makes an argument based on a narrowly-defined aspect
of what you can learn about the history of Russian women and/or peasants from
Maria Botchkareva’s memoir, Yashka: My Life as Peasant, Officer, Exile. Topic :
How does Botchkareva
relate to her own sense of “Russian-ness,” and how does the war impact that
sense of national identity?
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is
NOT a book review or a book report. For this essay, I do not care if you like
the book, find it well-written, engaging, or any other conclusion that would be
appropriate in a published book review. This is an argumentative subject essay drawing upon the
book as evidence.
The essay SHOULD NOT start with a sentence or a
paragraph recounting the basic details of the book. If you come have a
conversation about the book with me, you are not going to start by telling me
what the book is about. Rather,
jump immediately into the topic of your essay, which is more than just the
book. The book is the evidence you will use to explore your topic.
You MAY NOT use
other sources whether published or from the internet
Please
type and double-space the essays with margins no greater than 1 ¼ inches using
Times New Roman 12-point font. The essays are due via Blackboard on the due
date stated herein.
you must include short quotes, paraphrases, or
reference to specific events or moments from the memoir, cite the page number.
Citations to the memoir should simply be parenthetical notations as after the
relevant sentence as you see here.
Your essay
should have a brief paragraph that introduces the question you will answer and
provides an argument—a thesis statement. (Think of it as a one-sentence summary
answer to your question.) It should be narrow, clear, and specific. Your essay
should have something you are trying to prove, and the body of the essay should
be trying to draw evidence from the memoir to prove that argument.
The body of your essay then provides
detailed discussion of the memoir, drawing evidence to support your thesis
statement. The evidence should be specific and detailed. If you never find a
reason to cite a specific page of the memoir, your use of evidence is too
general and too vague. Be sure to keep in mind that not all things can be
answered based on the memoir’s contents. Do not be afraid to be uncertain. No
single source can ever answer all of our historical questions. Every historical
source provides but a limited slice of history, a single point of view on
events. The key is to understand what you can and cannot answer from a
particular source.
The conclusion sums up earlier points and
gives the significance of the information.