Due Date:
Tuesday, Feb. 13, in class for Oil and Water (penalty for lateness: 5% per day)
Tuesday, April 10, in class for Wilfred Cantwell Smith: A Reader (penalty for lateness: 5% per day)
You should spend no more than the first two pages of your report summarizing the contents of the book. In this section, you could discuss what the authors talk about, and what they do not discuss. As an example, what elements in the book are treated with priority and privilege? What is required in this section is more than just a simple synopsis of the book. Instead, you should give an accurate and balanced description of the book’s relevant content.
The next section of the report should consist of your critical reflections on the book. What are its strengths? What are its weaknesses? Again, as an example, you might discuss the language that the authors use, and what this has to say about inclusivity, or their understanding of the role(s) of women, children and men. Remember that this review should be a contribution to scholarly discussion and, therefore, be free of purely personal polemic. In this section, you may also wish to examine the theoretical framework used by the respective authors, and how that framework leads to the work that they have written.
Finally, you should have a conclusion in which you discuss the impact of the book for the academic study of Islam in particular, and religion in general. This conclusion could take any number of directions. For example, you might wish to discuss what the authors presume about the nature and function of religion.
You may wish to consult this guide to critical reviews.
A percentage of the grade for the report will be based on style and presentation, taking into account such factors as language, usage, grammar, spelling, etc. Please consult the grading standards outline before you begin your report. If you need help with your writing skills, please contact the Learning Resource Center at (310) 338-2847. Any paper that is plagiarised will, at minimum, receive a grade of zero.