Family Farms: Survival and Prospects. A World-Wide Analysis.

Book-
BROOKFIELD, HAROLD and HELEN PARSONS (2007):
Family Farms: SurvivalandProspects. A World-Wide Analysis.

• Each book report should be approximately five double-spaced pages. Reports should use 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, pages numbered, and have 1” margins on all sides. Your name, the title of the book, and the author’s name must be included on each page of your report as a running heading or points will be deducted.

• Cite all quotes and borrowed ideas. Include all the references on a “reference” page in addition to “in-text” citations. Plagiarism is a serious offence and will result in a “F” for the assignment.

• It is a requirement to cite (in-text and in the reference page) any summarized information or direct text from another source.
o Remember to cite all work and borrowed ideas:
 See MLA or APA formatting styles
 Either one is acceptable, as long as you utilize one.
 Styles available on internet (examples are on okstate.edu)

• Remember and include page numbers.

• Please note that, the book reports are your assignment for the course which is for graduate credit. In addition to the requirements stated above, you will be graded on: Grammar (i.e. spelling, correct word use, no use of “slang” terms) and logical progression of thoughts. High standards will apply when grading the book reports.

• Students typically earn low grades when they use the report to summarize the book rather than to analyze and relate it to their own experiences or other sources (journal articles, material from other classes, textbooks, popular media, etc.).
**Please note: It is extremely important to cite any unoriginal work. All reports are submitted to Turn It In.com (a software which checks for plagiarism).

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• No more than a third of the total paper should be a report on the book’s content (summary)—spend most of your time articulating a reaction to and contemplation of the subjects, issues, etc. covered in the published work. More specifically, each book report should summarize your understanding of the following regarding each book:

• The book’s objectives, main points, and its purpose. In other words, in addition to reporting a book summary, give your understanding of what the book accomplishes. For example, book accomplishments may include enhancing knowledge in certain areas or teaching the readers how to plant a garden or to start an NGO). Make sure to demonstrate that you are thinking critically and making connections with the content.

• How the book relates to your own experiences. For example, when I worked at a vegetable farm in California in 1994, I used to notice that the immigrant harvest labors had a very transitory life just like the character X in book Y. This transitory life translated into a lower propensity to save money and decreased the value that they placed on educating their children. The family of character X spent what they made and that created problems for them down the road.

For each book, you should submit one, five-page report. Each report will be worth 50 points.
Reports will be graded on:
• Clear understanding of the book – 10 points
• Logical progression of thought – 10 points
• Critical thinking and analysis – 10 points
• Relation to external sources (life, article, class, etc.) – 10 points
• Technical writing skills (grammar, spelling, proper citations, etc.) – 10 points
Grading System: A=100-90%, B=89-80%, C=79-70%, D=69-60%, F=59% and below.