Descriptive Annotation

Purviance, J. (2008). Weber’s way to grill: the step-by-step guide to expert grilling.

         Palatine: Weber.

         Purviance provides numerous recipes intended for use on a charcoal or gas grill. Foods are classified by type of meat as well as vegetables and deserts.  Cooking techniques, dry rub and marinade recipes, and picking cuts of meats are discussed.  Illustrations, tables, and images are used in conjunction with explanations and recipes. 

Critical/Evaluative Annotation

Gioia, T. (1997). The history of Jazz. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

         Gioia is a scholar, historian, pianist, and composer who is well published having written a wide array of articles as well as publishing several books on the topic of Jazz.  He creates a quintessential examination of Jazz history by breaking down into eras ranging from long before the Jazz era with the confluence of styles that led to creation of Jazz up to modern times.  Included in the book are suggestions for further reading as well as recommendations for audio recordings. This book is written for the jazz aficionado as well as the novice listener that may be interested in learning about the style.  He approaches the book as a survey focusing on important eras, movements, and cultural aspects on Jazz music.  He argues that Jazz in the current state is at a crossroads.  Current musicians are dwarfed by those that preceded them.  Musical styles are co-mingling thus blurring the notion of what Jazz is and posits that it is eternally a work in progress. 

Descriptive Annotation 

Chomsky, Noam, and Anthony Arnove. The Essential Chomsky. New York: New Press,

      2008. Print.

      This book could be likened to a greatest hits of Chomsky over his lengthy career as a scholar.  It focuses on his expertise regarding linguistics, philosophy, and political thought and theory.  The book is presented with chapters on specific topics often drawn from previously written works and would be a useful item for those interested in Chomsky’s views on a number of topics.  Included is a bibliography of other Chomsky works.  

Critical/Evaluative Annotation

Fehrenbach, Heide. Cinema in Democratizing Germany: Reconstructing National Identity

      After Hitler. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. Print.

      Fehrenbach, a scholar and historian, specializes on Modern German history with a focus on film and photography.  She is well published both in academic journals as well as in full length scholarly books.  In this book she discusses the ways in which film was used to in post-World War II West Germany to bring about national and cultural democratization.  She begins with an overview of pre-War cinema concepts in Germany before delving into the post-War era of West Germany through the early 1960s.  Examinations of German made films against those of American made films are done.  Control of what was made was considered in regards to government, German and occupying forces, as well as religious institutions.  Fehrenbach takes the position that cinema is a reflection of national and cultural identity and political persuasions amongst the complexities of gender, class, religious and societal identities.