You have two options on what to write this 6-7 page paper on.

Option 1: Book Review 

For this option, you will need to select a book about some aspect of gender and communication (see below for instructions on choosing your book). You should obtain the book (purchase, check out from the library, etc.) thoroughly read the book and then write a scholarly, 6-7 page, typed (12-point Times New Roman or Helvetica font, double-spaced with margins of no more than 1 inch) critique of it.


A scholarly book review is much more than a “book report.” While you should certainly summarize the bookʼs content, you need to go further and analyze that content as well. Start by describing the authorʼs goal for writing the book and the bookʼs major arguments. Then discuss how the author supports those arguments: what kind of evidence is used? How detailed is the authorʼs support? After you have analyzed the arguments and evidence, you should then discuss your own opinions about the book. Did the author do a good job of supporting the arguments? Do you agree with what the author has set out to do with this book? Does the author achieve her/his goal? Was the book well-written and easy to understand?

This essay will be graded on the following criteria:

    Does the review go beyond simply summarizing the bookʼs content?
    Does it carefully and thoughtfully analyze the authorʼs arguments and evidence?
    Does the essay analyze the efficacy of the authorʼs arguments and evidence?
    Does the essay express an opinion about how the author met his/her goal?
    Does the essay reflect that you carefully read the entire book?
    Is the essay well-written, with minimal grammatical errors?

Sample academic book reviews will be posted here. However, remember that in many cases these reviews are much shorter than what is expected of you and should only give you an idea of how to begin approaching this assignment.


Selecting Your Book

You have a couple of choices for selecting your book. You may select a book from the list in this document. If you do not see anything on that list that looks interesting to you, you may select a book on your own provided it meets the following criteria:

The book must be about a gender and communication related topic.

The book must be scholarly in nature (written by someone with a Ph.D. or who is considered an expert on the subject being discussed or published by a University Press).

***I must approve the book***

Suggested Books

Levy, Ariel. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Free Press: 2003.

Richards, Amy. Opting In: Having a Child Without Losing Yourself. Farrar, Straus, and Grioux: 2008.

Douglas, Susan and Meredith Michaels. The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How it has Undermined All Women. Free Press: 2005.

Douglas, Susan J. Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. Three Rivers Press: 1995.

Durham, M. Gigi. The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It. Overlook: 2008.

Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Womanʼs Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Seal Press: 2007.

Baumgardner, Jennifer and Amy Richards. Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: 2000.

hooks, bell. Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. South End Press: 2000.

Orenstein, Peggy. Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. Harper: 2011.

Palmer, Gabrielle. The Politics of Breastfeeding: When Breasts are Bad for Business. 3 ed. Pinter & Martin, Ltd.: 2009.

Bordo, Susan. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. U of California Press: 2004.

Kimmel, Michael. Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. Harper: 2008.

Staal, Stephanie. Reading Women: How the Great Works of Feminism Changed My Life. PublicAffairs: 2011.

Valenti, Jessica. The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. Seal Press: 2009.

hooks, bell. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. South End Press: 1999.

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickeled and Dimed. Metropolitan Books: 2001.

Another source of books that would almost certainly be approved is this 2011 list from Ms. Magazine (Links to an external site.)

****Option 2: Research Paper (Preparation: 20 points, Essay: 130 points)****

For this option, you will produce a 6-7 page original research paper on a gender and communication topic of your choice. You should begin by thinking of a question about gender and communication to which youʼd like an answer or an issue concerning gender and communication that youʼd like to know more about (examples: how does gender impact how people use communication to negotiate friends with benefits relationships? Or maybe youʼre interested in how women are represented in film). From there, determine a specific topic that you can sufficiently discuss in 6-7 pages (youʼd probably be able to handle the friends with benefits topic, but the film one would have to be narrowed down, perhaps to a specific genre of film or particular era of film history).

Once youʼve determined your topic, you will need to conduct some research. You will need at least 6 scholarly sources (journal articles, books, dissertations, etc) to support your argument and research. Your 6 sources should not include non-scholarly online sources, though you may include such sources if you need them for background information, etc. You may use your textbook, but you must have 6 scholarly sources in addition to it. Wikipedia MAY NOT be used as a source at all.

In order to ensure that youʼre keeping up with the work for the research paper, you must tell me how you are preparing. Give me a paragraph describing your topic and how you plan to go about doing your research, due before you start the paper. Next you must provide a working bibliography (a properly formatted bibliographical list of your 6 selected sources with annotations to describe why each source is important to your project) also due before you write the paper.

The research paper needs to be 6-7 pages, typed, double spaced, in a 12-point Times New Roman or Helvetica font with margins no larger than one inch. As this is a research paper, you will need to have your paper in correct APA or MLA format. All outside sources must be cited in the paper and included in your bibliography.