Review Essay

Order Description
Writing a review essay on a single ethnic group, based on an ethnography (a book describing a culture) of your own choosing plus four (4) additional sources.

Typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides, in 11- or 12-point Times New Roman font, in black ink on white paper, with a full bibliography citing all works mentioned in the paper.

Review essay (adapted from https://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/~apolsky/REVIEWESSAYF03.htm):

A scholarly review essay follows a standard form. Such an essay provides the reader with an overview of the most significant points raised by the author. Unlike a straightforward book report, however, a review essay is primarily devoted to critical discussion of the text. You should keep the following in mind:

Single Author: You must choose a text by a single author. Older ethnographies will have lots of articles about them, and newer books fewer. This is both good and bad: If there are lots of articles, it’s easier to find them, but also harder to read many of them. If there are few articles, they’ll be harder to find, but there will be fewer to read and judge. (You may not select for review any book assigned as required reading for the course.)
Structure: Review essays follow a general pattern: introduction, summary of the book, critical discussion, conclusion. (Full publication data for the book should appear between the title of the review essay and the first line of the essay.)
Introduction. The introduction to a review essay indicates the general line of argument that the essay writer will pursue. Use your opening paragraph to (1) situate the book in the context in which it is written, (2) identify the author’s main thesis and approach, and (3) preview your own critical response. Be economical: this should fit into no more than one paragraph.
Summary. The summary must not exceed two pages. If more than half of your paper is summarizing what is in the text, you have written a book report. You can’t cover all of the points the author has made; focus on the central argument and on claims that are most significant. If more details are necessary, you can mention these in the critical discussion.
Critical Discussion. Consider how the book seeks to advance the debate(s) in which the author has chosen to participate. You must situate the work in the intellectual context in which it is written. In particular, you need to identify the controversies or problems that the author seeks to address. Ordinarily, an author will define the context for you as he/she understands it in the preface, introduction, or first chapter of the book. Once you have “placed” the book, you are in a position to begin your critical analysis. You may choose to assess whether the book makes an important or useful contribution, whether the evidence supports the author’s thesis, whether the author has considered alternative explanations for the same outcome, or whether the argument is internally consistent. Support your arguments with evidence. This section counts the most!
Voice. Be careful about voice. You should always make clear to the reader who is “speaking” in your paper: the book’s author, another author, or you as the essay writer. This is usually not a problem in the part of the essay given over to summarizing the book, but ambiguity about the voice can be a source of confusion when you turn to the critical discussion.