Write a review of Equiano’s book of 750 to 1,000 words
HIST-H 105, sections 27916 and 28482? American History I ? book review of Equiano ? September 15, 2020 ? Page 1 of 3
Review of Equiano, The Interesting Narrative?Dr. Thomas A. Mason
assignment
• Write a review of Equiano’s book of 750 to 1,000 words (3–4 typewritten pages).
• Since you will be turning in this assignment online, it should be in Microsoft Word for Windows (.doc or .docx) or in a portable document file (.pdf), double-spaced, in 12-point type, with a one-inch margin on all sides.
please note:
• Please turn in book reviews electronically through Canvas > Modules > Book Review of Equiano. On the due date, we will have a class discussion of the book.
• You are welcome to turn in book reviews early, before the due date.
• If you have an ongoing condition that may prevent you from completing assignments on time, please talk to me about it.
• A late assignment will receive a grade of zero (0) as a place marker on Canvas until I have received and graded it.
structure: At the head of the review, give the review your own original title, and your name, followed by the bibliographical information on the book as follows:
Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Written by Himself, with Related Documents. Edited with an introduction by Robert J. Allison. 3rd Edition. Bedford Series in History and Culture. Boston: Bedford / St Martins, 2016.
accuracy of the bibliographical description
• There are a several editions available—some are better than others.
• I chose Robert Allison’s edition because of its excellence—and Allison’s introduction will help you to understand the book’s context and background.
• Since Indiana University includes the eText of this book in (adds on to) the tuition for this course (at considerable savings to students), you should not be reading a different edition.
• Absolutely do not choose a century-old public-domain reprint edition, of which some are available, some of which have no introduction.
content
• Brevity and conciseness are harder to achieve than verbosity and vagueness.
• Do not just turn in a first draft.
• Proofread your writing.
• Do not just rely on spell check, which will not alert you when you are using a real word that is the wrong word in the context.
• Write in complete sentences. A complete sentence has a subject and a verb.
• Grammar, syntax, style, and accuracy are important and integral parts of content and will count heavily in or against your favor in the determination of your grade on this essay.
learning outcomes
• The essential purpose of writing a book review is to enable the reviewer to summarize, evaluate, and communicate to the reader of the review the book that the reviewer has read.
• You should not only summarize the contents of the book, but also critically evaluate the book.
• For excellent general guidelines on how to write a book review, see Writing Book Reviews, from Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University–Bloomington.
A review of any book (or any historical document) should ask and answer the following questions:
• What was the author’s (Equiano’s) purpose in writing the book? To put it another way: Where is the author coming from? Where is he going with this book?
• How well did the author achieve that purpose?
• What are the book’s strengths and weaknesses?
• What audience did the author intend to reach with the book?
• To what extent did the author set standards for accuracy in writing history? Please do not refer to this book as a “novel.” A novel is fiction; this is supposed to be nonfiction. You may if you wish address the issue of the extent to which the author blurs the distinction between fiction and nonfiction.
• To what extent are the author’s expectations and standards of accuracy similar to or different from our own?
• To what extent have our expectations and standards of accuracy changed since the author’s time?
• How did the author deal with the challenges and dilemmas that he encountered?
the backstory on the book
• Olaudah Equiano was born in Nigeria in 1745 (some records indicate that he may have been born in South Carolina in 1747), enslaved, and brought to Virginia and later to England.
• By means of careful saving and business practice he was able to purchase his freedom in 1766.
• The Interesting Narrative was first published in 1789 and went through nine editions during his lifetime.
• It was translated into Dutch (Merkwaardige levensgevallen, Rotterdam, 1790) and German (Merkwürdige Lebensgeschichte, Göttingen, 1792).
• Robert Allison’s introduction to the assigned edition provides the historical background.
• In Lecture 07 The World of Olaudah Equiano I provide additional background.
As you read the book be alert to, and in your review address / answer the following questions that are specific to this book (your essay does not have to address all of them):
• What devices did Equiano use to establish the credibility of his The Interesting Narrative?
• What evidence does the book provide about Equiano’s role in the antislavery movement?
• Equiano served in the Royal Navy during the Seven Years’ War (called the French and Indian War in America) under Admiral Edward Boscawen. He saw action including the siege of Louisbourg (1758) in Canada and the battle of Lagos Bay (1759) off the coast of Portugal. In 1773 as a civilian mariner he embarked on an Arctic voyage in search of a Northeast Passage to India. What insights does Equiano provide from his years at sea?
• Equiano witnessed the early industrialization of England. What conclusions did he draw about the impact of the industrial revolution?
• What evidence does the book provide about Equiano’s religion?
• How did Equiano’s religion affect his actions, and his account of those actions, as he recorded them in his book?
academic integrity
• We all know that there are reviews and summaries of books, in the library, on the Web, and elsewhere. I want to know your ideas about the book, not somebody else’s.
• When you use someone else’s ideas, they must be acknowledged in a footnote (see hypothetical example below).1
• When you use someone else’s words, those words must be enclosed within quotation marks and acknowledged in a footnote.
• If from a website, it is insufficient just to cite the “Web”; rather, you should cite the full URL (uniform resource locator) and the date that you accessed it: “accessed mm/dd/yyyy.”
• When you are quoting from the book you are reviewing, you may simply enclose the quote within quotation marks and cite the page number in parentheses, immediately after the quotation. Example: (p. 202).
• Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit constitutes plagiarism, which is a form of stealing, passing off another’s work as your own, cheating, and an offense under the university-wide Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct at Indiana University.
• You will submit this assignment through the Assignment Inbox on Canvas, which will automatically check your review for originality through Turnitin, which will create an originality report that will be accessible to you and me.
• When plagiarism is detected in this class, the student will receive an automatic F (zero points) on the assignment.
• To put it in positive terms, learning how to write using your own words is an essential part of a university-level education.
• If you have any questions about this or any other subjects, please ask!
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1. John H. Smith, A History of the Ancient World, 4th ed. (New York: Jones Publishing Company, 2004), p. 202.
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