Students are required to write two critical bookreview papers of their choice from twoofthe following assigned books: Fenno’sThe Challenge ofCongressional Representation . The length of each paper should befive pages(refers topages of text).These papersrequire you to analyze and summarize the key points ofaparticular book. The review should clearly discuss the major thesis of the work and critically assess the theoretical and/or empirical evidence that the authorpresents to support the arguments. I do not want the paper to focus on peripheral information such as commenting on how well the structure of the book was organized, the writing style, whether you conclude the book was boring, whether the tables or charts were easy to read, etc these serve little purpose except to alert me that you have not carefully read the book. The following is a set of items that you must address in each of your papers :4 1. What is the core thesis or argument that the author presents in the book? 2. Summarize the key arguments and findings that are presented in the study. 3. Critically evaluate the book’s key arguments and findings. For example, does the author provide convincing evidence to support his key arguments? If you find the evidence to be convincing, the burden is on you to demonstrate in your essay why the evidence is credible. If you find that the author’s evid ence is weak in supporting his arguments, your essay must pinpoint the shortcomings and make a strong case for why you reach this conclusion. 4. Do you think that the book makes an important contribu tion to the study of American politics? Explain your answer. I do not accept late papers for any reason since students have the power to decide which t wo books will serve as the focal point for their two critical book review papers. (2) All papers must be typed using a 10 – point or 12 – point font size with 1 – inch margins. The text of the paper must be double – spaced. (3) Papers must have a title page that is separate from the pages of actual text. A title page should provide a paper’s title (the title for this paper should indicat the book that you have chosen to review in your paper ) , s tudent’s name, date of paper submission, course number, and the instructor’s name. (4) All information cited in the paper (whether the material is a direct quote or is paraphrased into your own words) from the book that you are analyzing must be properly docu mented by using either footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical notes. Remember, you should not use a large number of direct quotations in your paper. 5 (5) The pages consisting of a paper’s text, bibliography, and endnotes must contain page numbers. Do not put a page number on the title page. (6) Always proofread your paper s . There are no excuses for grammatical errors.