History 1302
Dr. Hancock
Students will choose a book from the following list and write a review essay, 5+ pages. 12 pt.
font, 1” margins, Times New Roman, Double Spaced. Students will be marked off for not
adhering to these guidelines. 90 points. Keep it in third person. Do not use contractions, as this is
formal writing. Students must use at least 2 outside sources (at least one secondary source) and
include them and the chosen book in a Works Cited page. Cite sources within essay- use
whichever format you personally know, for most of you, that will be MLA, but in History, we
use Chicago/Turabian Style.
MAKE SURE TO CHOOSE AND ORDER A BOOK WITHIN THE FIRST COUPLE OF
WEEKS OF CLASS. IF YOU DO NOT GET A BOOK ORDERED PROMPTLY, YOU WILL
HAVE TO WRITE ON SOMETHING THAT IS OFFERED ONLINE, LIKE POETRY.
STUDENTS MUST SUBMIT THE ESSAY ONLINE THROUGH CANVAS. WHEN
SUBMITTED, YOUR PAPER WILL GO THROUGH “TURN IT IN,” A PLAGIARISM
CHECKER- TURNITIN DOES NOT RECOGNIZE GOOGLE DOCS, SO PLEASE
REFORMAT YOUR PAPER INTO AN UPLOADABLE DOCUMENT, PREFERABLY .DOC,
.DOCX, .PDF
1. Introduction- Name author and text. Need a thesis. (A thesis is an opinion based on
evidence- an argument). If your book has an introduction, make sure to read it because it
is full of analyses and will give you ideas (One paragraph- 4 sentences min)
2. Biography of Author- birth to death (3/4th page)
3. Historical Background- What is going on at the time this book was written? Keep the
material relevant to the topic addressed in the book, when applicable.) (one half a page)
4. Summary of book/essays/poems (1 pg)
5. Analysis of work’s social/cultural/political influence. This can be open ended, but I
recommend you read book reviews and analyses online. These are located on your access
to the library databases. For example: What contentious issues does it/does it not address?
Why do you think the author wrote this book? What message is the author trying to
convey? How does the work challenge or reinforce Social Stigmas, Gender/Race/Class
Relations?). THIS IS A CRITICAL SECTION. MAKE SURE YOU THINK ABOUT IT
THOUGHTFULLY (1 pg)
6. How does this piece relate to what students have or have not learned in class or from
textbook? (one paragraph- 4 sentences min, be specific!)
7. What are your opinions about the work? (Do not use first person)- Write a review (one
paragraph- 4 sentences min)
8. Conclusion- should restate your thesis. (one paragraph- 4 sentences min)
9. Works Cited on Separate page- does not count toward 5 pages
If you come the instructor within one week before the due date and share your thesis, I will
offer comments and add 2 points to your final paper.
Many of these works are classic pieces of literature and have SparkNotes/ Wikipedia entries
etc… Students who use these will be marked down 20 points. DO NOT USE THEM. DO NOT
PLAGIARIZE (copying someone’s work as your own). Plagiarism will result in a Zero on the
assignment and a report to the Dean. Papers will also be scanned for AI-generated content. AI-
generated papers will be penalized similarly to plagiarized papers.
If you choose a collection of poems, documents, or essays, you must write on 3, unless the
essays are over 20 pages each, then you only need to write on 2. If you choose poetry- 3 poems
by the same author.
Review Essay Book List
Books:
1. Appy, Christian G. Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides
2. Adelson, Alan, ed. The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak: Five Notebooks from the Lodz
Ghetto
3. Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son
4. Cleaver, Eldridge. Soul on Ice
5. Crane, Stephen, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
6. Davis, Angela. Women, Race, and Class
7. Dixon, Thomas. The Clansmen
8. Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie
9. Du Bois, The Quest of the Silver Fleece
10. Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk
11. Ellison, Ralph. The Invisible Man
12. Firestone, Shulasmith. The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution
13. Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique
14. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wall-Paper
15. Griffin, Jon Howard Black Like Me
16. Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcom X
17. Henson, Maria Rosa. Comfort Woman: A Filipina’s Story of Prostitution and Slavery
Under the Japanese Military
18. Hoffman, Abbie. Steal this Book
19. Anything by Rayford Logan
20. Any collection of Langston Hughes’ poetry (3 poems)
21. Any collection of Countee Cullen, Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, or Emily Dickinson’s
(post-1865) poetry (3 poems)
22. Hughes, Langston, The Big Sea
23. Jackson, George, Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson
24. Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
25. Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
26. Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi
27. Nicholson, Linda, ed. The Second Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory
28. Ninh, Bao. The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam
29. Patterson, Haywood. Scottsboro Boy
30. Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives
31. Sinclair, Upton, The Jungle
32. Sledge, E.B. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
33. Smith, Lillian. Strange Fruit
34. Thurman, Wallace. The Blacker the Berry
35. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five
36. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire
37. Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery
38. Washington-William, Essie Mae and Stadiem, William. Dear Senator: A Memoir by the
Daughter of Strom Thurmond
39. Wells, Ida B. Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells
40. Wells, Ida B. A Red Record
41. Wells, Ida B. Southern Horrors and Other Writings
42. Woodson, Carter. The Miseducation of the Negro
43. Anything by Richard Wright:
– Native Son
– Black Boy
– The Outsider
– Eight Men
– Uncle Tom’s Children
If there is another book not on this list that intrigues you, please see me and give me a summary
and tell me why you want to use that book. Depending on the context, I may approve another
selection. The book must be written between 1865 and 1988, relative to US History, and be a
