Guidelines: Form: A précis is a summary and critical evaluation of a piece of scholarly work. It will typically take the following form:
1. Full bibliographic citation in Chicago of Style Manual format of the book. This should be the title of your assignment. Author, Title (City of Publisher: Publisher, Year of Publication; reprint, City of Reprint Publisher: Reprint Publisher, Year of reprint Publication). SAMPLE HEADING: Gordon Shumway Edward Countryman, A People In Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society in New York, 1760-1790 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981; reprint, New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1989).
2. First part: an objective summary or abstract of the publication. This paragraph should present the information as objectively as possible. You’ll have a chance to critique the argument in the second part of your précis. You should not use the abstract published for the book.
The first paragraph should contain the following information:
1. The overall argument that the author is making, including the author’s thesis, the logical thread of the argument, the kinds of support provided, and so forth. If the author invents or uses special terms to argue the case, mention and define them.
2. The context for the argument. What critics or points of view is the author attempting to refute? Where does the author’s argument fit into the larger critical discussion of the issue? Is the author attempting to overturn certain assumptions about the work, and, if so, what are those assumptions?
3. Second part: a critical analysis of the publication. In this paragraph, you’ll assess the strengths and weaknesses of the article and discuss the implications of its reasoning for future study of the work.
These questions may help you get started:
1. What parts of the article were especially strong or insightful, and why?
2. In what parts of the essay (if any) did the author make claims that were not supported by the evidence? Were there any flaws in the logic of the piece?
3. In what ways is this book useful for understanding the historical topic covered? How significant is it? How does it relate to American society today?