Overview: Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen

There are certain criteria that must be fulfilled in order for a nonfiction book to be successful. The two criteria that we should judge all argumentative nonfiction by are well written anecdotes that capture the reader’s attention and well explained factual data that proves the author’s point. The book Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen contains both of these criteria and as such is a successful nonfiction book. Loewen’s purpose in writing Lies My Teacher Told Me is to correct the inaccuracies in textbooks and to help students learn the truth about history. He uses anecdotes that provide insight about history and data that easily proves his point about inaccuracies in textbooks to achieve his goal of helping students gain knowledge.

Anecdotes are essential criteria to successful nonfiction books because they help the reader connect with the author and understand what the author is trying to prove. Furthermore they entertain the reader and keep them engaged in the book. Also they provide key examples and show the reader complex situations in a simple way; therefore, they are a critical component of argumentative nonfiction books.

Well explained data is another essential criterion to successful nonfiction books because they give the credible data that proves the authors claim and helps them understand what the author is trying to persuade them of. The data if well explained helps the reader understand difficult concepts that may be hard for them to grasp and it also helps convince the reader about the author’s claim. Furthermore it establishes a credible ethos for the author as they have hard proof backing their claim.

James W. Loewen was born and grew up in Decatur, Illinois and he graduated from MacArthur High School i...

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...e Homepage of James Loewen: Author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies Across America, and Sundown Towns." The Homepage of James Loewen: Author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies Across America, and Sundown Towns. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. .

Loewen, James W. "John Brown and Abraham Lincoln: The Invisibility of Antiracism in American History Textbooks." Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: New, 1995. 160. Print.

Loewen, James W. "The Truth about the First Thanksgiving." Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: New, 1995. 67. Print.

Loewen, James W. "Watching Big Brother: What Textbooks Teach about the Federal Government." Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: New, 1995. 211-20. Print.