Textbook Evaluation

“Essential Calculus EarlyTranscendentals Special Edition By James Stewart”,

TEXTBOOK EVALUATION ASSIGNMENT SHEET

A text evaluation is the process of deciding how effectively a text fulfills its purpose and explaining why. By a text, we mean any thing—a book, a movie, music, shoes, pizza, etc. Each of these things can be good or bad, effective or ineffective. Evaluation is the process of deciding how good or bad, effective or ineffective the text is and explaining why.

For this assignment, you will choose a textbook from one of your current college courses—either something in your major, from a class you feel you’re struggling in, or a class you enjoy. Deconstruct the textbook. Some aspects you may focus on are: how is the textbook organized? What kind of tone does the text use? Examine word choice and language, etc. Decide whether or not the textbook is effective for you to learn from as a student. Do not get bogged down on content. The focus of your piece should be tone, format, style, visuals, language, etc.

To begin your project, decide what qualities an ideal textbook should have. Construct a list of criteria. For example, should the tone be formal or informal? Should it be inviting or authoritative? Should it focus on reproducing the rhetoric of the discipline? Etc. These may be the kinds of questions you could ask about the component parts of the textbook. This should be an intuitive conclusion, but you will need to read your chosen textbook cover-to-cover in order to complete this project.

Examine the component parts of the textbook you have according to your criteria for an ideal textbook. Again, decide if the textbook you’ve chosen is effective or ineffective for you to learn from as a student. Support claims with evidence from the text. You may choose to incorporate outside sources (1-2) about textbook construction or design, but it is not required. However, you will need to construct a work cited page to cite your primary text—the textbook you’ve chosen. When citing a textbook, pay attention to whether it has an author or an editor listed and edition number. Use Easy Writer to help you construct appropriate citations—in-text and works cited.

Your Textbook Evaluation must be in standard MLA format. Use 12-point Times New Roman font. Double space your evaluation. Must be 5-7 full pages in length. This page count does not include the work cited page.

Submit your Textbook Evaluation on eCampus. Save and upload your draft in the following format: Your Name (First Last)_Textbook_Evaluation_FFN.

Ex. Jasper_Faux_Textbook_Evaluation_FFN

Book reviews are close to textbook evaluations. Check online for book review models: Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, Theatre Journal, Modern Drama, The New York Times, or any academic journal.