In the introduction of the essay, you should address why you are writing the essay. Your essay should have a thesis or an argument or a clearly stated problem that you are addressing. You may use statements saying you will explore, argue, illustrate, provide evidence for, demonstrate a link between, examine, identify, and analyze. Do not say you will “prove” something. Proof requires far more evidence than you can possibly provide in your essay. At the end of your introduction, you will state the theoretical framework and concepts you are using, and follow through in the body of your essay.
When moving from one section to another, use topic sentences at the beginning of the paragraphs. The last sentence of your paragraph should be a joining sentence, linking that paragraph to the next. In short essays such as what you are assigned, you do not need to use subheadings. However, you may use them to help you organize your thoughts when you are writing the draft. But delete them in the final essay. Each paragraph in your essay should focus on one main point.
You are expected to provide an analysis. An analysis is not the same as a description. Description asks who, what, where, and when questions. Analysis asks why and how questions. An analysis would require you to contextualize your argument within the political economy perspective. Therefore, your how and why question will be asked and answered through that framework.
Finally, you will provide a summary and a conclusion. They are two different things. A summary restates what you have done, and your conclusion describes the significance of what you have done. They should be in separate paragraphs.
You are required to discuss the biography Halfbreed by Maria Campbell using concepts from the course readings, with proper referencing format. Since this course is about women, work, and family, you must consider all of these factors in your essay. You should use at least 8 references from the course readings.
Instructions for writing the book review essay
Your essay should contain FIVE main parts, in the following sequence:
1. Synopsis/summary: Briefly describe what the biography is about. The synopsis/summary should be in your own words.
2. Introduction: You should describe the topic of your essay, state your objectives, and tell the reader how you intend to go about achieving your objectives. What will you do first, second, third etc. By doing so, you lay out the internal organization of the essay.
3. Body: This is the main part of your essay. You need to analyze and discuss the conditions of aboriginal women in contemporary Canadian society as detailed in the book. Present your critical analysis by drawing on and reflecting on your knowledge and understanding of theories and issues discussed (e.g., political economy perspective, feminist theory, feminization of poverty, violence against women etc.) It would be helpful for you to think through the following:
What is the central argument of the book? Is it well substantiated?
– Does the book use a particular perspective (viewpoint)? If so, what is it?
– What questions/issues are being addressed?
– Comment on specific passages/issues that stand out to you.
– How are the issues discussed in the book related to current conditions of aboriginal women; and to women in Canadian society?
4. Conclusion: comment on what you think is the significance of your discussion. You may
want to talk about how the book contribute to knowledge of women, work, and family in
Canadian society in general, and aboriginal women in particular; or raise questions or new ideas about the plight of aboriginal women; or what related issues you would like to discover in the future.
Technical requirements: The essay should be 7 pages plus a Title page and a Reference page double spaced, 12 pt. font, Times New Roman, 1. 25 inch margins. Use Chicago style formatfor your essay. You should not use headings for this essay.
Include page numbers for all references whether or not you are including direct quotations. We need to be able to look your citations up quickly. Use page numbers from the article.
Use quotations sparingly, and the quotations should be brief. For the most part, you should paraphrase rather than using quotations.
Create a title for your essay. Make it descriptive, specific to your essay, and engaging. The title should appear only on the title page.
