Your assignment is to write an analytical review essay on William A Darity, Jr., and A. Kirsten Mullen’sbook, From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century Please note that this is not a book report, it is a critical review essay. On a basic level, you should provide a brief summary of the text, discuss its strengths, weakness, what it adds to our understanding about African American and Diaspora Studies, and what other texts, and topics that the book should be in conversation about with. Your essay is to be five double-spaced pages long (so you must be concise) and submitted on letter-sized paper (8.5 x 11) with printing on one side of the paper only. Please use Times New Roman, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins. You should also include a cover page that says your name and course information as well as a “works cited” page at the end. Remember to give your essay a title. Finally, your essay should conform to the format guidelines from the Chicago Manual of Style.
Here are some basic things you should know and consider in writing your book review essay.
1.Summarize the author’s argument.
2.Critique the argument.
3.Find out about the author’s prior work (books, articles, columns).
4.How does the author approach to the study of African Americans?
5.What is the structure of the book?
6.What kinds of evidence does the author use to prove his or her argument?
7.What types of primary sources are used?
8.What types of secondary sources are used?
9.Is the argument convincing?
Here is how you might organize your book review:
1.Introduce the author; give an overview of the topic of the book; state clearly your position on the book (i.e., make an argument about it).
2.Summarize the organization of the book; give more detail about the arguments in each chapter; bring in your assessment of the evidence used.
3.Discuss the strengths and weakness of the book; be sure your analysis reflects your overall disposition on the text (positive or negative).
4.State your recommendations about the book. Do you recommend that others read it? If so, who? What types of students should read it? Students of African American and Diaspora Studies? General Readers? What’s at stake in the text? What does the argumentand the text as a whole contributed to our understanding about African American and Diaspora Studies
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