English 10HP Due Date: ________

Surrago

Exploring the Mind in Language

Independent Reading Project

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
Second Nature by Michael Pollan
Ishmael & My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
(Note: These two must be read together; they
are deliciously fast reads)
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris
Why Us? by James Le Fanu
Human by Michael Gazzaniga
Wider than the Sky by Gerald M. Edelman
Mirroring People by Marco Iacoboni
The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte-Taylor
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by
Oliver Sacks
An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright
Emotions Revealed by Paul Ekman
The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley
Love at Goon Park by Deborah Blum
Creativity by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
Flow by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert
Sapolsky
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by
Edward O. Wilson
Becoming Human by Ian Tattersall
Why We Do What We Do by Edward L. Deci

You are welcome to suggest other titles: just make sure you run them by me.

Your Task:
To write a review, analysis, and critique of one of these books, from the perspective of a
journalist who works in the field of psychology, philosophy, or human behavior.

Your Understanding
What is the author’s overall theory of human behavior / mind? You’ll need evidence to
support this thesis.
What contribution does this book offer towards a theory of human behavior / mind?
What claim of this author is controversial?
Why does he/she make this claim? aka Why is it worth making?
Summarize the counter-claims or counterarguments that the author mentions.
Explain how the author attacks or adapts these counterarguments.

Your Response
Look at the counterarguments: Does he/she leave anything out? Are there other avenues
of criticism that this author is vulnerable to? Describe at least one.
If you support this author’s position, defend or adapt his position against the criticism
you devise. If you don’t support the author, follow through and deconstruct his/her
claim. Your response can be a mixture of support and criticism.