Select one novel or autobiography, which must be from the following list. Write a book report on your selection, roughly five pages in length. Summarize the MAIN ideas or events of the book (not a blow-by-blow rehash!), specifying where and when the story takes place. Be sure to describe the main characters by their social vantage points (e.g., their ethnic backgrounds and genders; their social, economic, and political positions; and their religions, if that is mentioned and seems relevant). What did you learn from the book about what it is like to live in a part of the world or country that is unfamiliar to you? Did it help you understand political, economic, historical, and cultural situations in the area where the story is set? Did the book mention any spatial or regional variations in the setting or specific place names? Also, note that authors do not write just for the fun of it: there is always some sort of hidden agenda, something to which the author wants to sensitize you. Be sure to state what your think the main objective of the author is.
Your writing mechanics will be assessed: They count for about 40 percent of the points on this report. Pay close attention to the organization of your paper, spelling, grammar, correct and varied sentence structure, proper punctuation and capitalization, and avoiding sexist usage. Sexist usage is the use of a gender-specific term to refer to people of both genders (e.g., "man," when you mean "humanity" or "people"; "mankind," when you mean "humankind"; "men," when you mean "people," "he," when you could simply rework your phrasing to the plural, which is, in English, conveniently ungendered). Sexist usage can also occur when you use the third person singular (i.e., "he" or "she") and then make tacit assumptions about the gender of a hypothetical individual on the basis of the most commonly represented gender in a given group (e.g., the doctor, when he...; the nurse, when she...). When in doubt, switch to the plural.
NOVELS AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES