Book review on The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England Book by Marc Morris. The total length should be approximately 5
Book review on The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England Book by Marc Morris
Writing the Essay
The total length should be approximately 5 typed, double-spaced pages (minimum), standard font (12-point or -pitch), with standard margins of 1 inch on all sides. (I know all the tricks.) Please use both upper and lower case letters! Do not feel limited to 5 pages – feel free to write as much as you need to cover all the points. But do not just pad it for length, either – length alone won’t get you any credit. You do not need a title page – just put your name and course at the top of p. 1. (If this course is being offered through Distance Learning, put your location as well.) Number your pages. If you turn it in as a hard copy (not the preferred method, see below), please staple the pages at the top left corner.
You should begin with a correct bibliographical description of the book: John Q. Author, Title (Place: Publisher, year). This only should be single-spaced (except for block quotations in the body of the essay which should also be single-spaced), and may include such things as the number of pages, maps, illustrations, library call number, and so forth. This bibliographic description will serve as your title; you do not need another title. You don’t need a fancy title page.
The paper itself should consist of:
1. A clear, succinct description of:
a. The thesis of the book, or its purpose if it has no thesis to argue. This may be drawn from the author’s own words as long as you properly quote and credit him (or her, but just assume I mean “or her” from now on).
b. A description of how the author develops his argument. This may be a couple of paragraphs summarizing the work, but also be explicit as to whether he tells a story chronologically, arranges his material topically, or whatever. What kind of source material does he draw his evidence from?
c. What are the author’s conclusions, if any? Information about the author himself is not necessary unless it is truly helpful in understanding his work. (As for Primary Sources, see below.)
2. An evaluation of the author’s success in arguing his case, covering his subject (did he answer all his own questions?), and presenting his material clearly and well. Note any themes or theses not explicitly stated by the author, but argued by him.
i. If you are reading a Primary Source, you need to consider the author’s identity, motives, agendas in writing, limitations, etc. Just how “primary” is he?
ii. If you are reading a work of fiction, another obvious question is how accurately this modern reconstruction captures the reality of the time and characters. This assessment needs to be based on facts, not just your opinion.
b. How was this book received by the scholarly community upon publication? Was it praised or panned? Please examine professional review articles as published in academic journals. (“Please” is politeness – This is notmeant to be optional – it is an integral part of this assignment.) These will help you fit the book into its proper historiographical context. Traditionally, these journals are available in most University libraries, and the reviews may be found via the periodical Book Review Index with limited extracts published in Book Review Digest
Answer preview for Book review on The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England Book by Marc Morris. The total length should be approximately 5
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