix so as to make a particular result likely” (MWCD)

fiction (14th century): “something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically; an invented story” (MWCD)

nonfiction (1909): “literature or cinema that is not fictional” (MWCD)

To what extent are the authors’ expectations and standards of accuracy similar to or different from our own? (In this case, you can compare and contrast Hamilton, Madison, and Jay with Equiano.)

To what extent have our expectations and standards of accuracy changed since the authors’ time? (In this case, you can compare and contrast Hamilton, Madison, and Jay with Equiano.)

How did the authors deal with the challenges and dilemmas that they encountered?

the backstory on the book

In your essay, briefly describe the political circumstances in which Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote The Federalist Papers.

J. R. Pole’s introduction, pages xiv–xxiv, provides the political background.

“A Brief Chronology,” pages xxv–xli, lists dates and major events relevant to The Federalist.

“Themes,” pages xlii-xlvii, identifies the author and gives a brief thumbnail description of the major theme of each of the 85 Federalist essays.

I provide additional background in Lecture / Video 13 Confederation and Federation, and Lecture / Video 15 The World of Publius: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay originally wrote The Federalist as a series of newspaper articles, which was soon published in book form, in 1788.

They intended to influence public opinion and the New York Ratifying Convention in favor of the new Constitution.

academic integrity

We all know that there are reviews and summaries of books, in the library, on the Web, and elsewhere. I want to know your ideas about the book, not somebody else’s.

When you use someone else’s ideas, they must be acknowledged in a footnote (see hypothetical example below).1

When you use someone else’s words, those words must be enclosed within quotation marks and acknowledged in a footnote.

If from a website, it is insufficient just to cite the “Web”; rather, you should cite the full URL (uniform resource locator) and the date that you accessed it: “accessed mm/dd/yyyy.”

When you are quoting from the book you are reviewing, you may simply enclose the quote within quotation marks and cite the page number in parentheses, immediately after the quotation. Example: (p. 202).

Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit constitutes plagiarism, which is a form of stealing, passing off another’s work as your own, cheating, and an offense under the university-wide Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct at Indiana University.

You will turn in this assignment through the Assignment Inbox on Canvas, which will automatically check your assignment for originality through Turnitin, which will create an originality report that will be accessible to you and me.

The assignment inbox requires you to agree with the statement, when turning in a book review, that “This assignment submission is my own, original work.”

I assume that all students know about ChatGPT. Assignments generated by ChatGPT tend to be smooth but vague and provide no evidence that the student actually read the book or viewed the relevant lectures.

When plagiarism is detected in this class, the student will receive an automatic F (zero points) on the assignment.

To put it in positive terms, learning how to write using your own words is an essential part of a university-level education.

You can get a good grade on this assignment simply by reading the book and reviewing it. This is a book review, not a research paper. But if you consult outside sources, you must cite them, and any sequence of two or more words from any source must appear within quotation marks.

If you have any questions about this or any other subjects, please ask!

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1. John H. Smith, A History of the Ancient World, 4th ed. (New York: Jones Publishing Company, 2004), p. 202.