For Freedom’s Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Chana Kai Lee
Order Description
Dr. Walker-McWilliams
HIST 1323, P01: U.S. History, 1876 to Present– Book Precis #2
Content
• A short summary of the scope, content and argument/thesis of the book
[What is the significance of Fannie Lou Hamer’s struggle? What do we learn about the civil rights movement and/or black life during this era from Hamer’s perspective?]
• Your analysis of how well the author supports his/her thesis (the bulk of your essay)
[Consider, what are the key turning points/developments in Hamer’s civil rights struggle? How do they support the author’s argument about the value of Hamer’s life to this period in American history?]
• Is the book well-written and well-documented with sources?
• What are the strong points of the book? Its weak points?
• Conclusion – would you recommend the book to a reader interested in its subject matter? Why or Why not?
Format
• Must include your name, course number and section (single-spaced) in upper-left hand corner on the first page of your review
• 1-inch margins and the body of your review should be double-spaced, 12pt font
• 2-3 complete pages in length
• Bibliography: Lee, Chana Kai. For Freedom’s Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999).
Grammar and Syntax
• This is a formal piece of writing that requires correct English, grammar and punctuation.
• Address authors and key figures by their full or last name.
• Try to avoid writing in the first person, e.g. “I feel,” “I think.”
• Quoted material (which you should have in this paper) must include page numbers, e.g. “[Quoted material]” (Lee, pg. #).
• Avoid quotes that are more than 6 lines long
• PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD!!!
Grading
“A” papers (27-30 pts): Adequately meet above requirements and with few grammatical errors.
“B/C” papers (21-26 pts): Meet most of the above requirements, but lack a complete analysis of the
book and miss some formatting requirements. Will have grammatical errors that detract from the paper. Paper may have been late.
“D” papers (18-20 pts): Paper did not fully address the assignment and above requirements. Paper includes numerous grammatical errors. Paper may have been late.
“F” papers (0-17 pts): Haphazardly put together assignment or a paper that struggles to follow the assignment and make sense of the book. Paper is significantly late. Paper is plagiarized (0 pts).