The data table link provides suggestions of texts in the Rare Book Room that have been approved for use for material culture exercises, with call numbers and some notes for the pedagogical uses of these works. The catalogue link provides a summary of the data table, and the gallery link provides all the images of the suggested texts on a single page. Other texts are available; please consult with the librarian.
Once you have determined which text/s you would like to use for your class, you can either copy and paste the exercise template below, or you can download the exercise template.
Click Here For the Print Version
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?
- Does the book have advertisements? If so, what kinds of products are being
advertised? How are they advertised (with graphics; prices)? What
do the advertisements suggest about the intended audience?)
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 8 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.