HIST 4339

Book Review Guidelines

Write a 600-800 word book review of Ngugi’s Decolonising the Mind.  Reviews are due at the beginning of class on Jan. 19 and must be uploaded to Turnitin.com by 5pm the same day in order to receive credit.  Late submissions will be penalized.

Include a full, properly formatted bibliographic-style citation, using Chicago Manual of Style format: Author Name. Book Title.  City of publication: Publishing Co., publication date.

Your review should begin by briefly summarizing Ngugi's main argument.  The bulk of your review will center on your critical evaluation of the book, analyzing the effectiveness of the argument and the evidence used to support it.  You should also analyze the scholarly value of the book and note its intended audience.

Include a word count at the end of your review.

See “Book Review Guidelines” on the course website for more tips.  Look at journals such as the Journal of African History, the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, or the American Historical Review for examples of professional reviews.

Checklist:

• Citation

• Summary of argument

• Discussion of evidence used to support argument

• Analysis of argument’s strengths, weaknesses, and significance

• Discussion of audience

• Word count

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Book Review Grading Sheet

Summary of argument: Must show clear understanding of Ngugi’s main message.

Grade: ____/10

Analysis:  Includes discussion of evidence; evaluation of strengths and weaknesses, analysis of significance.

Grade: ____/40

Organization and Approach:  Includes discussion of audience; overall logic of review.

Grade: ____/30

Writing and Style:  Includes quality of writing; grammar; presentation (e.g. was the review proofread?); citation format.

Grade: ____/20