Book Analysis
Book Analysis of Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcasts – Hane
Book Review Instructions
Assignment
Prepare an analytic book review of Mikiso Hane’s Peasants, Rebels, Women and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan, 1st edition, 1982 or 2nd edition, 2003. The focus should be on the aim of the book and its success in attaining that aim, as well as its place in the historiography of Japan’s modernization, rather than a detailed recapitulation of the content of the book.
Purpose
The purpose of the assignment is to give students the opportunity to develop both their understanding of historical scholarship as an on-going conversation among differing interpretations, and their ability to evaluate those interpretations. It is also intended to increase students’ understanding of the content of the course, through reading a significant monograph on the material. Finally, it will more broadly enhance students’ ability to read and think critically and analytically, and to report effectively on their analysis.
Format
At the head of the review should be a complete bibliographic reference to the work.
Introduction: Identify the author (who he is, what else has he written). Briefly state the topic (subject), thesis (argument about the subject), and scope (coverage) of the book.
Body of review: Discuss all of the following questions:
• What key questions does the author address? What topics does he cover, what are his main conclusions about them?
• How does the author see his work fitting into the other literature on its topic: Is it testing a hypothesis? Is it challenging an accepted view? Does it claim to break new ground? If so, is this in terms of analysis (a different interpretation of a broadly known situation) or in terms of narrative (describing an area of the past that has been neglected in previous historical work)?
• What methods and sources does the author use? Do they pose any problems (for example, are they biased or incomplete)? Is the author aware of any limitations and does he work around them creatively? Is there anything particularly valuable or creative in the author’s methods or sources?
• Analyze the author’s use of evidence. Does it prove what he claims it does? Could it sometimes be interpreted in other ways? In discussing the argument and the use of evidence, you must draw on at least three chapters from the book.
• Can the conclusions of the work be generalized? Do they apply to other periods, all classes of society, to urban and rural areas, to men and women? Do they provide a useful comparative perspective in looking at other societies as well?
Evaluation: How well does the author succeed in his endeavor? Does he prove his thesis? Does the author successfully describe an area of the past previously neglected, or offer a plausible alternative interpretation of a known situation? Even if he is not fully successful, does the work still make a significant contribution to the field? How well are the author’s ideas presented? Is the book interesting or boring? Is it clearly written? What are the work’s greatest strengths and weaknesses?
Grading
Evaluation will be based on the content of the review (90%) and format and style (10%). Content will be judged on
• the accuracy and completeness of the description of the work,
• the analysis of the author’s methods, sources and achievement, and
• the appropriateness of the specific examples chosen to illustrate your analysis. Well-chosen specific examples from the book should illustrate the points in the body of the review and the evaluation of the work. Page numbers should be cited in the text, in parentheses before the final period of the sentence. Only use a direct quotation when the author’s specific words are relevant. Example:
Challenging the common view of Japan’s modernization as a “miracle” Hane seeks to expose “the pain and sorrow, the anguish and anger, the hunger and disease, the stench and filth” of the lives of the ordinary Japanese who paid the price of that transformation (xiii).
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Format and style will be judged on following instructions, and on the organization, grammar, spelling, usage and proofreading of the final draft.
Note: It is a disciplinary convention that the author of a review does NOT assume that his or her readers have read the work in question. Therefore it is necessary to provide enough background and context that the reviewer’s argument is clear to someone who is not familiar with the work being reviewed.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the appropriation of other people’s ideas or words as one’s own, without acknowledging the source. This means not only using direct quotes or close paraphrases without attribution, it also means using ideas without acknowledging that they belong to others. Plagiarism in any of these senses is a serious academic offense. Deliberate plagiarism will result in a failure for the entire course.
Book Analysis
………………………..Answer rpeview……………………….
This paper contains a critical analysis of Mikiso Hane Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcasts book. Hanes succeeds in developing a fascinating story of what it meant to be a middle class Japanese during the last century before the commencement of economic growth and development. Consequently, the author weaves the tale using memoirs, diaries, trial testimonies, fictions, eye witness accounts and even personal reflections to explain the experience of Japanese life……………………………
APA
1152 words