Once you have reviewed the data table or catalogue and determined which
text/s you would like to use for your class, use the exercise template
below to add the text/s into the bracketed space. Exmp: [Add in the
chosen texts here]
You can either copy and paste the exercise template below or you can
download the exercise template in RTF (Rich Text Format) for editing in
any Word Processor.
Click Here For the Print Version (Rich Text Format - Generic Format for
any Word Processor)
Click Here For the Print
Version of the Grading Rubric (Rich Text Format - Generic Format for
any Word Processor)
This exercise provides framework for students to think about books as
commodities that reflect culture, marketing, and aesthetics, and offers
strategies for students to evaluate books as artifacts of culture.
As you work through this exercise, please keep the
following in mind:
1. You must comply with all of the rules of the Rare Book Room.
- Please wear gloves (which are provided by the Rare Book
Room) while handling all texts.
- Please handle all texts with care; do not bend book spines
back, bend pages, and so on.
- You may only use pencils while working in the Rare Book
Room; pens are not allowed.
Choose one of the following texts:
[Add in the chosen texts here]
2. The Rare Book Room is open from 9:00 until 5:00, Monday through
Friday, and Tuesday evenings from 5:00 until 9:00.
As you evaluate a book, consider the following:
- What is the size of the book? What does the size suggest
about the potential audience of the book?
- What is the cover made of? Are there illustrations on the
cover? Decorations? If so, are they ornate? Simple? Related to the
content of the book? What does the cover suggest about the intended
market for the book? (Hint: think about the marketing of modern
paperbacks versus hardback books).
- Are the edges of the paper gilded? Colored? Plain? Is the
binding design the same as the book cover? Feel the paper, and look at
the size and style of the print. What do these physical details suggest
about the intended market for the book?
- Is the book illustrated? Are there many illustrations?
What is the purpose or function of the illustrations? What do the
illustrations suggest about the intended market for the book?
- Does the book have a dedication or a preface by the
author? If so, what does this suggest about the author’s intentions for
the book?
- Does the book have a table of contents? If so, what does
this suggest about the author’s approach to his/her subject? The
author’s strategy in terms of the reader?
- Does the book include information about the publisher’s
catalogue (with the titles and/or prices of other books that the
publisher sells)? If so, what does this suggest about the publisher,
their market share, and their marketing strategies?
Based on your responses to these questions, you should be able
to write a brief (one to two page) essay in which you develop a thesis
about the book and the literary marketplace.
Please keep the following in mind:
- State your thesis at the beginning of your essay. Your
thesis may focus on the style, content, or marketing of the book—or
anything else that you find compelling about it. Remember that a thesis
is a position statement, and that you need to stake a position about
this book in your essay.
- The more specific evidence you use in your essay to prove
your point, the better.
- Your essay should not be a list of
responses to the questions 1 through 7 above. The questions are
intended to give you some strategies to begin your analysis; they do
not provide the structure (or the thesis) for your essay, nor are they
intended to limit your analysis.
- Each paragraph of your essay should support your thesis
statement. Please make sure that there are transitions between
paragraphs so that each paragraph leads to the next, and make sure that
each paragraph builds upon its predecessor.
- Every book reflects a cultural moment. Your job is to make
sense of it.
- This assignment does not require external
research—although you may choose to pursue research if you wish. This
assignment does require careful viewing, thinking, and writing.